utility-slideshow-creator
Generates professional presentations from a JSON deck specification using 18 slide types with dark/light variants, content-to-layout decision logic, and calibrated character limits. Ships with a default professional theme and supports custom themes via utility-slideshow-themer.
What it does
Slideshow Creator
Generate professional presentations (.pptx and .pdf) from a JSON deck specification. Zero design decisions at generation time . Claude selects slide types and fills content slots; all visual properties are pre-decided by the theme.
When to Use
- Creating slide decks for stakeholder updates, product reviews, team presentations
- Generating professional .pptx files from content briefs
- Producing consistent presentations without manual formatting
- Exporting presentations to PDF for sharing or archiving
When NOT to Use
- Creating complex data visualizations (use dedicated charting tools)
- Building interactive web presentations (this produces .pptx, not HTML)
- Editing existing PowerPoint files (this creates new decks from scratch)
How It Works
Two-phase architecture:
- Spec phase (Claude) . Read the content brief, select slide types using decision logic, write a JSON deck specification. Content slots have character limits calibrated to prevent overflow. This is the only phase that costs tokens.
- Generation phase (Local script) . Run
node scripts/generate-deck.js deck-spec.jsonto produce .pptx. Optionally runnode scripts/export-pdf.mjs deck-spec.jsonfor PDF. Deterministic rendering, zero token cost.
Both outputs come from the same JSON spec, so .pptx and .pdf always match.
18 Slide Types
| # | Type Key | Purpose | Default Variant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | title_dark | Opening slide (bold) | dark only |
| 2 | title_light | Opening slide (internal/lighter) | light only |
| 3 | section | Section divider | dark |
| 4 | content | Paragraph explanation | light |
| 5 | bullets | 3-6 key points | light |
| 6 | two_col | Side-by-side comparison | light |
| 7 | stat | Single key metric | light |
| 8 | dual_stat | Two metrics compared | dark |
| 9 | quote | Testimonial or pull quote | dark |
| 10 | three_card | Three parallel concepts | dark |
| 11 | four_grid | Four concepts in 2x2 grid | dark |
| 12 | timeline | Dates or milestones (max 6) | light |
| 13 | process_flow | Sequential workflow (max 5) | light |
| 14 | agenda | Meeting agenda (max 7) | light |
| 15 | highlight | Key finding or executive summary | light |
| 16 | table | Tabular data | light |
| 17 | icon_rows | Feature list with markers (max 4) | light |
| 18 | closing | End slide | dark only |
Full slot definitions and character limits: references/slide-types.md
Decision Logic (Quick Reference)
| Content Pattern | Use |
|---|---|
| Opening the deck (bold) | title_dark |
| Opening the deck (internal) | title_light |
| Transitioning between topics | section |
| Paragraph explanation | content |
| List of 3-6 points | bullets |
| Side-by-side comparison | two_col |
| Single key metric | stat |
| Two metrics compared | dual_stat |
| Testimonial or pull quote | quote |
| Three parallel concepts | three_card |
| Four concepts in a grid | four_grid |
| Dates or milestones | timeline |
| Sequential workflow | process_flow |
| Meeting agenda | agenda |
| Key finding or summary | highlight |
| Tabular data | table |
| Feature list with markers | icon_rows |
| Ending the deck | closing |
Full decision logic with variant strategy: references/decision-logic.md
JSON Deck Spec Format
{
"title": "Q3 Product Update",
"author": "Product Team",
"footerText": "Internal . Q3 Review",
"slides": [
{ "type": "title_dark", "title": "Q3 Product Update", "subtitle": "October 2026" },
{ "type": "stat", "stat": "94%", "label": "Customer satisfaction score", "accentColor": "secondary" },
{ "type": "bullets", "title": "What Shipped", "bullets": ["Feature A", "Feature B", "Feature C"] },
{ "type": "closing" }
]
}
Colors accept theme token names ("accent", "secondary", "tertiary", "warm") or 6-character hex strings ("2563EB").
Full schema and workflow: references/TEMPLATE.md and references/platform-rules.md
Instructions
- Read the content brief . Understand topic, audience, length, specific requirements
- Plan the deck . Select slide types using the decision logic table. Assign dark/light variants for visual rhythm (alternate to avoid monotony).
- Write the JSON deck specification . Fill content slots, respecting character limits from
references/slide-types.md - Run the generation script .
node scripts/generate-deck.js deck-spec.json - Optionally export PDF .
node scripts/export-pdf.mjs deck-spec.json output.pdf - Report the output . Tell the user where the file(s) are
Output Contract
- Planning artifact: JSON deck specification (the file Claude writes)
- Final output: .pptx file (+ optional .pdf), generated locally from the spec
- Quality gate: All items in the quality checklist pass
Quality Checklist
- Every slide has a valid type key (one of the 18 defined types)
- All content slots respect character limits from
references/slide-types.md - Dark/light variants alternate for visual rhythm (no 3+ consecutive same-variant slides)
- Deck has a title slide (first) and a closing slide (last)
- Section dividers separate distinct topics in decks > 6 slides
- Speaker notes included for key slides (stats, highlights, transitions)
- JSON is valid (no trailing commas, proper quoting, correct nesting)
- Color values are valid theme tokens or 6-character hex strings (no
#prefix)
References
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
references/TEMPLATE.md | JSON deck specification template with field documentation |
references/EXAMPLE.md | Worked example: Q3 Product Update deck (9 slides) |
references/slide-types.md | All 18 slide types: content slots, character limits, variants |
references/decision-logic.md | Content pattern → slide type mapping, variant strategy, deck sizing |
references/platform-rules.md | pptxgenjs requirements, Google Slides compatibility, output format |
Capabilities
Install
Quality
deterministic score 0.54 from registry signals: · indexed on github topic:agent-skills · 176 github stars · SKILL.md body (6,128 chars)