Slide Generation — Technical Reference

Detailed instructions for Phase 5: turning a finalized outline into a .pptx deck using the MCP PPT server and the speaker's template.

Template Layout Map

Read the template path from speaker-profile.json → infrastructure.template_pptx_path. Read the layout map from speaker-profile.json → infrastructure.template_layouts[].

Each layout entry has: index, name, placeholders[], and use_for.

Layout Selection Logic (generic mapping)

Match these generic types to the speaker's actual layout names/indices from the profile.

Also review the template catalog in slide-design-spec.md Section 7 for rich patterns (SWOT, timelines, funnels, competitor matrices, etc.) that may be available in the speaker's template.

Creating a Clean Deck from Template

The template may ship with demo slides. Strip them to get a clean deck with layouts only. Use python-pptx directly.

Note: The template stripping, slide deletion, and slide reordering code below uses undocumented python-pptx internals (slides._sldIdLst, part.drop_rel()). These work reliably as of python-pptx 0.6.x but could break on a major update. If python-pptx adds public APIs for slide deletion/reordering in the future, prefer those instead.

from pptx import Presentation

# Read template path from speaker profile
tmpl = Presentation('{template_pptx_path}')

# Remove all slides, keep layouts
xml_slides = tmpl.slides._sldIdLst
for sldId in list(xml_slides):
    rId = sldId.get('{http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships}id')
    tmpl.part.drop_rel(rId)
    xml_slides.remove(sldId)

tmpl.save('{output_path}')

Then open the clean deck with the MCP: open_presentation(file_path=...).

Slide Generation Workflow

For each slide in the outline:

1. Add slide with the right layout (index from profile template_layouts):

   add_slide(layout_index=N, title="Slide Title")

2. Populate placeholders — title first, then body:

   populate_placeholder(slide_index=N, placeholder_idx=0, text="Title")
   populate_placeholder(slide_index=N, placeholder_idx=1, text="Body text")

3. Or use bullet points for list content:

   add_bullet_points(slide_index=N, placeholder_idx=1, bullet_points=[...])

4. For image/meme slides — use title-only or blank layout, add image:

   manage_image(slide_index=N, operation="add", image_source="path/to/image.png",
                left=1, top=1.5, width=8, height=5)

5. For non-placeholder text (captions, annotations):

   manage_text(slide_index=N, operation="add", text="Caption",
               left=1, top=6, width=8, height=0.5,
               font_size=14, color=[255,255,255])

6. For shapes (dividers, accent boxes):

   add_shape(slide_index=N, shape_type="RECTANGLE",
             left=0, top=0, width=10, height=0.3,
             fill_color=[0,188,212])

Background Colors

Read design_rules.background_color_strategy from the speaker profile. Apply the strategy when adding slides. Common strategies:

• random_non_repeating — pick a random saturated color, never repeat on adjacent slides
• theme_sequence — follow the template's built-in color rotation

Read design_rules.white_black_reserved_for to know when white/black backgrounds are appropriate (typically full-bleed image/meme slides only).

Footer

Read design_rules.footer from the speaker profile for exact position, font, size, and color adaptation rules. Add footer to EVERY slide using manage_text. The footer pattern template is in footer.pattern — substitute conference-specific values.

Text Overflow Prevention

Template placeholders have fixed sizes. To avoid overflow:

• Titles: Max ~60 characters. If longer, use manage_text with auto_fit=True.
• Body bullets: Max 6-7 items per placeholder. For more, split across two slides.
• Bullet text: Keep individual bullets under ~80 characters.
• Use optimize_slide_text after populating to auto-resize if needed:

  optimize_slide_text(slide_index=N, min_font_size=12, max_font_size=28)

Speaker Notes (python-pptx)

The MCP PPT server does not support speaker notes. Use python-pptx directly as a batch operation after all slides are generated via MCP.

from pptx import Presentation

prs = Presentation('path/to/deck.pptx')

# notes_map: {slide_index: "speaker notes text"}
notes_map = {
    0: "",  # title slide — no notes
    1: "Brief intro — name, role, one sentence.",
    2: "The core argument starts here. Pause after the first bullet.",
    # ... etc
}

for idx, notes_text in notes_map.items():
    if notes_text:
        slide = prs.slides[idx]
        notes_slide = slide.notes_slide
        notes_slide.notes_text_frame.text = notes_text

prs.save('path/to/deck.pptx')

Run this AFTER MCP slide generation is complete, and BEFORE presenting to the author.

Interactive Iteration Patterns

Slide-specific changes

Author says: "Slide 12 — make the title shorter" → populate_placeholder(slide_index=11, placeholder_idx=0, text="New shorter title")

Author says: "Slide 5 — change to two columns" → Cannot change layout of existing slide via MCP. Instead:

1. Note content of slide 5
2. Generate a replacement slide with the new layout (appended at end)
3. Use python-pptx to delete the old slide 5 and reorder the new one into position
4. Re-open the deck with MCP open_presentation

Batch changes

Read design_rules.slide_numbers from the speaker profile. If "never", decline requests to add slide numbers and explain it's a design rule.

Content delivery

Author provides an image for a placeholder slide: → manage_image(slide_index=N, operation="add", image_source="/path/to/image.png", ...)

Structural changes (python-pptx)

The MCP PPT server cannot delete or reorder slides. Use python-pptx:

Delete slides:

from pptx import Presentation

prs = Presentation('path/to/deck.pptx')
xml_slides = prs.slides._sldIdLst
slide_to_delete = list(xml_slides)[N]  # 0-based index
rId = slide_to_delete.get('{http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships}id')
prs.part.drop_rel(rId)
xml_slides.remove(slide_to_delete)
prs.save('path/to/deck.pptx')

Reorder slides:

from pptx import Presentation

prs = Presentation('path/to/deck.pptx')
xml_slides = prs.slides._sldIdLst
slides_list = list(xml_slides)
slide = slides_list[FROM]
xml_slides.remove(slide)
if TO >= len(list(xml_slides)):
    xml_slides.append(slide)
else:
    xml_slides.insert(TO, slide)
prs.save('path/to/deck.pptx')

After any python-pptx structural operation, re-open the deck with MCP (open_presentation) to continue editing.

MCP Tool Quick Reference

PDF Export (Final Step)

After the author declares done, export the .pptx to PDF. The method depends on the speaker's publishing_process.export_method and platform.

Option A: PowerPoint AppleScript (macOS + Microsoft PowerPoint)

import subprocess

pptx_path = '/absolute/path/to/deck.pptx'
pdf_path  = '/absolute/path/to/deck.pdf'

script = f'''
tell application "Microsoft PowerPoint"
    open POSIX file "{pptx_path}"
    delay 2
    save active presentation in POSIX file "{pdf_path}" as save as PDF
    close active presentation saving no
end tell
'''
subprocess.run(['osascript', '-e', script], capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=30)

Requirements:

• Microsoft PowerPoint must be installed
• macOS only
• Paths must be absolute POSIX paths

Option B: LibreOffice CLI (cross-platform)

libreoffice --headless --convert-to pdf --outdir "{output_dir}" "{pptx_path}"

Requirements:

• LibreOffice must be installed (brew install --cask libreoffice on macOS, apt install libreoffice-impress on Linux)
• Font rendering may differ slightly from PowerPoint — review the output

Selection logic

Read publishing_process.export_method from the speaker profile. If the field describes an AppleScript method, use Option A. If it mentions LibreOffice, use Option B. If the field is empty or missing, detect the platform and available tools: prefer PowerPoint AppleScript on macOS if PowerPoint is installed, fall back to LibreOffice CLI otherwise.

File Locations

Read infrastructure.presentation_file_convention from the speaker profile for the directory structure. Typical convention:

{presentations-dir}/{conference}/{year}/{talk-slug}/
├── {talk-slug}.pptx              ← the deck (Phase 5 output)
├── {talk-slug}.pdf               ← PDF export (Phase 5 final step)
├── presentation-outline.md        ← the outline (Phase 3/4 output)
└── assets/                        ← images, memes, screenshots (author provides)

The speaker's template is read-only — never modify it.