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powerpoint

Source: nousresearch/hermes-agent (official Hermes bundled skill)
Installs: 393+ on skills.sh
Category: Productivity / Office
Skill ID: powerpoint

Overview

Create, read, and edit PowerPoint decks from scratch or via template-based XML manipulation. Supports speaker notes, charts, design QA, and LibreOffice rendering. A .pptx is a ZIP archive of XML files — this skill gives you complete control over every element.

Installation

npx skills add nousresearch/hermes-agent@powerpoint -a hermes-agent -y

Prerequisites

# Node.js dependency
npm install pptxgenjs

# Python dependencies
pip install "markitdown[pptx]" Pillow defusedxml lxml

# System dependencies (Linux)
sudo apt install -y libreoffice poppler-utils

# macOS
brew install libreoffice poppler

Quick Reference

Task Approach
Create a new deck Write a pptxgenjs script
Edit an existing deck or template unzip → edit ppt/slides/slideN.xml → zip
Read content markitdown deck.pptx (one block per slide)
Visual QA python scripts/thumbnail.py deck.pptx
Validate python scripts/office/validate.py deck.pptx

Creating Decks with pptxgenjs — Key Gotchas

  • Set pres.layout before adding slides. Default canvas is LAYOUT_16x9 = 10" × 5.625", not 13.3" wide.
  • Hex colors: never #, never 8 digits. Use color: "FF0000" — both "#FF0000" and alpha hex values corrupt the file.
  • pptxgenjs mutates option objects — never share one shadow/options object across two add* calls.
  • Shadow offset must be ≥ 0 — negative offset corrupts the file. Use angle to cast direction.
  • letterSpacing is silently ignored — use charSpacing instead.
  • Lists: bullet: true on each item; never a literal • (renders double bullets).
  • One new pptxgen() per output file — never reuse an instance.
  • Text boxes have built-in padding — set margin: 0 when aligning with shapes at same x.
  • Speaker notes: slide.addNotes("...") (plain text, once per slide).
  • Keep charts native — use addChart() for everything PowerPoint can chart. Only render images for chart types PowerPoint has no native form for (Sankey, network, chord).
  • On stacked bar/column charts, dataLabelPosition must be ctr, inEnd, or inBase. outEnd corrupts the file.
  • Always run validate.py after generation — catches chart faults and XML defects.

Editing Existing Decks and Templates

Pick layouts first with thumbnail grid:

python scripts/thumbnail.py template.pptx template-thumbs

Then extract, edit, and repack:

# Unpack
python3 -c "import sys,zipfile; zipfile.ZipFile(sys.argv[1]).extractall('unpacked')" deck.pptx

# Duplicate a slide
python scripts/add_slide.py unpacked/ slide2.xml --after slide2.xml

# Edit content in ppt/slides/slideN.xml

# Repack (from inside unpacked/)
(cd unpacked && rm -f ../out.pptx && zip -Xr ../out.pptx .)

# Validate
python scripts/office/validate.py out.pptx --original deck.pptx

Important rules: - Do all structural work (add, delete, reorder) before editing slide content - Never copy a slide file by hand — use add_slide.py - If using python-pptx: assign run.text not text_frame.text (preserves formatting) - .potx templates unpack and pack identically — keep .potx extension on output - Legacy .ppt must be converted first: soffice --headless --convert-to pptx file.ppt

Design Guidelines

The skill includes comprehensive design guidance for creating professional presentations:

Color Palettes

Theme Primary Secondary Accent
Midnight Executive 1E2761 navy CADCFC ice blue FFFFFF white
Forest & Moss 2C5F2D forest 97BC62 moss F5F5F5 cream
Coral Energy F96167 coral F9E795 gold 2F3C7E navy
Warm Terracotta B85042 terracotta E7E8D1 sand A7BEAE sage
Ocean Gradient 065A82 deep blue 1C7293 teal 21295C midnight
Charcoal Minimal 36454F charcoal F2F2F2 off-white 212121 black
Teal Trust 028090 teal 00A896 seafoam 02C39A mint
Berry & Cream 6D2E46 berry A26769 dusty rose ECE2D0 cream
Sage Calm 84B59F sage 69A297 eucalyptus 50808E slate
Cherry Bold 990011 cherry FCF6F5 off-white 2F3C7E navy

Slide Design Rules

  • Every slide needs a visual element — image, chart, icon, or shape. Text-only slides are forgettable.
  • Pick a bold, content-informed color palette. Dominance over equality: one color should dominate 60-70%.
  • Dark/light contrast: dark backgrounds for title + conclusion slides, light for content ("sandwich" structure).
  • Commit to a visual motif — one distinctive element repeated across all slides.

Layout Options

  • Two-column (text left, illustration right)
  • Icon + text rows (icon in colored circle, bold header, description below)
  • 2×2 or 2×3 grid (image on one side, grid of content blocks on other)
  • Half-bleed image (full left or right side) with content overlay
  • Large stat callouts (big numbers 60-72pt with small labels)
  • Comparison columns (before/after, pros/cons)
  • Timeline or process flow (numbered steps, arrows)

Scripts

All paths relative to the skill directory:

Script Purpose
scripts/thumbnail.py deck.pptx [prefix] Labeled grid of every slide for visual reference
scripts/add_slide.py unpacked/ slide.xml [--after slideN.xml] Duplicate a slide with package bookkeeping
scripts/clean.py unpacked/ Delete orphaned slides, media, rels
scripts/office/validate.py deck.pptx [--original src.pptx] Schema, relationship, content-type checks
scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf deck.pptx LibreOffice PDF conversion
  • docx — Word document creation and editing
  • xlsx — Excel spreadsheet creation and editing
  • pdf — PDF manipulation
  • pptx-author (optional finance skill) — Finance-specific presentation generation
  • popular-web-designs — Design systems and color palettes for web UIs (complementary)

Verification

# Check installation
hermes skills inspect powerpoint

# Test thumbnail generation
python ~/.hermes/skills/powerpoint/scripts/thumbnail.py test.pptx

# Validate a deck
python ~/.hermes/skills/powerpoint/scripts/office/validate.py deck.pptx

Notes

  • Official Hermes bundled skill adapted from Anthropic's original by Nous Research
  • License: Proprietary (see LICENSE.txt in skill directory for complete terms)
  • Supports both from-scratch generation (pptxgenjs) and template-based editing (XML manipulation)
  • LibreOffice required for rendering/QA (headless mode supported)
  • See skill's SKILL.md for the complete gotchas reference — 20+ common pitfalls documented