# Marp Slides > Creates MARP presentation decks (.md files rendered to PDF/HTML/PPTX via marp CLI) with custom CSS themes, SVG inline charts, dashboard components, and speaker notes. Use when asked to create slides, build a deck, make a presentation, generate MARP output, design a theme, edit existing slides, or convert content into a slide format. Also handles read/summarize requests on existing MARP files. Do NOT use for standalone image generation, static infographics, or PowerPoint requests with no MARP involvement. - Skill: `agent-engineer-master/marp-slides` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 17 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add agent-engineer-master/marp-slides` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/agent-engineer-master/marp-slides/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Web & Frontend - Author: Agent-Engineer-Master (https://skillmd.com/u/agent-engineer-master) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/agent-engineer-master/marp-slides --- # MARP Slides ## Startup 1. Read `references/learnings.md` — summarize the 3 most relevant bullets for this task 2. Detect mode from the request (see Mode Selector) ## Mode Selector | Request signals | Mode | |---|---| | "create", "build", "make slides", "new deck", "presentation" | **A: Create** | | "edit", "update", "change slide N", "revise", "fix" | **B: Edit** | | "theme only", "CSS only", "just the styles", "color palette" | **C: Theme** | | "convert from", "turn this into slides", "import", "use this outline" | **D: Convert** | | "summarize this deck", "what does this cover", "read this marp" | **E: Read** | --- ## Mode A: Create ### A1. Intake (ask all at once in a single message) Present these 4 questions before generating anything: 1. **Topic + purpose** — what is the deck about, and who is the audience? 2. **Slide count** — how many slides? (if unsure, apply word-count heuristic from `references/quality-rules.md`) 3. **Theme** — dark (default) or light? Describe a vibe or brand if relevant. 4. **Brand context** — use existing brand colors/logo? (if yes, read your brand guidelines file) Wait for reply before continuing. **Why:** Generating before intent is locked is the #1 source of wasted cycles in deck authoring. The 4-question intake costs one round-trip and saves 3–5 regeneration loops. ### A2. Theme + outline 1. Select theme using signal-to-theme mapping table in `references/themes.md` 2. Draft a slide-by-slide outline: slide title, one key idea, layout type, visual element planned 3. Present **3 layout direction options** (e.g. minimal / data-heavy / editorial) — not full decks, just 3-slide skeleton previews as markdown 4. Wait for user to approve direction or request changes before generating the full deck ### A3. Generate 1. Read `references/components.md` for SVG chart and component patterns 2. Read `references/layout-patterns.md` for rotation rules and composition guidelines 3. Read 2–3 examples from `examples/` that most closely match the approved style 4. Generate the full `.md` MARP file **Hard rules during generation (enforce silently — do not annotate violations):** - Use `-` for list items, never `*` (asterisks trigger animation mode in Marp live preview) - Rotate layout type every 2–3 slides — same template 3x in a row = quality failure - Titles ≤35 characters; bullets ≤6 per slide; one key idea per slide - Put context and detail in speaker notes (``), not on slides - Never add decorative accent lines directly under slide titles (telltale AI pattern) - SVG backgrounds: always `contain`, never `cover` (cover crops charts at edges) ### A4. QA self-review 1. Load `references/quality-rules.md` — run SlideGauge checklist against the generated deck 2. Fix any slide that fails silently 3. Report only if a slide required significant structural redesign ### A5. Output + export 1. Save to `presentations/[slug].md` (or user-specified path) 2. Verify `.marprc.yml` exists at the project root — create from template in `references/cli-guide.md` if missing 3. Show the relevant export commands from `references/cli-guide.md` --- ## Mode B: Edit 1. Read the existing `.md` file — parse slide boundaries (`---`) 2. Identify the target slide(s) from the request 3. Apply edits; re-check modified slides against `references/quality-rules.md` 4. Confirm layout rotation rule is not broken across surrounding slides --- ## Mode C: Theme 1. Ask: brand colors? target mood? dark or light base? 2. Build CSS using 60-30-10 color rule and WCAG AA contrast — see `references/themes.md` 3. Present **3 palette directions** before committing 4. Save theme CSS with `/* @theme name */` header comment (required for CLI recognition) --- ## Mode D: Convert 1. Parse input format (plain text, outline, bullet list, document) 2. Determine slide boundaries by topic/section shift, not by line breaks 3. Generate MARP `.md` applying Mode A generation rules 4. Run A4 QA self-review --- ## Mode E: Read 1. Load the `.md` file 2. Parse slides, speaker notes, and frontmatter 3. Return: slide count, theme used, key idea per slide, layout types, SlideGauge quality flags --- ## Closing Feedback Gate After final output, ask once: "Did this produce what you needed? Any corrections or preferences I should remember?" Route the response: | User says | Destination | |---|---| | Behavioral ("don't do X", "I prefer Y") | Append to `references/learnings.md` | | Factual exception ("the flag is actually Z") | Append to `references/edge-cases.md` | | "Never do X again" | Add rule to this SKILL.md | | Explicit approval / "this was perfect" | Save output to `examples/approved/` | | No response / "looks good" | Do nothing | ---