Document PPTX Skill - Quick Reference

This skill enables creation and editing of PowerPoint presentations programmatically. Claude should apply these patterns when users need to generate pitch decks, reports, training materials, or automate presentation workflows.

Modern Best Practices (Jan 2026):

One slide = one takeaway; design the deck around a decision or audience goal.
Cite numbers (definition + timeframe + source) and keep a single source of truth for charts.
Accessibility: slide titles, reading order, contrast, and meaningful alt text; follow your org's standard (often WCAG 2.2 AA / EN 301 549).
Version decks and enforce review loops (avoid "final_final_v7.pptx").

Quick Reference

Task	Tool/Library	Language	When to Use
Create PPTX	python-pptx	Python	Presentations, slide decks
Create PPTX	PptxGenJS	Node.js	Server-side generation
Template-driven	PPTX-Automizer	Node.js	Corporate branding, template injection
Templates	python-pptx	Python	Master slides, themes
Charts	python-pptx	Python	Data visualizations
Extract content	python-pptx	Python	Parse existing decks

Selection guide

Prefer PPTX-Automizer when you have a branded .pptx template and need to "inject data into slides".
Prefer python-pptx in Python-heavy pipelines (reporting, notebooks, ETL).
Prefer PptxGenJS in Node.js pipelines (server-side generation, web apps).

Core Operations

Create Presentation (Python)

from pptx import Presentation

prs = Presentation()

# Title slide
title_layout = prs.slide_layouts[0]  # Title Slide layout
slide = prs.slides.add_slide(title_layout)
title = slide.shapes.title
subtitle = slide.placeholders[1]
title.text = "Q4 2025 Business Review"
subtitle.text = "Presented by Product Team"

# Content slide with bullets
bullet_layout = prs.slide_layouts[1]  # Title and Content
slide = prs.slides.add_slide(bullet_layout)
slide.shapes.title.text = "Key Highlights"
body = slide.placeholders[1]
tf = body.text_frame
tf.text = "Revenue grew 25% YoY"

p = tf.add_paragraph()
p.text = "Customer base expanded to 10,000+"
p.level = 0

p = tf.add_paragraph()
p.text = "New enterprise tier launched"
p.level = 1  # Indented bullet

# Add speaker notes
notes_slide = slide.notes_slide
notes_slide.notes_text_frame.text = "Emphasize the enterprise growth story here."

prs.save('presentation.pptx')

Create Presentation (Node.js)

import pptxgen from 'pptxgenjs';

async function main() {
  const pptx = new pptxgen();
  pptx.author = 'Product Team';
  pptx.title = 'Q4 Business Review';

  // Title slide
  let slide = pptx.addSlide();
  slide.addText('Q4 2025 Business Review', {
    x: 1, y: 2, w: '80%',
    fontSize: 36, bold: true, color: '363636',
    align: 'center',
  });
  slide.addText('Presented by Product Team', {
    x: 1, y: 3.5, w: '80%',
    fontSize: 18, color: '666666',
    align: 'center',
  });

  // Content slide with bullets
  slide = pptx.addSlide();
  slide.addText('Key Highlights', {
    x: 0.5, y: 0.5, w: '90%',
    fontSize: 28, bold: true,
  });
  slide.addText([
    { text: 'Revenue grew 25% YoY', options: { bullet: true } },
    { text: 'Customer base expanded to 10,000+', options: { bullet: true } },
    { text: 'New enterprise tier launched', options: { bullet: true, indentLevel: 1 } },
  ], { x: 0.5, y: 1.5, w: '90%', fontSize: 18 });

  // Add chart
  slide = pptx.addSlide();
  slide.addChart(pptx.ChartType.bar, [
    { name: 'Sales', labels: ['Q1', 'Q2', 'Q3', 'Q4'], values: [100, 150, 180, 225] },
  ], { x: 1, y: 1.5, w: 8, h: 4 });

  await pptx.writeFile({ fileName: 'presentation.pptx' });
}

main();

Add Charts (Python)

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

prs = Presentation()
slide = prs.slides.add_slide(prs.slide_layouts[6])  # Blank

# Chart data
chart_data = CategoryChartData()
chart_data.categories = ['Q1', 'Q2', 'Q3', 'Q4']
chart_data.add_series('Revenue', (100, 150, 180, 225))
chart_data.add_series('Expenses', (80, 90, 100, 110))

# Add chart
x, y, cx, cy = Inches(1), Inches(1.5), Inches(8), Inches(5)
chart = slide.shapes.add_chart(
    XL_CHART_TYPE.COLUMN_CLUSTERED,
    x, y, cx, cy,
    chart_data
).chart

chart.has_legend = True
chart.legend.include_in_layout = False

prs.save('charts.pptx')

Add Images and Tables

from pptx import Presentation
from pptx.util import Inches

prs = Presentation()
slide = prs.slides.add_slide(prs.slide_layouts[6])  # Blank

# Add image
slide.shapes.add_picture('logo.png', Inches(0.5), Inches(0.5), width=Inches(2))

# Add table
rows, cols = 4, 3
table = slide.shapes.add_table(rows, cols, Inches(1), Inches(2), Inches(8), Inches(3)).table

# Set column headers
table.cell(0, 0).text = 'Product'
table.cell(0, 1).text = 'Sales'
table.cell(0, 2).text = 'Growth'

# Fill data
data = [
    ('Widget A', '$1.2M', '+25%'),
    ('Widget B', '$800K', '+15%'),
    ('Widget C', '$500K', '+40%'),
]
for row_idx, (product, sales, growth) in enumerate(data, 1):
    table.cell(row_idx, 0).text = product
    table.cell(row_idx, 1).text = sales
    table.cell(row_idx, 2).text = growth

prs.save('images_and_tables.pptx')

Extract Content

from pptx import Presentation

prs = Presentation('existing.pptx')

for slide_num, slide in enumerate(prs.slides, 1):
    print(f"\n--- Slide {slide_num} ---")
    for shape in slide.shapes:
        if shape.has_text_frame:
            for paragraph in shape.text_frame.paragraphs:
                print(paragraph.text)
        if shape.has_table:
            table = shape.table
            for row in table.rows:
                row_text = [cell.text for cell in row.cells]
                print(row_text)

Slide Layout Reference

Layout Index	Name	Use Case
0	Title Slide	Opening, section dividers
1	Title and Content	Standard bullet slides
2	Section Header	Section transitions
3	Two Content	Side-by-side comparison
4	Comparison	Pros/cons, before/after
5	Title Only	Custom content placement
6	Blank	Full creative control
7	Content with Caption	Image + description

Presentation Structure Patterns

Pitch Deck (10 slides)

PITCH DECK STRUCTURE
1. Title (company, tagline)
2. Problem (pain point)
3. Solution (your product)
4. Market Size (TAM/SAM/SOM)
5. Business Model (how you make money)
6. Traction (metrics, growth)
7. Team (founders, advisors)
8. Competition (landscape)
9. Financials (projections)
10. Ask (funding, next steps)

Quarterly Review (8 slides)

QUARTERLY REVIEW STRUCTURE
1. Title + Agenda
2. Executive Summary (KPIs dashboard)
3. Revenue & Growth
4. Product Updates
5. Customer Highlights
6. Challenges & Learnings
7. Next Quarter Goals
8. Q&A

Do / Avoid (Dec 2025)

Do

Use a slide narrative plan (title + 1-sentence takeaway + supporting visual).
Put the executive summary up front for decision decks.
Keep speaker notes aligned with slide takeaways.

Avoid

Dense slides with multiple messages.
Uncited numbers or charts without definitions.
Pixelated screenshots and unreadable tables.

What Good Looks Like

Narrative: each slide has a 1-sentence takeaway and supports a single decision or insight.
Structure: opening executive summary + clear arc (problem -> insight -> recommendation -> next steps).
Data hygiene: charts show units, timeframes, sources, and consistent axes.
Design: consistent typography, spacing, and contrast; no "wall of text" slides.
Accessibility: reading order set and meaningful alt text where needed.

Optional: AI / Automation

Use only when explicitly requested and policy-compliant.

Draft slide headlines and speaker notes; humans verify accuracy and tone.
Generate chart code from data; humans verify labels, units, and sources.

Navigation

Resources

references/pptx-layouts.md - Master slides, themes, templates
references/pptx-charts.md - Chart types, data visualization
references/pptx-animations-transitions.md - Slide transitions, build animations, timing
references/pptx-speaker-notes-delivery.md - Speaker notes, presenter mode, delivery prep
references/pptx-template-branding.md - Corporate templates, multi-brand support
data/sources.json - Library documentation links

Templates

assets/pitch-deck.md - Startup pitch structure
assets/quarterly-review.md - Business review template
assets/slide-narrative-template.md - 1-sentence takeaway per slide

Related Skills

../document-pdf/SKILL.md - Export presentations to PDF
../document-xlsx/SKILL.md - Data source for charts
../product-management/SKILL.md - Product strategy decks

Fact-Checking

Use web search/web fetch to verify current external facts, versions, pricing, deadlines, regulations, or platform behavior before final answers.
Prefer primary sources; report source links and dates for volatile information.
If web access is unavailable, state the limitation and mark guidance as unverified.

document-pptx