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Update docx, pptx, and xlsx skills (#1447)

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Add support for template formats (.dotx, .potx, .xltx) across validation
and the helper scripts.

Consolidate the shared office helpers into a single module, replacing the
pack/unpack pipeline with explicit zip/unzip steps. Extraction now rejects
symlink and path-traversal archive entries. Move run merging to a
standalone docx script, since it only ever applied to Word documents.

Fix the redlining validator so it compares against the original even when
a document has no tracked changes, which is when an untracked edit would
otherwise go unreported.

Provision a LibreOffice user profile per invocation so conversions work in
sandboxed environments.

Trim the skill docs to the guidance that earns its place.
This commit is contained in:
Peter Lai
2026-07-16 19:47:37 -07:00
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---
name: pptx
description: "Use this skill any time a .pptx file is involved in any way — as input, output, or both. This includes: creating slide decks, pitch decks, or presentations; reading, parsing, or extracting text from any .pptx file (even if the extracted content will be used elsewhere, like in an email or summary); editing, modifying, or updating existing presentations; combining or splitting slide files; working with templates, layouts, speaker notes, or comments. Trigger whenever the user mentions \"deck,\" \"slides,\" \"presentation,\" or references a .pptx filename, regardless of what they plan to do with the content afterward. If a .pptx file needs to be opened, created, or touched, use this skill."
description: "Use this skill any time a .pptx or .potx file is involved in any way — as input, output, or both. This includes: creating slide decks, pitch decks, or presentations; reading, parsing, or extracting text from any .pptx or .potx file (even if the extracted content will be used elsewhere, like in an email or summary); editing, modifying, or updating existing presentations; combining or splitting slide files; working with templates (.potx), layouts, speaker notes, or comments. Trigger whenever the user mentions \"deck,\" \"slides,\" \"presentation,\" or references a .pptx or .potx filename, regardless of what they plan to do with the content afterward. If a .pptx or .potx file needs to be opened, created, or touched, use this skill."
license: Proprietary. LICENSE.txt has complete terms
---
# PPTX Skill
# PPTX creation, editing, and analysis
## Quick Reference
A `.pptx` is a ZIP archive of XML files. Choose your approach by task:
| Task | Guide |
|------|-------|
| Read/analyze content | `python -m markitdown presentation.pptx` |
| Edit or create from template | Read [editing.md](editing.md) |
| Create from scratch | Read [pptxgenjs.md](pptxgenjs.md) |
| Task | Approach |
|---|---|
| **Create** a new deck | Write a `pptxgenjs` script — see gotchas below |
| **Edit** an existing deck, or build from a template | unzip → edit `ppt/slides/slideN.xml` → zip |
| **Read** content | `markitdown deck.pptx` (one block per slide under `<!-- Slide number: N -->` markers); visual grid: `python scripts/thumbnail.py deck.pptx` |
---
## Scripts
## Reading Content
Paths are relative to this skill's directory. Everything else is plain Python, `node`, or shell.
| Script | What it does |
|---|---|
| `scripts/thumbnail.py deck.pptx [prefix]` | Labeled grid of every slide, for picking template layouts. `.pptx` only. Pass `prefix` — it defaults to `thumbnails`, which overwrites the grids of any other deck done in the same directory |
| `scripts/add_slide.py unpacked/ slide2.xml [--after slideN.xml]` | Duplicate a slide (or a `slideLayoutN.xml`) with all the package bookkeeping. Also takes a `.pptx` directly with `-o out.pptx` |
| `scripts/clean.py unpacked/` | Delete slides, media, and rels no longer referenced. Run **after** `<p:sldIdLst>` is final |
| `scripts/office/validate.py deck.pptx [--original src.pptx]` | Schema, relationship, content-type, chart and slide checks; each failure names its fix. Pass `--original` for any template-derived deck — it baselines the schema checks against the template, so the template's own XSD errors don't read as yours |
| `scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf deck.pptx` | LibreOffice wrapper — bare `soffice` hangs in this sandbox |
## Creating with pptxgenjs — gotchas
`pptxgenjs` is preinstalled — do not run `npm install` first; write the script and `require('pptxgenjs')` directly. Only if that require fails: `npm install pptxgenjs`. The model knows the API; these are the footguns:
- **Set `pres.layout` before adding slides.** The default canvas is `LAYOUT_16x9` = **10" × 5.625"**, not 13.3" wide. Coordinates past the edge are written, not clamped — the shape just isn't on the slide. (`LAYOUT_WIDE` is 13.3" × 7.5".)
- **Hex colors: never `#`, never 8 digits.** `color: "FF0000"`. Both `"#FF0000"` and alpha baked into the hex (`"00000020"`) **corrupt the file**. For translucency: `transparency: 0-100` on fills and images, `opacity: 0.0-1.0` on shadows — each is silently ignored on the other.
- **pptxgenjs mutates option objects in place** (converts values to EMU on first use). Never share one `shadow`/options object across two `add*` calls — build a fresh object each time.
- **Shadow `offset` must be ≥ 0** — a negative offset corrupts the file. To cast a shadow upward, use `angle: 270` with a positive offset.
- **`letterSpacing` is silently ignored** — the real option is `charSpacing`.
- **Lists:** `bullet: true` on each item, never a literal `•` (renders double bullets). Set `breakLine: true` on every array item except the last. Space bulleted paragraphs with `paraSpaceAfter`, not `lineSpacing` (huge gaps).
- **One `new pptxgen()` per output file** — never reuse an instance.
- **`rectRadius` only works on `ROUNDED_RECTANGLE`**, not `RECTANGLE`.
- **Gradient fills aren't supported** — use a gradient image as the background instead.
- **Text boxes have built-in internal padding** — set `margin: 0` whenever text must align with a shape, line, or icon at the same x.
- **Speaker notes go in `slide.addNotes("...")`** (plain text, once per slide), never in a text box on the slide.
- **Keep charts native.** Use `addChart()` for everything PowerPoint can chart (pass an array of `{type, data, options}` for combos). For PowerPoint-native features the library doesn't expose (trendlines, error bars), compute the extra series yourself or post-process the generated OOXML — do not fall back to a rendered image. Only chart types PowerPoint has no native form for (Sankey, network, chord) go in as images.
- **Default charts render bare** — no title, no data labels, dated palette. Set `showTitle` + `title`, `showValue: true` + `dataLabelPosition`, `chartColors: [...]` from your palette, and quiet the frame (`catAxisLabelColor`/`valAxisLabelColor`, `valGridLine: { color, size }`, `catGridLine: { style: "none" }`, `showLegend: false` for a single series).
- **On a stacked bar or column chart, `dataLabelPosition` must be `ctr`, `inEnd`, or `inBase`.** `outEnd` **corrupts the file**.
- **A combo series using `secondaryValAxis`/`secondaryCatAxis` needs both `valAxes` and `catAxes` on the chart options, two entries each.** Without them pptxgenjs writes axis *ids* it never declares, and PowerPoint **discards that chart** and reports the file as corrupt. Supplying only `valAxes` is not enough.
- **After `writeFile()`, run `python scripts/office/validate.py deck.pptx`.** It reports the two chart faults above and the slide-XML defects PowerPoint refuses, and names the fix for each. Fix them in your generator, not by hand-editing the packed XML.
- **Never reorder the children of `<p:presentation>`.** pptxgenjs writes `<p:notesMasterIdLst>` right after `<p:sldIdLst>` and points both masters at one theme part. PowerPoint reads that happily — move the element and the same deck becomes unopenable.
- **Icons:** render `react-icons` to SVG (`ReactDOMServer.renderToStaticMarkup`), rasterize with `sharp` at ≥256px, and insert via `addImage({ data: "image/png;base64," + buf.toString("base64") })` — the `image/png;base64,` prefix is required (`react-icons`, `react`, `react-dom`, and `sharp` are preinstalled — `npm install react-icons react react-dom sharp` only if a require fails).
## Editing existing decks and templates
Pick layouts first: `python scripts/thumbnail.py template.pptx template-thumbs` writes a labeled grid of every slide and prints the file(s) it created — `template-thumbs.jpg`, split into `template-thumbs-N.jpg` past 12 slides. **Always pass that second argument, named after the deck.** It defaults to `thumbnails`, so two decks thumbnailed in one directory silently overwrite each other's grids — the first deck's are simply gone (template analysis only — visual QA needs the full-resolution renders from [Converting to Images](#converting-to-images); it only accepts `.pptx`, so copy a `.potx` to a `.pptx` name first). Use it with `markitdown` to map each content section onto a template slide, and vary the layouts — don't put every section on the same title-and-bullets slide.
```bash
# Text extraction
python -m markitdown presentation.pptx
# Visual overview
python scripts/thumbnail.py presentation.pptx
# Raw XML
python scripts/office/unpack.py presentation.pptx unpacked/
python3 -c "import sys,zipfile; zipfile.ZipFile(sys.argv[1]).extractall('unpacked')" deck.pptx
python scripts/add_slide.py unpacked/ slide2.xml --after slide2.xml # duplicate a slide (or slideLayoutN.xml); prints the new slide's path
# reorder / delete slides = edit <p:sldIdLst> in ppt/presentation.xml
python scripts/clean.py unpacked/ # after deletions: removes orphaned slides, media, rels
# edit slide content in ppt/slides/slideN.xml
(cd unpacked && rm -f ../out.pptx && zip -Xr ../out.pptx .) # zip from INSIDE the dir; rm first or deleted parts survive
python scripts/office/validate.py out.pptx --original deck.pptx
```
---
- **Do all structural work — add, delete, reorder — before editing any slide's content.** `add_slide.py` copies a slide file verbatim, so duplicating after you edit clones the edited content; and `clean.py` deletes any slide missing from `<p:sldIdLst>`, including one you just wrote.
- **Never copy a slide file by hand** — `add_slide.py` does every registration a new slide needs and reports what it made (`Created ppt/slides/slide17.xml from slide2.xml`). It also works directly on a file: `add_slide.py deck.pptx slide2.xml -o out.pptx` — **pass `-o`, or it rewrites the input deck in place.** A duplicated slide still *references* its source's chart/SmartArt/embedded-object parts rather than cloning them, so editing one slide's chart changes the other's.
- **If you use `python-pptx`**, three things it won't do: duplicate a slide (its only entry point is `add_slide(layout)`), preserve formatting through `text_frame.text = "..."` (that collapses the paragraph to a single unstyled run — assign `run.text` instead), or read the SVG/EMF most template art uses (`add_picture` raises `UnidentifiedImageError`).
- Legacy `.ppt` must be converted first: `python scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pptx file.ppt`. `.potx` templates unpack and pack identically — keep the `.potx` extension on the output.
- To reuse a template icon or image, duplicate a slide or layout that already contains it.
## Editing Workflow
When filling in a template:
**Read [editing.md](editing.md) for full details.**
1. Analyze template with `thumbnail.py`
2. Unpack → manipulate slides → edit content → clean → pack
---
## Creating from Scratch
**Read [pptxgenjs.md](pptxgenjs.md) for full details.**
Use when no template or reference presentation is available.
---
- If you script an XML transform, parse with `defusedxml.minidom` — round-tripping OOXML through `xml.etree.ElementTree` rewrites namespace prefixes and corrupts the deck.
- **Template slots ≠ source items.** If the template shows 4 team members and you have 3, delete the 4th member's entire group (image + text boxes), not just its text — then check for orphaned visuals in QA.
- One `<a:p>` per list item — never concatenate items into a single paragraph. Copy the sibling `<a:pPr>` to preserve spacing, and put `b="1"` on the `<a:rPr>` of titles, section headers, and inline labels (`Status:`, `Owner:`).
- Let bullets inherit from the layout; only add `<a:buChar>`, `<a:buAutoNum>` (numbered), or `<a:buNone>` to override — never a literal `•` in the text.
- Text with leading or trailing spaces needs `xml:space="preserve"` on its `<a:t>`.
## Design Ideas
@@ -57,7 +86,7 @@ Use when no template or reference presentation is available.
- **Pick a bold, content-informed color palette**: The palette should feel designed for THIS topic. If swapping your colors into a completely different presentation would still "work," you haven't made specific enough choices.
- **Dominance over equality**: One color should dominate (60-70% visual weight), with 1-2 supporting tones and one sharp accent. Never give all colors equal weight.
- **Dark/light contrast**: Dark backgrounds for title + conclusion slides, light for content ("sandwich" structure). Or commit to dark throughout for a premium feel.
- **Commit to a visual motif**: Pick ONE distinctive element and repeat it — rounded image frames, icons in colored circles, thick single-side borders. Carry it across every slide.
- **Commit to a visual motif**: Pick ONE distinctive element and repeat it — rounded image frames, icons in colored circles. Carry it across every slide. **Do not use a color bar or accent stripe as your motif** (see Avoid list).
### Color Palettes
@@ -97,18 +126,13 @@ Choose colors that match your topic — don't default to generic blue. Use these
### Typography
**Choose an interesting font pairing** — don't default to Arial. Pick a header font with personality and pair it with a clean body font.
**Font names you write into the .pptx are rendered by the user's PowerPoint, not by this environment.** Your visual QA renders via LibreOffice, which substitutes fonts it doesn't have — and for some fonts the substitute has different widths, so your QA preview can show text overflow (or fit) that the real deck won't have. To keep your QA trustworthy:
| Header Font | Body Font |
|-------------|-----------|
| Georgia | Calibri |
| Arial Black | Arial |
| Calibri | Calibri Light |
| Cambria | Calibri |
| Trebuchet MS | Calibri |
| Impact | Arial |
| Palatino | Garamond |
| Consolas | Calibri |
- **Safe fonts** (render true-to-width in QA *and* ship with Office): **Arial, Calibri, Cambria, Times New Roman, Courier New, Bookman Old Style, Century Schoolbook**. Use these for body text and anything where fit matters.
- **Headers with personality at zero QA risk**: pair a safe-list serif header (Cambria, Bookman Old Style, Century Schoolbook) with a safe-list sans body (Calibri or Arial). You get visual contrast without giving up reliable overflow checks.
- **If the user asks for a font outside the safe list** (e.g. Georgia or Trebuchet MS): use it where the user asked, but size those containers with extra slack (~10%) and don't trust QA text-fit on those elements — the preview of that font is approximate. If the user hasn't specified, prefer safe-list fonts for body text.
- **QA-unreliable fonts** (substitute has different widths — overflow checks can be wrong): Georgia, Trebuchet MS, Impact, Arial Black, Garamond, Consolas, Palatino Linotype. Calibri Light substitution varies by environment; treat as QA-unreliable. Fine for titles/accents with slack; don't trust QA text-fit on these.
- **Never default to Aptos** — Office's post-2023 default has no metric-compatible substitute here *and* is missing from older Office installs, so it's unreliable on both ends.
| Element | Size |
|---------|------|
@@ -135,19 +159,18 @@ Choose colors that match your topic — don't default to generic blue. Use these
- **Don't forget text box padding** — when aligning lines or shapes with text edges, set `margin: 0` on the text box or offset the shape to account for padding
- **Don't use low-contrast elements** — icons AND text need strong contrast against the background; avoid light text on light backgrounds or dark text on dark backgrounds
- **NEVER use accent lines under titles** — these are a hallmark of AI-generated slides; use whitespace or background color instead
---
- **NEVER add decorative color bars or accent stripes** — this includes: header/footer bars spanning the slide width, vertical sidebar stripes down one edge of the slide, thin accent stripes along one edge of a card or content block, and "single-side borders" on rectangles. These read as AI-generated filler. If you want to set a card apart, use a subtle background tint, a drop shadow, or an icon — not an edge stripe.
- **Don't default to cream/beige backgrounds** — when no background is specified, use white (`FFFFFF`) or the user's brand palette; avoid warm-neutral defaults like `F5F5DC`, `FAF0E6`, `FAEBD7`, `FFF8E1`
- **Don't ship text that overflows its shape** — if text doesn't fit, reduce font size, split across slides, or enlarge the container; never leave content cut off or spilling past bounds
## QA (Required)
**Assume there are problems. Your job is to find them.**
Your first render is almost never correct. Approach QA as a bug hunt, not a confirmation step. If you found zero issues on first inspection, you weren't looking hard enough.
Your first render usually has a few real issues — overlaps, overflow, misalignment. Find and fix those, re-render only the slides you changed, and stop.
### Content QA
```bash
python -m markitdown output.pptx
markitdown output.pptx
```
Check for missing content, typos, wrong order.
@@ -155,78 +178,61 @@ Check for missing content, typos, wrong order.
**When using templates, check for leftover placeholder text:**
```bash
python -m markitdown output.pptx | grep -iE "xxxx|lorem|ipsum|this.*(page|slide).*layout"
markitdown output.pptx | grep -iE "\bx{3,}\b|lorem|ipsum|\bTODO|\[insert|this.*(page|slide).*layout"
```
If grep returns results, fix them before declaring success.
### File QA (required)
```bash
python scripts/office/validate.py output.pptx # built from scratch
python scripts/office/validate.py output.pptx --original src.pptx # built from a template
```
**If the deck came from a template, always pass `--original`.** A template may itself
contain parts the XSD rejects, so a bare run can report failures you never caused — and
a genuine regression can hide among them. `--original` baselines
the schema and slide checks against the template, suppressing errors it already had.
The structural checks — relationships, content types, charts — ignore `--original` and
report template-inherited problems either way, so read those on their own merits.
pptxgenjs emits chart XML PowerPoint refuses to open, and every other tool
accepts: python-pptx opens those decks, LibreOffice renders them, the XSD
passes them. Every failure names its fix. Fix it in the generator and rebuild.
### Visual QA
**⚠️ USE SUBAGENTS** — even for 2-3 slides. You've been staring at the code and will see what you expect, not what's there. Subagents have fresh eyes.
Convert the slides to images (see [Converting to Images](#converting-to-images)) and inspect every one. After staring at the generating code you tend to see what you expect rather than what rendered, so look at the images fresh (a subagent works well for this if you have one). User-visible defects to look for:
Convert slides to images (see [Converting to Images](#converting-to-images)), then use this prompt:
```
Visually inspect these slides. Assume there are issues — find them.
Look for:
- **Text overflow or text cut off at a box or slide boundary — check this first.** It is the most common defect and always user-visible. (For a font the previewer renders unreliably per Typography, the preview is approximate: trust the ~10% slack you left, not its apparent fit.)
- Overlapping elements (text through shapes, lines through words, stacked elements)
- Text overflow or cut off at edges/box boundaries
- Decorative lines positioned for single-line text but title wrapped to two lines
- Source citations or footers colliding with content above
- Elements too close (< 0.3" gaps) or cards/sections nearly touching
- Uneven gaps (large empty area in one place, cramped in another)
- Insufficient margin from slide edges (< 0.5")
- Columns or similar elements not aligned consistently
- Low-contrast text (e.g., light gray text on cream-colored background)
- Template decoration mispositioned after text replacement — e.g., a title underline positioned for one line, but the replaced title wrapped to two
- Low-contrast icons (e.g., dark icons on dark backgrounds without a contrasting circle)
- Text boxes too narrow causing excessive wrapping
- Leftover placeholder content
For each slide, list issues or areas of concern, even if minor.
Read and analyze these images:
1. /path/to/slide-01.jpg (Expected: [brief description])
2. /path/to/slide-02.jpg (Expected: [brief description])
Report ALL issues found, including minor ones.
```
### Verification Loop
1. Generate slides → Convert to images → Inspect
2. **List issues found** (if none found, look again more critically)
3. Fix issues
4. **Re-verify affected slides** — one fix often creates another problem
5. Repeat until a full pass reveals no new issues
**Do not declare success until you've completed at least one fix-and-verify cycle.**
---
## Converting to Images
Convert presentations to individual slide images for visual inspection:
```bash
python scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf output.pptx
rm -f slide-*.jpg
pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 output.pdf slide
ls -1 "$PWD"/slide-*.jpg
```
This creates `slide-01.jpg`, `slide-02.jpg`, etc.
**Pass the absolute paths printed above directly to the view tool.** The `rm` clears stale images from prior runs. `pdftoppm` zero-pads based on page count: `slide-1.jpg` for decks under 10 pages, `slide-01.jpg` for 10-99, `slide-001.jpg` for 100+.
To re-render specific slides after fixes:
```bash
pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 -f N -l N output.pdf slide-fixed
```
---
**After fixes, rerun all four commands above** — the PDF must be regenerated from the edited `.pptx` before `pdftoppm` can reflect your changes.
## Dependencies
- `pip install "markitdown[pptx]"` - text extraction
- `pip install Pillow` - thumbnail grids
- `npm install -g pptxgenjs` - creating from scratch
- LibreOffice (`soffice`) - PDF conversion (auto-configured for sandboxed environments via `scripts/office/soffice.py`)
- Poppler (`pdftoppm`) - PDF to images
`pptxgenjs` (npm, preinstalled — install only if `require('pptxgenjs')` fails) · `markitdown[pptx]`, `Pillow`, `defusedxml`, `lxml` (pip — text dump, thumbnail, clean, validate) · LibreOffice (`soffice`, auto-configured for sandboxed environments via `scripts/office/soffice.py`) · `pdftoppm` (Poppler)