PowerPoint presentations

Follow an explicit user or applicable AGENTS.md requirement for an environment or library. Otherwise call load_workspace_dependencies and use its Python executable and bundled presentation libraries. Do not install npm or pip packages or locate a system interpreter for the default workflow. If the tool is unavailable, use an already configured environment and report a missing dependency only when it prevents the requested operation.

Keep scripts and output files in the task workspace. The runtime and skill directory contain shared read-only resources. Match the requested slide language and the supplied presentation's design when editing it.

Create and edit

Use python-pptx to inspect or modify an existing presentation. Inspect slide layouts, text runs, images, tables, and charts before editing. Change only the requested content, preserve mixed text formatting, and save to a new file unless the user requests an in-place edit. Rebuilding slides can discard unsupported animation, SmartArt, or other extension content.

For a new deck, use python-pptx with editable text, tables, and charts. Use local image assets rather than network-dependent image URLs. Set slide dimensions, text sizes, and chart data explicitly.

A minimal editable deck, run with the selected Python executable:

from pptx import Presentation
from pptx.chart.data import CategoryChartData
from pptx.enum.chart import XL_CHART_TYPE
from pptx.util import Inches, Pt

presentation = Presentation()
presentation.slide_width = Inches(13.333)
presentation.slide_height = Inches(7.5)
slide = presentation.slides.add_slide(presentation.slide_layouts[6])
title = slide.shapes.add_textbox(Inches(0.6), Inches(0.4), Inches(12), Inches(0.8))
run = title.text_frame.paragraphs[0].add_run()
run.text = "Quarterly report"
run.font.size = Pt(30)
data = CategoryChartData()
data.categories = ["Q1", "Q2"]
data.add_series("Revenue", [12, 18])
slide.shapes.add_chart(XL_CHART_TYPE.COLUMN_CLUSTERED,
                       Inches(0.8), Inches(1.6), Inches(11.5), Inches(4.8), data)
presentation.save("report.pptx")

Use Inches or Cm for positions and sizes and Pt for font sizes. To edit a generated title while retaining its other slides and charts:

from pptx import Presentation

presentation = Presentation("report.pptx")
for shape in presentation.slides[0].shapes:
    if shape.has_text_frame and shape.text == "Quarterly report":
        shape.text_frame.paragraphs[0].runs[0].text = "Quarterly results"
presentation.save("report-edited.pptx")

Check that text and images fit the slide dimensions, titles form a useful sequence, and chart labels agree with source values. A native chart's embedded workbook is part of the deliverable and must contain the intended data. Library support for writing PPTX is not a rendering engine or a guarantee that every PowerPoint feature survives editing.

Check and deliver

Run the shared checker with the selected Python executable; <skill-directory> is this loaded skill's resource base:

<python> <skill-directory>/../scripts/check_office.py <presentation.pptx> --out <checks.json>

It checks ZIP/XML integrity and internal relationships and reports slide count and extracted text. Use repeated --contains TEXT arguments for required slide text and --count N for a requested slide count; --contains excludes chart text and speaker notes. Reopen the file to check the requested edits, chart data, and notes. Structural success does not establish text fit, alignment, readable contrast, or rendering fidelity.

Render for requested images/PDFs or an actionable layout check. Before generating images only for inspection, establish that the current model accepts images. If it does not, finish structural and content checks and state that visual layout was not inspected; do not rasterize slides the model cannot read, retry read_image, or choose a second model.

Use the bundled LibreOffice binaries unless the user explicitly asks not to use them. Without that explicit opt-out, never search for or invoke system LibreOffice, soffice, an application-installed binary, or a downloaded replacement. If the bundled CLI is unavailable or fails, report that failure instead of substituting another executable.

Use the libreofficeKit.node and libreofficeKit.cli absolute paths supplied in the loaded skill's Installed LibreOffice Kit section. Run Node with the CLI entry as its first argument, then capabilities --json once. For the bundled runtime, these paths work from the task directory; do not search PATH, guess a package directory, use npx, or install a renderer. Quote each path separately; PowerShell also requires the & invocation operator. The examples below use <node> and <cli> for those two returned paths. Render slides directly:

"<node>" "<cli>" render --input report.pptx --output-dir preview-v1 --pages 1,3,4 --dpi 144
"<node>" "<cli>" convert --input report.pptx --output report.pdf

Batch affected slides in one call; inspect every slide for a new deck or a whole-deck design review. Read the returned manifest and selected image paths, including missing-font diagnostics. Outputs must be new directories/files. Retain and reuse previews for the same saved source; rerender only after edits, for missing slides, or to diagnose a concrete failure. Check clipping, alignment, contrast, and chart labels. Do not substitute guessed geometry for visual evidence or repeat successful exports of unchanged slides.

If this deployment explicitly disables the CLI but render_document is provided, call it without pages first and inspect images only on a ready result; status: "skipped" ends visual checking. If rendering is unavailable or fails, retain the usable source and report the inspection limit. Do not search for COM automation, install conversion packages, or build another renderer for routine QA. LibreOffice previews do not certify pixel-identical PowerPoint or Keynote output, animation, or media playback. Deliver once the requested content and applicable checks pass.

Call present({"files":[{"path":"report-edited.pptx"}]}) with the actual final PPTX path. It exposes the current source file without copying or preserving its bytes, so keep that file in place and leave intermediate images and reports out of delivery unless requested. If present is unavailable, use the session's supported file delivery method.