How do I install the PPTX Profile skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add tristan-mcinnis/pptx-profile in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

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Is PPTX Profile free to use?

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Who published PPTX Profile?

tristan-mcinnis (@tristan-mcinnis) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

PPTX Profile by tristan-mcinnis — Agent Skill

Name: PPTX Profile
Author: tristan-mcinnis

PPTX Profile

STEP 1 of the PPTX-from-layouts pipeline. Profile a PowerPoint template to discover its real slide-master layouts and emit a layout catalog + render config. Use when the user wants to "use my own PowerPoint template", "see what layouts my deck has", "onboard a template", "profile this pptx", or before authoring slides against a custom (non-Inner-Chapter) template. Pairs with pptx-author (Step 2) and pptx-from-layouts (Step 3).

File contents

Step 1 — Profile (pptx-profile)

Turn any .pptx into a map of its real layouts so the next steps can target them precisely. This is the answer to "what layouts does my template actually have, and what is each one for?"

  STEP 1 — PROFILE          STEP 2 — AUTHOR           STEP 3 — RENDER
  pptx-profile              pptx-author               pptx-from-layouts
  ───────────────           ───────────────           ─────────────────
  your-template.pptx        slides.md (+ [HINT:])     slides.md + config
        │                         │                         │
        ▼                         ▼                         ▼
   catalog.py  ──catalog.md──▶  write & lint  ──slides──▶  generate.py ─▶ deck.pptx
        └────────────────── config.json ───────────────────▲   (validated)
  "what layouts do I        "write slides that        "fill the template's
   have?"                    name real layouts"        actual placeholders"

You are here: Step 1. Output feeds Steps 2 and 3.

Dependencies

Python 3.10+ and python-pptx (pip install python-pptx). The config step shells out to the sibling pptx-from-layouts skill, which ships in this repo.

Run it

python scripts/catalog.py /path/to/your-template.pptx \
    --name your-template --output-dir ./build

This writes two files into ./build:

File	For whom	Purpose
`your-template-layout-catalog.md`	you / Step 2 author	Human-readable menu of every hintable layout: its `[HINT:]` name, placeholders, and when to use it.
`your-template-config.json`	Step 3 render engine	Machine map of capability → real layout index/name. Passed to `generate.py --config`.

Options: --catalog-only skips the config (catalog only); --name sets the output basename (defaults to the filename).

What the catalog gives you

The catalog's Hintable layouts table lists only layouts the engine knows how to populate — every name there is a safe [HINT:] value. A collapsed section lists all raw layouts in the file for reference. Each row shows the layout index, the exact hint name to copy, its placeholders (e.g. picture, body, center-title), and a one-line "when to use".

Then what

Step 2 — author: open the catalog, write slides.md using [HINT: layout_name] per slide, and lint with pptx-author/scripts/lint_hints.py slides.md --config your-template-config.json.
Step 3 — render: pptx-from-layouts/scripts/generate.py slides.md -o deck.pptx --template your-template.pptx --config your-template-config.json --validate.

Notes

You only profile a template once. Reuse the catalog + config for every future deck on that template.
The bundled Inner Chapter template is already profiled (see templates/inner-chapter-config.json) and is the default if you skip Step 1.
For a fully automated, on-brand onboarding (brand colors, fonts, smoke-test), the pptx-template-onboarder subagent wraps this step.

---name: pptx-profiledescription: STEP 1 of the PPTX-from-layouts pipeline. Profile a PowerPoint template to discover its real slide-master layouts and emit a layout catalog + render config. Use when the user wants to "use my own PowerPoint template", "see what layouts my deck has", "onboard a template", "profile this pptx", or before authoring slides against a custom (non-Inner-Chapter) template. Pairs with pptx-author (Step 2) and pptx-from-layouts (Step 3).---# Step 1 — Profile (pptx-profile)Turn any `.pptx` into a **map of its real layouts** so the next steps can targetthem precisely. This is the answer to *"what layouts does my template actuallyhave, and what is each one for?"*```text STEP 1 — PROFILE STEP 2 — AUTHOR STEP 3 — RENDER pptx-profile pptx-author pptx-from-layouts ─────────────── ─────────────── ───────────────── your-template.pptx slides.md (+ [HINT:]) slides.md + config │ │ │ ▼ ▼ ▼ catalog.py ──catalog.md──▶ write & lint ──slides──▶ generate.py ─▶ deck.pptx └────────────────── config.json ───────────────────▲ (validated) "what layouts do I "write slides that "fill the template's have?" name real layouts" actual placeholders"```**You are here: Step 1.** Output feeds Steps 2 and 3.## DependenciesPython 3.10+ and **python-pptx** (`pip install python-pptx`). The config stepshells out to the sibling `pptx-from-layouts` skill, which ships in this repo.## Run it```bashpython scripts/catalog.py /path/to/your-template.pptx \ --name your-template --output-dir ./build```This writes two files into `./build`:| File | For whom | Purpose ||------|----------|---------|| `your-template-layout-catalog.md` | **you / Step 2 author** | Human-readable menu of every hintable layout: its `[HINT:]` name, placeholders, and when to use it. || `your-template-config.json` | **Step 3 render engine** | Machine map of capability → real layout index/name. Passed to `generate.py --config`. |Options: `--catalog-only` skips the config (catalog only); `--name` sets theoutput basename (defaults to the filename).## What the catalog gives youThe catalog's **Hintable layouts** table lists only layouts the engine knows howto populate — every name there is a safe `[HINT:]` value. A collapsed sectionlists *all* raw layouts in the file for reference. Each row shows the layoutindex, the exact hint name to copy, its placeholders (e.g. `picture`, `body`,`center-title`), and a one-line "when to use".## Then what1. **Step 2 — author:** open the catalog, write `slides.md` using `[HINT: layout_name]` per slide, and lint with `pptx-author/scripts/lint_hints.py slides.md --config your-template-config.json`.2. **Step 3 — render:** `pptx-from-layouts/scripts/generate.py slides.md -o deck.pptx --template your-template.pptx --config your-template-config.json --validate`.## Notes- **You only profile a template once.** Reuse the catalog + config for every future deck on that template.- The bundled **Inner Chapter** template is already profiled (see `templates/inner-chapter-config.json`) and is the default if you skip Step 1.- For a fully automated, on-brand onboarding (brand colors, fonts, smoke-test), the `pptx-template-onboarder` subagent wraps this step.

Frequently asked questions