ppt-editing-skill
Edit existing PowerPoint files or templates with XML-safe workflows. Use for template-based deck updates: analyze layouts, map content to slides, duplicate/reorder/delete slides safely, edit slide XML in parallel, clean orphaned assets, and repack validated PPTX output.
Best use case
ppt-editing-skill is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.
Edit existing PowerPoint files or templates with XML-safe workflows. Use for template-based deck updates: analyze layouts, map content to slides, duplicate/reorder/delete slides safely, edit slide XML in parallel, clean orphaned assets, and repack validated PPTX output.
Teams using ppt-editing-skill should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.
When to use this skill
- You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.
When not to use this skill
- You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
- You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.
Installation
Claude Code / Cursor / Codex
Manual Installation
- Download SKILL.md from GitHub
- Place it in
.claude/skills/ppt-editing-skill/SKILL.mdinside your project - Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill
How ppt-editing-skill Compares
| Feature / Agent | ppt-editing-skill | Standard Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Not specified | Limited / Varies |
| Context Awareness | High | Baseline |
| Installation Complexity | Unknown | N/A |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this skill do?
Edit existing PowerPoint files or templates with XML-safe workflows. Use for template-based deck updates: analyze layouts, map content to slides, duplicate/reorder/delete slides safely, edit slide XML in parallel, clean orphaned assets, and repack validated PPTX output.
Where can I find the source code?
You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.
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SKILL.md Source
# Editing Presentations
## Template-Based Workflow
When using an existing presentation as a template:
1. **Copy and analyze**:
```bash
cp /path/to/user-provided.pptx template.pptx
python -m markitdown template.pptx > template.md
```
Review `template.md` to see placeholder text and slide structure.
2. **Plan slide mapping**: For each content section, choose a template slide.
⚠️ **USE VARIED LAYOUTS** — monotonous presentations are a common failure mode. Don't default to basic title + bullet slides. Actively seek out:
- Multi-column layouts (2-column, 3-column)
- Image + text combinations
- Full-bleed images with text overlay
- Quote or callout slides
- Section dividers
- Stat/number callouts
- Icon grids or icon + text rows
**Avoid:** Repeating the same text-heavy layout for every slide.
Match content type to layout style (e.g., key points → bullet slide, team info → multi-column, testimonials → quote slide).
3. **Unpack**
4. **Build presentation** (do this yourself, not with subagents):
- Delete unwanted slides (remove from `<p:sldIdLst>`)
- Duplicate slides you want to reuse (`add_slide.py`)
- Reorder slides in `<p:sldIdLst>`
- **Complete all structural changes before step 5**
5. **Edit content**: Update text in each `slide{N}.xml`.
**Use subagents here if available** — slides are separate XML files, so subagents can edit in parallel.
6. **Clean**
7. **Pack**
## Output Structure
Copy the user-provided file to `template.pptx` in cwd. This preserves the original and gives a predictable name for all downstream scripts.
```bash
cp /path/to/user-provided.pptx template.pptx
```
```text
./
├── template.pptx # Copy of user-provided file (never modified)
├── template.md # markitdown extraction
├── unpacked/ # Editable XML tree
└── edited.pptx # Final repacked deck
```
Minimum expected deliverable: `edited.pptx`.
---
## Scripts
| Script | Purpose |
|--------|---------|
| `unpack.py` | Extract and pretty-print PPTX |
| `add_slide.py` | Duplicate slide or create from layout |
| `clean.py` | Remove orphaned files |
| `pack.py` | Repack with validation |
Removes slides not in `<p:sldIdLst>`, unreferenced media, orphaned rels.
Always write to `/tmp/` first, then copy to the final path. Python's `zipfile` module uses `seek` internally, which fails on some volume mounts (e.g. Docker bind mounts). Writing to a local temp path avoids this.
Validates, repairs, condenses XML, re-encodes smart quotes.
---
## Slide Operations
Slide order is in `ppt/presentation.xml` → `<p:sldIdLst>`.
**Reorder**: Rearrange `<p:sldId>` elements.
**Delete**: Remove `<p:sldId>`, then run `clean.py`.
**Add**: Use `add_slide.py`. Never manually copy slide files—the script handles notes references, Content_Types.xml, and relationship IDs that manual copying misses.
---
## Editing Content
**Subagents:** If available, use them here (after completing step 4). Each slide is a separate XML file, so subagents can edit in parallel. In your prompt to subagents, include:
- The slide file path(s) to edit
- **"Use the Edit tool for all changes"**
- The formatting rules and common pitfalls below
For each slide:
1. Read the slide's XML
2. Identify ALL placeholder content—text, images, charts, icons, captions
3. Replace each placeholder with final content
**Use the Edit tool, not sed or Python scripts.** The Edit tool forces specificity about what to replace and where, yielding better reliability.
### Formatting Rules
- **Bold all headers, subheadings, and inline labels**: Use `b="1"` on `<a:rPr>`. This includes:
- Slide titles
- Section headers within a slide
- Inline labels like (e.g.: "Status:", "Description:") at the start of a line
- **Never use unicode bullets (•)**: Use proper list formatting with `<a:buChar>` or `<a:buAutoNum>`
- **Bullet consistency**: Let bullets inherit from the layout. Only specify `<a:buChar>` or `<a:buNone>`.
---
## Common Pitfalls
### Template Adaptation
When source content has fewer items than the template:
- **Remove excess elements entirely** (images, shapes, text boxes), don't just clear text
- Check for orphaned visuals after clearing text content
- Run content QA with `markitdown` to catch mismatched counts
When replacing text with different length content:
- **Shorter replacements**: Usually safe
- **Longer replacements**: May overflow or wrap unexpectedly
- Verify with `markitdown` after text changes
- Consider truncating or splitting content to fit the template's design constraints
**Template slots ≠ Source items**: If template has 4 team members but source has 3 users, delete the 4th member's entire group (image + text boxes), not just the text.
### Multi-Item Content
If source has multiple items (numbered lists, multiple sections), create separate `<a:p>` elements for each — **never concatenate into one string**.
**❌ WRONG** — all items in one paragraph:
```xml
<a:p>
<a:r><a:rPr .../><a:t>Step 1: Do the first thing. Step 2: Do the second thing.</a:t></a:r>
</a:p>
```
**✅ CORRECT** — separate paragraphs with bold headers:
```xml
<a:p>
<a:pPr algn="l"><a:lnSpc><a:spcPts val="3919"/></a:lnSpc></a:pPr>
<a:r><a:rPr lang="en-US" sz="2799" b="1" .../><a:t>Step 1</a:t></a:r>
</a:p>
<a:p>
<a:pPr algn="l"><a:lnSpc><a:spcPts val="3919"/></a:lnSpc></a:pPr>
<a:r><a:rPr lang="en-US" sz="2799" .../><a:t>Do the first thing.</a:t></a:r>
</a:p>
<a:p>
<a:pPr algn="l"><a:lnSpc><a:spcPts val="3919"/></a:lnSpc></a:pPr>
<a:r><a:rPr lang="en-US" sz="2799" b="1" .../><a:t>Step 2</a:t></a:r>
</a:p>
<!-- continue pattern -->
```
Copy `<a:pPr>` from the original paragraph to preserve line spacing. Use `b="1"` on headers.
### Smart Quotes
Handled automatically by unpack/pack. But the Edit tool converts smart quotes to ASCII.
**When adding new text with quotes, use XML entities:**
```xml
<a:t>the “Agreement”</a:t>
```
| Character | Name | Unicode | XML Entity |
|-----------|------|---------|------------|
| `"` | Left double quote | U+201C | `“` |
| `"` | Right double quote | U+201D | `”` |
| `'` | Left single quote | U+2018 | `‘` |
| `'` | Right single quote | U+2019 | `’` |
### Other
- **Whitespace**: Use `xml:space="preserve"` on `<a:t>` with leading/trailing spaces
- **XML parsing**: Use `defusedxml.minidom`, not `xml.etree.ElementTree` (corrupts namespaces)Related Skills
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