Officecli PPTX

OfficeCLI PPTX Skill

Runtime contract

Wayland Desktop supplies a checksum-pinned native officecli runtime. Do not install, update, download, or replace it from this skill.

Run officecli --version before authoring. The native low-level contract requires the exact verified 1.0.136 version; use officecli --help to verify the top-level commands. If the runtime is missing, incompatible, or unverified, stop native authoring and use Wayland's reinstall/update recovery path. Never curl an installer, invoke PowerShell bootstrap code, or fall back to the separately hosted-credit generator without explicit network and cost approval.

⚠️ Help-First Rule

This skill teaches what good slides look like, not every command flag. When a property name, enum value, or alias is uncertain, consult help BEFORE guessing.

officecli help pptx                         # List all pptx elements
officecli help pptx <element>               # Full element schema (e.g. shape, chart, animation, connector, zoom, group, background)
officecli help pptx <verb> <element>        # Verb-scoped (e.g. add shape, set slide)
officecli help pptx <element> --json        # Machine-readable schema

Help reflects the installed CLI version. When skill and help disagree, help is authoritative. Triggers to run help immediately: UNSUPPORTED props: warning, unknown animation preset, connector.shape= enum drifts, prop-vs-alias (lineWidth vs line.width, color vs font.color).

Shell & Execution Discipline

Shell quoting (zsh / bash). ALWAYS quote element paths ("/slide[1]/...") - zsh globs unquoted [1] to no matches found. Escapes happen at two layers; the CLI handles one for you:

1. Shell. $ in a value still belongs to the shell - single-quote the whole value: --prop text='$15M'. Double-quoted "$15M" gets expanded to M. The CLI does NOT unescape \$ for you.
2. CLI (text=). The two-char escapes \n and \t ARE interpreted, consistently across pptx / docx / xlsx - \n is a line / paragraph break, \t is a tab. To produce a literal backslash-n in text, double it (\\n); this is rarely what you want.
3. JSON (batch). Real newlines / tabs can also be passed as "\n" / "\t" inside a <<'EOF' heredoc; both forms produce the same result.

If in doubt, view text after writing and compare character-for-character.

Incremental execution. One command → check exit code → continue. A 50-command script that fails at command 3 cascades silently. After any structural op (new slide, chart, animation, connector) run get before stacking more.

Requirements for Outputs

These are the deliverable standards every deck MUST meet. Violating any one = not done, regardless of content quality.

All decks

One idea per slide. If a slide needs a second title to explain what it covers, split it. Dense "everything about X" slides lose the audience inside 3 seconds. Use a section divider to group related one-idea slides, not a mega-slide.

Explicit type hierarchy - do NOT rely on theme defaults. Theme defaults drift between masters. Set sizes explicitly on every text shape.

Rule of thumb: min shape height ≈ font_pt × 0.05cm. An 18pt sublabel in a 0.8cm-tall box will overflow - view annotated catches this.

Title must be ≥ 2× body size (36pt over 20pt works; 28pt over 20pt looks timid). Four legit exceptions to body ≥ 18pt: chart axis labels, legends, footer / page number, and ≤ 5-word KPI sublabels (e.g. "Active users"). Descriptive sentences must be ≥ 18pt. Left-align body; center only titles and hero numbers. If "the cards won't fit", drop cards instead of shrinking font.

Two fonts max, one palette. One heading font + one body font (e.g. Georgia + Calibri). One dominant brand color (60–70% weight) + one supporting + one accent. Never mix 4+ colors in body content.

Every slide carries a non-text visual. Shape, chart, icon, gradient band. A bullet-only deck is interchangeable with a Word doc. Exceptions: literal quote slides, code blocks, a single summary-table slide.

Speaker notes on every content slide. --type notes --prop text="...". The speaker needs a script; the audience shouldn't read the slide verbatim.

Preserve existing templates. When a file already has a theme and masters, match them. Existing conventions override these guidelines.

Visual delivery floor (applies to EVERY deck)

Before declaring done, the per-slide render (see QA) MUST satisfy:

• No placeholder tokens rendered as content. {{name}}, $fy$24, <TODO>, lorem, xxxx, empty ()/[] in chart titles never appear.
• No overflow past slide edges. For 16:9 (33.87 × 19.05cm), every shape satisfies x + width ≤ 33.87cm AND y + height ≤ 19.05cm. get and check - don't eyeball.
• No text overflow inside shapes. A 72pt KPI in a 4cm-tall box clips. Shrink the number, enlarge the box, or shorten the text - never trim content to fit.
• Cover slide is content-rich. Title + subtitle + presenter/client block + date + a brand band or key-takeaway strap. A cover with 80% whitespace reads as a stub.
• Contrast. On fills with brightness < 30% (1E2761, 36454F, 000000, deep forest / berry / cherry), every run of body text, card body, chart series fill, and icon color must be FFFFFF or brightness > 80%. Mid-gray (6B7B8D ≈ 44%) reads fine on a laptop and vanishes on projection. Verify via view html after the dark-fill pass.
• No \$ literals in slide text. If view text shows a literal \$, the shell didn't unescape it (the CLI does NOT interpret \$). Single-quote the value: --prop text='$15M'. Note: \n and \t ARE interpreted as a real paragraph break / tab; seeing those as literals means the value was double-escaped (\\n).

If any fails, STOP and fix before declaring done.

KPI fit math

KPI text must fit the card - pre-compute, don't eyeball. In a 7cm-wide card at 60pt Georgia bold, values with $ and . (wide glyphs) wrap at 4 characters. $9.4M breaks the card; use $9M + "USD millions" sublabel, or move to the 3-card 9.78cm layout. Upper bound: max_size_pt ≈ card_width_cm × denom, where denom = 10 for 1–2 chars, 7 for 3–4 chars, 5 for 5+ chars.

layout=blank and alt text

• layout=blank is the default for custom designs. Titles become plain shape elements, not placeholders. view outline / view issues reporting (untitled) / Slide has no title is expected, not a defect. Use layout=title + placeholder[title] only when screen-reader outline compatibility matters.
• Alt text verification. view stats "Pictures without alt text: 0" is a false-positive zero (alt auto-fills to filename) - verify via view annotated.

Design Principles

A deck is not a document. The audience has 3 seconds to get each slide. Before adding anything, ask: "If the audience reads only the biggest element and glances once, do they get the point?" If they have to read the bullets, the biggest element is wrong.

Grid, margins, negative space

Standard widescreen is 33.87 × 19.05cm. Treat it as a 12-column grid internally:

• Edge margin ≥ 1.27cm (0.5") on all sides.
• Inter-block gap ≥ 0.76cm (0.3") between cards / columns / rows.
• ≥ 20% negative space per slide. Filling every pixel reads as amateur.
• For card grids: usable = 33.87 − 2·margin − (N−1)·gap, then col_width = usable / N. Don't hand-pick x coordinates.

Font pairings

Two fonts max - one for headings, one for body. Pair by document register, not by novelty. "Best For" is a prompt, not a decree; if the topic matches a row, use it as the default and move on.

Set both fonts explicitly on every shape (--prop font=Georgia on title shapes, --prop font=Calibri on body shapes) - theme-default inheritance drifts between masters.

Color and contrast

One dominant color does 60–70% of visual weight, two supporting tones, one accent used sparingly. Never use 4+ colors in body content. Columns are: Primary (dominant - the one color you see first), Secondary (the supporting tone), Accent (sparing, one-hit emphasis), Text (body on light fills), Muted (captions / axis labels / footer).

Pick by topic, not by default - finance reads Midnight Executive, a product launch reads Coral Energy, safety / LOTO reads Cherry Bold. If the closest named theme is not quite right, blend (e.g. Forest primary + gold D4A843 accent). Use Text on light fills, Muted for captions / axis / footer, FFFFFF or Secondary for body on dark fills.

On dark backgrounds, text and chart series follow the Hard rules contrast floor above.

Chart-choice decision table

Wrong chart type kills the 3-second test:

Rule of thumb: if > 3 series and > 8 categories, split into two charts or switch to a table.

Animation restraint

Each animation is a cognitive interrupt. Limits:

• ≤ 1 animation per slide, duration ≤ 600ms.
• Use only fade, appear, or a single zoom-entrance on a hero slide.
• Never: bounce, swivel, fly-from-edge, spin, multi-object choreography.
• Animation is runtime-only - verify in a live presentation viewer.

Layout patterns & data display

Vary layout across slides - repeating the same pattern makes every slide feel identical. Pick one per slide from these building blocks:

Data display quick rules:

• One big number reads faster than a chart - use a shape with 60-72pt bold for a single KPI.
• Comparison columns (before/after, A vs B) beat a table for 2-3 options.
• Timelines and process flows: numbered step shapes + connectors, not a bullet list.

Visual motif commitment

Pick ONE distinctive element (rounded image frames, section numbers in filled circles, single-side border band, diagonal accent strips) and carry it to every slide. Declare it in your build plan first: ## Motif: numbered circles in brand color.

What to avoid (common design mistakes)

These are the patterns that make a deck look AI-generated or amateur:

• NEVER place a decorative line under slide titles. Underline stripes below headings are the single most common AI-slide tell. Use whitespace or background color change instead.
• Don't repeat the same layout across consecutive slides. Alternate between two-column, callout, grid, and half-bleed patterns. Same layout = same visual rhythm = audience tunes out.
• Don't center body text. Left-align all paragraphs, lists, card descriptions. Center only slide titles and hero numbers.
• Don't default to blue because it feels "professional." Pick the palette that fits the topic - finance reads navy, sustainability reads forest, energy reads coral.
• Don't use inconsistent spacing. Choose either 0.76cm or 1.27cm as your inter-block gap and use it everywhere. Mixed gaps look unfinished.
• Don't create text-only slides. If a slide has only a title and bullets, add a supporting shape, chart, icon, or image. A purely textual slide is a Word paragraph.
• Don't style one slide and leave the rest plain. Commit fully or keep it simple throughout - partial styling reads as abandoned.

Common Workflow

1. Open/close mode. Always officecli open <file> at start + officecli close <file> at end. Resident is the default, not an optimization. Use batch for repetitive shape grids.
2. Orient. New deck: officecli create "$FILE". Existing: officecli view "$FILE" outline first. Never edit blind.
3. Build in display order. Add slides in audience-view order: cover → agenda → section-1 divider → section-1 content → section-2 divider → … → closing. --index on slide add works, but linear append keeps the build script readable and avoids index-arithmetic bugs. Before final delivery, confirm slide count + narrative arc match your build plan. Gate 3's order-sanity check catches cases where the cover ends up as slide 11 of 14 instead of slide 1.
4. Incremental per slide. Create slide + background, then title, then supporting shapes / charts / connectors. Always layout=blank for custom designs. After each structural op, get /slide[N] --depth 1 to confirm shape IDs.
5. Format to spec. Per the Requirements table; formatting is deliverable, not polish.
6. Close + verify. officecli close writes the ZIP. Always open in the target presentation viewer before shipping - chart colors, animations, fonts, and zoom are runtime features view html can't render. Full verification in QA below.
7. QA - assume there are problems. Fix-and-verify until a cycle finds zero new issues.

Quick Start

Minimal viable deck: cover + one content slide + notes. $FILE stands in for your filename.

FILE="deck.pptx"
officecli create "$FILE"
officecli open "$FILE"

# Cover - dark fill, centered title
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=1E2761
officecli add "$FILE" /slide[1] --type shape --prop text="FY26 Strategic Review" \
  --prop x=2cm --prop y=7cm --prop width=29.87cm --prop height=3cm \
  --prop font=Georgia --prop size=44 --prop bold=true --prop color=FFFFFF --prop align=center

# Content - white fill, title + body + notes
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=FFFFFF
officecli add "$FILE" /slide[2] --type shape --prop text="Revenue grew 18% YoY" \
  --prop x=1.5cm --prop y=1.2cm --prop width=30cm --prop height=2cm \
  --prop font=Georgia --prop size=36 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761
officecli add "$FILE" /slide[2] --type shape --prop text="Enterprise renewals + new EMEA region drove the beat; NRR held at 118%." \
  --prop x=1.5cm --prop y=4cm --prop width=30cm --prop height=3cm \
  --prop font=Calibri --prop size=20 --prop color=333333
officecli add "$FILE" /slide[2] --type notes --prop text="Lead with the 18% beat, preview EMEA."

officecli close "$FILE"
officecli validate "$FILE"

Shape of every build: open → slide+background → title → body → notes → close → validate.

Reading & Analysis

Start wide, then narrow. outline first, view text / get / query once you know where to look.

officecli view "$FILE" outline          # slide count + titles
officecli view "$FILE" annotated        # complete per-slide breakdown with fonts, sizes, tables, charts
officecli view "$FILE" text --start 1 --end 5   # text dump (does NOT extract table cells - use get)
officecli view "$FILE" issues           # empty slides, overflow hints
officecli view "$FILE" stats            # counts + missing alt (false-positive zero - verify via view annotated)

Inspect one element. XPath-style paths, 1-based. ALWAYS quote. Prefer @name= / @id= selectors over positional [N] (stable across reorderings). [last()] works. Add --json for machine output.

officecli get "$FILE" "/slide[1]" --depth 1              # shape list with IDs and names
officecli get "$FILE" "/slide[1]/shape[@name=Title]"
officecli get "$FILE" "/slide[1]/table[1]" --depth 3     # table rows / cells

Query across the deck. CSS-like selectors; operators =, !=, ~=, >=, <=, [attr], :contains(), :no-alt. help pptx query lists queryable element types.

officecli query "$FILE" 'shape:contains("Revenue")'
officecli query "$FILE" 'picture:no-alt'                 # accessibility gap
officecli query "$FILE" 'shape[fill=1E2761]'             # color match
officecli query "$FILE" 'shape[width>=10cm]'             # numeric

query --json output schema. Results wrap in .data.results[] - jq -r '.data.results[0].format.id', NOT .[0].id. Shape name is .name; fill is .format.fill; textColor is .format.textColor.

Visual preview (LEAD).

officecli view "$FILE" html                # prints an HTML preview path; Read it for per-slide visual audit (best structural ground truth)
officecli view "$FILE" svg --start 3 --end 3   # single slide SVG (charts + gradients do NOT render in SVG)