PPT Generator

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that automatically generates presentations from a given topic.

LLM generation is offloaded to the client. The server owns the prompts, the output JSON schemas, and all deterministic post-processing (validation, layout, lint, HTML/PPTX render); it never calls a model itself. Each generation step is a prepare_ / ingest_ pair — prepare_ hands the client the prompt + schema, the client generates the JSON, and ingest_ validates and post-processes it. This means no AWS/Anthropic credentials and no per-call model cost on the server side — the client's own model does the generating. See the ADR index under docs/adr/ for the design rationale.

Prerequisites

Python 3.13+
uv package manager
Claude Code (recommended — the plugin bundles the MCP server + workflow skills). Any MCP client that can generate JSON also works — no model API keys needed on the server.

1. Install as a Claude Code plugin (recommended)

The repo ships as a Claude Code plugin (manifest at .claude-plugin/plugin.json) that registers the MCP server and the ppt-outline / ppt-design / ppt-modify / ppt-visual-qa skills which drive the prepare→generate→ingest workflow.

Add the marketplace and install the plugin from within Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add haandol/ppt-generator
/plugin install ppt-generator@ppt-generator

The plugin runs the MCP server via uv run against the plugin's own checkout (${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}), so uv must be on your PATH and the plugin's dependencies must be synced. If the server fails to start, sync deps once from the plugin directory:

uv sync   # run inside the installed plugin's directory

No model API keys are required — the client supplies the generation.

Alternative — clone and register the MCP server directly

If you are not using the Claude Code plugin system (e.g. Kiro / Claude Desktop, or you prefer a local clone), clone the repo and register just the MCP server:

git clone https://github.com/haandol/ppt-generator.git
cd ppt-generator
uv sync

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ppt-generator": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["--directory", "/path/to/ppt-generator", "run", "ppt-generator"]
    }
  }
}

Replace /path/to/ppt-generator with the actual project path. This registers the MCP server only; the workflow skills are Claude Code plugin skills.

Use it as a skill in Kiro / Codex

The workflow is just the MCP server plus the prepare_/ingest_ handshake, so any MCP client that can generate JSON can drive it — including Kiro and Codex. The repo ships the entry points each harness loads automatically (Kiro steering at .kiro/steering/ppt-generator.md, Codex guidance in AGENTS.md), so you get the same skill-level guidance without duplicating the prompts.

First clone and sync once (no model API keys needed):

git clone https://github.com/haandol/ppt-generator.git
cd ppt-generator
uv sync

Kiro — copy the bundled example and fix the path, then Kiro auto-loads the steering:

cp .kiro/settings/mcp.json.example .kiro/settings/mcp.json
# edit .kiro/settings/mcp.json → replace /path/to/ppt-generator with your clone path

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ppt-generator": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["--directory", "/path/to/ppt-generator", "run", "ppt-generator"],
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": ["export_html", "load_project_status", "list_projects"]
    }
  }
}

Use ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json instead for a global (all-workspace) registration.

Codex — register the MCP server via CLI or ~/.codex/config.toml:

codex mcp add ppt-generator -- uv --directory /path/to/ppt-generator run ppt-generator

# ~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.ppt-generator]
command = "uv"
args = ["--directory", "/path/to/ppt-generator", "run", "ppt-generator"]

Codex reads the repo's AGENTS.md for the prepare/ingest workflow guidance. See docs/harness/kiro-codex.md for the full walkthrough (Visual QA setup, custom Codex prompt, per-harness entry-point table).

For the full list of environment variables and detailed client / plugin configurations, see docs/harness/environment.md.

2. Usage

You interact in natural language; the client drives the prepare→generate→ingest handshake behind the scenes (guided by the bundled skills). You don't call the prepare_/ingest_ tools by hand — just describe what you want.

Step 1 — Generate or Import PPT

Create new — Prepare your content in a file like context.md, then request via your MCP client:

Read @context.md and generate a PPT using ppt-generator.

The client generates the outline JSON, then the per-slide design specs, following the prompts and schemas the server hands back — no model credentials on the server side.

Import existing PPTX — You can also import an existing PPTX file for editing:

Import @presentation.pptx using import_pptx.

Importing automatically generates an HTML preview. You can skip Step 2 and directly use per-slide editing, Visual QA, and export features. Parsing is deterministic with no LLM calls.

Step 2 — Provide Project Information

Before outline generation, you will be asked for the following:

Presentation purpose — e.g., "internal tech sharing", "client proposal", "conference talk"
Presentation duration — 3–60 minutes (default: 15 minutes)
Audience type — general / technical / executive
Presenter info — name / title / organization

The flow proceeds Outline → DESIGN.md (design intent) → per-slide Design Spec. You review and confirm the outline before slides are generated, and can edit at each stage.

Step 3 — Edit Individual Slides (Optional)

After design spec generation (or PPTX import), you can modify individual slides. Instead of regenerating everything, you can add, update, delete, move, or make narrow single-component edits:

Add a bar chart comparing performance data below the diagram on slide 3.
Slide 5 has too much text — reduce it to key bullet points with icon layout.
Add a Q&A slide after slide 7.
Make the "LLM" box on slide 4 red.
Move slide 6 to position 2.

Add/update/component edits use the prepare/ingest handshake; move and delete are pure file operations with no generation.

Step 4 — Visual QA (Optional)

Detects and fixes visual defects (line breaks, overlaps, margin misalignment, etc.). The server captures screenshots (Playwright); the client analyzes them and generates fixes via the prepare/ingest handshake. Does not run automatically — must be explicitly requested.

Prerequisites:

playwright install chromium

Run visual QA.

Visual QA is an opt-in tool. A suggestion message appears after design spec generation, but it will not run until explicitly requested. If Playwright is not installed, it can be skipped without affecting existing functionality.

Step 5 — Export Files

After the design spec is finalized, request an HTML preview:

Export as HTML and open it.

To export in PPTX format:

Export as PPT and open it.

Debug Logging

The MCP server uses stdio communication, so stdout logs cannot be viewed directly. Enable file logging to write debug-level logs to a file.

Configuration

When registering the MCP server directly, add PPT_LOG_DIR to the env section:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ppt-generator": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["--directory", "/path/to/ppt-generator", "run", "ppt-generator"],
      "env": {
        "PPT_LOG_DIR": "/tmp/ppt-generator"
      }
    }
  }
}

When installed as a Claude Code plugin, set PPT_LOG_DIR in your Claude Code MCP environment for the ppt-generator server. See docs/harness/environment.md.

Environment Variables

| Variable | Description | | --- | --- | | VISUAL_QA_PARALLEL | Number of parallel screenshot-capture workers for Visual QA (Playwright, server-side; default: 8). Analysis/fix generation runs on the client | | VISUAL_QA_MAX_ITERATIONS | Maximum fix iterations for Visual QA (default: 2) | | SCREENSHOT_TIMEOUT | Per-slide screenshot capture timeout in seconds (default: 60) | | PPT_LOG_DIR | Directory for per-project log files (recommended). e.g., /tmp/ppt-generator | | PPT_LOG_FILE | Single log file path (legacy). Ignored when PPT_LOG_DIR is set |

Log files rotate at 10MB with 2 backups retained.
When PPT_LOG_DIR is set, a <project_id>.log file is created for each project.

Viewing Logs

# View logs for a specific project
tail -f /tmp/ppt-generator/<project_id>.log

# View all logs
tail -f /tmp/ppt-generator/*.log

Development

uv run ppt-generator          # Run MCP server (stdio mode)
uv run pytest                  # Run all tests

Documentation

Architecture — prepare/ingest handshake, MCP tool list, workflows, project structure
Environment & Config — environment variables, MCP client / plugin config
Kiro / Codex Setup — use the workflow as a skill in Kiro and Codex
Schemas — domain models, client output models, component_hint table
Testing — test writing rules and patterns
ADR — Architecture Decision Records (the client-LLM offload decision lives under the offload/ category)
Contributing Guide

ppt-generator