officecli-pptx

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• SKILL.md

SKILL.md (first lines)

# OfficeCLI PPTX Skill

## Setup

If `officecli` is missing:

- **macOS / Linux**: `curl -fsSL https://d.officecli.ai/install.sh | bash`
- **Windows (PowerShell)**: `irm https://d.officecli.ai/install.ps1 | iex`

Verify with `officecli --version` (open a new terminal if PATH hasn't picked up). If install fails, download a binary from https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/releases.

## ⚠️ 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.**

```bash
officecli help pptx                         # List all pptx elements
officecli help pptx <element>               # Full element schema (e.g. shape, chart, animation, connector, zoom, group)
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`. Escaping happens at three layers — keep them separate (the CLI handles the second for you):

1. **Shell.** `$` in a value still belongs to the shell — single-quote the whole value: `--prop text='$15M'`. Double-quoted `"$15M"` gets expanded to `M`. The CLI does NOT unescape `\$` for you.
2. **CLI (`text=`).** The two-char escapes `\n` and `\t` ARE interpreted, consistently across pptx / docx / xlsx — `\n` is a line / paragraph break, `\t` is a tab. To produce a literal backslash-n in text, double it (`\\n`); this is rarely what you want.
3. **JSON (batch heredoc).** The recipes below pipe `cat <<EOF | officecli batch` **unquoted** so `$SLIDE` / `$FILE` expand inside the body. That same unquoted heredoc also expands a literal `$` in a value: `"$1.42"` silently becomes `.42` and `"$2.4B"` becomes `.4B` (`$1` / `$2` are empty shell params). **Escape currency as `\$`** — `"text":"\$1.42"` — which still lets `$SLIDE` expand. `\n` / `\t` inside the JSON work either way. A fully-quoted `<<'EOF'` protects every `$` but then `$SLIDE` won't expand, so only use it when the body has no shell variables. After writing money values, `view text` and confirm the `$` survived.

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.

| Element | Minimum | Typical | Min shape height |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slide title | **≥ 36pt** bold | 36–44pt | ≥ 2cm |
| Section / subtitle | ≥ 20pt | 20–24pt | ≥ 1.2cm |
| Body text | **≥ 18pt** | 18–22pt | ≥ 1cm |
| Caption / axis label | ≥ 10pt muted | 10–12pt | ≥ 0.6cm |

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) — a third *display* face is fine only for big numerals or the cover title, as long as that heading+body pair stays intact. One dominant brand color (60–70% weight) + one supporting + one accent. Never mix 4+ colors in body content. **The palettes and font pairings in Design Principles are a floor, not a menu:** if the user gave brand colors/fonts or an existing template, match those first; otherwise the named sets are calibrated seeds — blend or diverge freely, as long as the result isn't *worse* than them and still clears the contrast floor.

**Every slide carries a non-text visual — one that informs.** Shape, chart, icon, gradient band that carries meaning, not decoration. A bullet-only deck is interchangeable with a Word doc. Exceptions: literal quote slides, code blocks, a single summary-table slide.

**Less is more — every element earns its place.** The visual rule above guards against bullet-walls; it is not licence to clutter. Don't pad with decorative stats, icons, or filler sections that don't inform ("data slop"). If a slide feels empty, fix it with layout and whitespace, not invented content — cut scope rather than bulk it up, and flag a larger addition instead of making it unprompted.

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

**Copy reads human, not AI.** Titles orient on content, not punchline. No "It's not X. It's Y.", no manufactured tension, no faux-insight ("The magic moment"), no one-word drama ("Momentum."). Cut hype adjectives (seamless, robust, game-changing) — let the number carry it.

**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 off-edge, no clipped text in shapes.** `view issues` flags both (`shape_off_slide` + a text-fit hint). To fix a clip: grow the box or shorten the value — never trim content to fit.
- **Cover carries its orienting elements.** Title + subtitle + presenter/client + date + a brand band or key-takeaway strap — a title-only cover reads as a stub. Generous whitespace around them is still right; rich ≠ crowded.
- **Contrast.** `view issues` auto-flags the common case — opaque dark text on a shape's own dark fill (`low_contrast`). It can't see the rest: icon / chart-series fills, scheme/inherited colors, or text over a *separate* background shape. So on any fill with brightness < 30% (`1E2761`, `36454F`, deep forest / berry / cherry), still confirm every body run, card body, chart series, and icon is `FFFFFF` or brightness > 80% — mid-gray (`6B7B8D` ≈ 44%) reads on a laptop and vanishes on projection. Spot-check via `view html` after the dark-fill pass.

If any fails, STOP and fix before declaring done.

## 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 — pick one value (0.76 or 1.27cm) and use it everywhere; mixed gaps look unfinished.
- **≥ 20% negative space per slide.** Filling every pixel reads as amateur.
- **Compose, don't web-center.** Whitespace is structural: a slide top-weighted with open space in the lower third is correct composition, not an empty defect. Intentional asymmetry (content left, breathing room right) reads more designed than centering everything — don't fill a gap just because it's there.
- For card grids: `usable = 33.87 − 2·margin − (N−1)·gap`, then `col_width = usable / N`. Don't hand-pick x coordinates.

### Font pairings

Pair by document register, not by novelty. "Best For" is a prompt, not a decree; a pairing outside this table is fine if it fits — these 8 are seeds, not the set.

| Header | Body | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia | Calibri | Formal business, finance, executive reports |
| Arial Black | Arial | Bold marketing, product launches |
| Calibri | Calibri Light | Clean corporate, minimal design |
| Cambria | Calibri | Traditional professional, legal, academic |
| Trebuchet MS | Calibri | Friendly tech, startups, SaaS |
| Impact | Arial | Bold headlines, event decks, keynotes |
| Palatino | Garamond | Elegant editorial, luxury, nonprofit |
| Consolas | Calibri | Developer tools, technical / engineering |

Set both fonts explicitly on every shape (`--prop font=Georgia` on titles, `--prop font=Calibri` on body), not via theme inheritance.

### Color and contrast

The columns: **Primary** (dominant — 60–70% of weight, the color you see first), **Secondary** (supporting tone), **Accent** (sparing, one-hit emphasis), **Text** (body on light fills), **Muted** (captions / axis labels / footer).

| Theme | Primary | Secondary | Accent | Text | Muted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coral Energy | `F96167` | `F9E795` | `2F3C7E` | `333333` | `8B7E6A` |
| Midnight Executive | `1E2761` | `CADCFC` | `FFFFFF` | `333333` | `8899BB` |

From a83017083-lab/OpenWAaa, Apache-2.0.