PowerPoint Presentations

Use a staged workflow: classify → inspect → plan → execute → validate → render → iterate. Do not skip source verification or QA.

1. Classify the Request

Choose exactly one path:

| Path | Use when | Primary tools | |---|---|---| | Edit source | Modify an uploaded or existing deck | inspect_presentation, begin_presentation_edit, edit tools | | Build from template | Create content in an uploaded branded deck | begin_presentation_edit, duplicate_slide, update_slide_content | | Create new | No source/template must be preserved | create_presentation | | Analyze | Review content, design, or structure without editing | inspect_presentation, preview tools |

Never use create_presentation for an edit or template request. It creates a new package and cannot preserve the source master, layouts, relationships, notes, or embedded assets.

2. Verify and Inspect the Source

For edit and template paths:

1. Call list_my_powerpoint_presentations.
2. Confirm the exact source filename exists.
3. Call inspect_presentation with persist_spec=true.
4. Call preview_presentation_montage for a deck-level visual pass.
5. Call analyze_presentation only for slides that require detailed element IDs.

If the source cannot be loaded, stop and report the missing file. Do not recreate the deck from a description, silently switch to a new-deck workflow, or delegate the task to an environment where the source file has not been verified.

Treat the persisted deck spec as the design-system record across turns. After inspection, call begin_presentation_edit once and retain its edit_id. Re-run inspect_presentation with that edit_id after structural changes; do not rely on conversation memory for fonts, colors, layouts, or slide structure.

3. Plan Before Editing

Define:

• Audience and decision or outcome
• Narrative arc and one message per slide
• Functional slide type for each slide
• Content-density budget
• Source slides/layouts to preserve or duplicate
• Slides that require new visuals or data

For substantive creation, write a compact slide plan before generating code or mutating the package. Read workflow-guide.md for the planning schema and route-specific procedure.

4. Establish the Design System

For source/template work, derive tokens from deck_spec: slide size, theme colors, theme fonts, explicit fonts, layout names, and repeated visual motifs. Preserve those tokens unless the user explicitly requests a redesign.

For a new deck, define one compact design system before creating slides. Read design-guide.md. Use pptxgenjs.md only for new-deck implementation details.

5. Execute Conservatively

Edit an Existing Deck

1. Call begin_presentation_edit once and retain its edit_id.
2. Analyze target slides.
3. Build one complete operation batch.
4. Call update_slide_content with the same edit_id.
5. Use find and replace for replace_text.

Unknown actions, empty find strings, duplicate slide batches, and unmatched text are errors. Correct the operation rather than substituting another workflow. Read editing-guide.md before editing.

Build from a Template

Prefer duplicating a representative source slide for each functional slide type. This best preserves placeholder geometry, visual chrome, and relationships.

1. Inspect the template and identify representative slides.
2. Duplicate the closest representative slide.
3. Replace its text/images in one batch.
4. Reorder slides.
5. Delete unused example slides only after the working deck is complete.

Use add_slide only when a suitable layout exists and a blank layout-based slide is genuinely required. Never delete all examples before identifying which slide types and layouts must be preserved.

Create a New Deck

Use create_presentation with PptxGenJS. Define shared constants and helper functions in each slide snippet as needed; option objects must not be reused across calls because PptxGenJS mutates them.

6. Validate and Render

After every mutation:

1. Call validate_presentation with presentation_name=edit_id.
2. Fix structural errors before any further work.
3. Review warnings for bounds, overlap, overflow risk, placeholders, and fonts.
4. Call preview_presentation_montage for the full-deck pass.
5. Call preview_presentation_slides only for affected slides at higher detail.
6. Fix issues and repeat validation plus targeted rendering.
7. Call finalize_presentation_edit once with the desired output name.

LibreOffice rendering is an approximation of Microsoft PowerPoint. Missing fonts or complex Office features require final inspection in PowerPoint when available. Read qa-guide.md for the acceptance criteria.

Do not declare success until:

• The package has zero structural errors.
• No unresolved placeholder or out-of-bounds warnings remain.
• Every changed slide has been rendered after its final edit.
• A final montage shows coherent content, design, and narrative flow.

Non-Negotiable Rules

• Preserve the uploaded source; edit only the hidden draft returned by begin_presentation_edit.
• Reuse one edit_id for the complete job. Never create v2, v3, or similar intermediate presentation files.
• Publish only once with finalize_presentation_edit.
• Batch related edits; conditional draft writes reject stale concurrent updates.
• Use 0-based slide indices for edit tools and 1-based numbers for preview tools.
• Use letters, numbers, and hyphens in presentation names.
• Do not use a generated approximation when the request requires source fidelity.
• Do not treat successful tool execution as proof of visual correctness.