The pptx skill: slide decks that actually open in PowerPoint
Generated decks tend to be either dull or broken: one stray character in a colour value or a wrong chart label setting corrupts the whole file. The pptx skill builds new decks with pptxgenjs, edits templates straight in the slide XML and runs every result through validate.py, with rules on palette, type and layout on top.
Builds decks with pptxgenjs around its traps: a 10 by 5.625 inch canvas, hex colours without #, a fresh options object for each shadow.
Handles .pptx and .potx templates: thumbnail.py draws a labelled slide grid, add_slide.py duplicates a layout, clean.py prunes leftovers.
Keeps charts native with addChart and warns about the settings that make PowerPoint discard a chart or call the file corrupt.
Writes speaker notes with addNotes and turns react-icons into PNGs through sharp before placing them on slides.
Supplies design rules: one dominant colour at 60–70% weight, a single repeated motif, safe fonts such as Calibri and Cambria, never Aptos.
When to use it
A pitch deck is due tomorrow and you'd rather the agent handle layout and visual QA than nudge boxes by hand.
Your company has a .potx template and a report's content needs mapping onto it without breaking the brand.
You have someone else's deck and need its slide text and speaker notes for an email or a summary.
Ask your agent
Make a 10-slide quarterly results deck from q3.xlsx using native PowerPoint charts
Lay this report text onto the brand.potx template and delete the unused slides
Extract the text and speaker notes from every slide in pitch.pptx
Questions
How do I install the pptx skill?
npx skills add anthropics/skills@pptx works anywhere the skills CLI does. In Claude Code it also arrives with the document-skills plugin after /plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills.
Can I edit decks with python-pptx instead?
You can, but SKILL.md lists three gaps: it cannot duplicate a slide, assigning text_frame.text drops formatting, and it cannot read the SVG or EMF art most templates use.
Why does the pptx skill steer away from Aptos?
Aptos has no width-compatible substitute in the QA renderer and is missing from older Office installs, so the slide's real appearance can't be predicted on either end.
