Slides

Create Slides (Reveal.js talk)

Build a presentation the way this repo already does it. Slides are markdown loaded by a per-talk HTML file (Reveal.js, moon theme). The guiding principle is minimal on-slide text — often none. The slide carries an image or a diagram; the words live in the speaker Note:.

Inputs (ask only for what you can't infer)

• title: the talk title (used in <title> and talks.md).
• slug: short kebab-case name; drives filenames (<slug>.html, cover-<slug>.md, img/<slug>/…).
• topic: the topic directory the talk belongs in (ai, kubernetes, crossplane, idp, …). Talks live one level deep, so asset paths are ../….
• source: the outline / bullets / notes the talk is built from. If it's already in the conversation, use it.

Step 0 — Analyze existing slides FIRST

Conventions drift; do not build from memory. Read 2–3 recent decks in the same topic (their .html loader + a couple of content .md files) and ../docs/the-end.md. Confirm: current separators, image-slide directive, how Note: is attached, cover style, image path convention. Only then start.

Step 1 — Scaffold from templates (never hand-write the loader)

Templates live in this skill's templates/ directory. Copy, don't regenerate.

1. HTML loader: copy templates/talk.html → <topic>/<slug>.html. Replace {{TITLE}} with the title and {{SLUG}} with the slug. The cover section and the-end section are pre-wired; content sections get inserted at the <!-- CONTENT-SECTIONS --> marker as you add them.
2. Cover: copy templates/cover.md → <topic>/cover-<slug>.md and fill in the title lines (headings only — no body text).
3. Image dir: mkdir -p <topic>/img/<slug>.
4. talks.md entry: add the talk now so the link exists (see "talks.md rules"). Use the abstract path <topic>/abstracts/<slug>.md even though the abstract is written last.
5. Pause and show the user the cover before moving on.

Step 2 — Build slides ONE AT A TIME (the core rule)

CRITICAL: Create a single slide, show it to the user, and WAIT for explicit confirmation before creating the next one. Never batch slides. Never write a whole section at once. This mirrors how the user works — each slide is an independently reviewable unit.

For each slide, pick the leanest type that works. See templates/section.md for copy-paste examples of every type.

Slide types (in order of preference)

1. Image only — a single full-bleed background, nothing else on the slide:

   <!-- .slide: data-background="img/<slug>/NN-NN.png" data-background-size="contain" data-background-color="black" -->
   
   Note:
   Everything you'd say out loud goes here.
   

   This is the default. If you're tempted to put a sentence on the slide, put it in the note and find an image instead.
2. Diagram sequence — for anything structural (flows, architectures, build-ups). Produced as an image sequence via the diagram skill, then shown as consecutive image slides so advancing = animation. See "Diagrams" below.
3. Bullets — ONLY when there are genuinely must-remember points. 2–4 short fragments, never sentences. Explanation goes in the note.
4. Headings — for the cover and section dividers. Alternating ##/###, no body.
5. Demo cue (if the talk has live demos) — > blockquote for presenter instructions plus ```text blocks for prompts to type, matching existing demo decks.

Content rules

• ASCII-only punctuation. The decks declare data-charset="iso-8859-15", so em-dashes (—), curly quotes (" '), ellipses (…), and other non-ASCII characters render as mojibake (e.g. â). Use plain hyphens, straight quotes, and .... This applies to slide text AND speaker notes.
• Do not mention talk duration (e.g. "in the next fifteen minutes") — the same deck may be given at different lengths.
• Default to no text on the slide. Prefer image + notes.
• Speaker notes carry the talk. Write what the user will actually say, in their voice, as full prose under Note:.
• Group slides into content .md files by section (<slug>-<section>.md). When you start a new section file, add its <section data-markdown="<slug>-<section>.md" …> block at the <!-- CONTENT-SECTIONS --> marker in the HTML (copy the attribute set from the cover section). Register the section file the first time you write to it.
• Separators inside a .md: two blank lines (\n\n\n) between horizontal slides; one blank line for vertical; Note: begins the notes for the current slide.

Diagrams (image sequences via the diagram skill)

When a slide needs a diagram, invoke the diagram skill with:

• mode: stills (pass explicitly so it doesn't ask).
• mermaid: describe the diagram in Mermaid with numbered flow (1),(2),… — this is internal notation only; Mermaid never appears on a slide.
• beats: one still per build step (cumulative state), so the sequence animates as slides advance.
• out: <topic>/img/<slug>/ — name the stills NN-01.png, NN-02.png, … for section NN.

Then add one image-only slide per still, in order, each with a Note: describing what that beat adds. Reference nodes by the numbers baked into the still ((1), (2), …).

For non-diagram images:

• Screenshots / real photos: ask the user to supply the file (or its path).
• Generated illustrations: use the image skill (Gemini / "Nano Banana" by default). First discuss with the user what the image should depict and its style, and agree before generating — don't generate blind. Then write a detailed prompt (16:9, projection-quality, consistent with the deck) and generate into <topic>/img/<slug>/. Place it as a full-bleed background slide, then pause for the user to confirm; iterate on the prompt and regenerate if needed.
• If the user is the subject of the image, ask them to provide photo(s) of themselves and pass those to the image skill as references so their likeness is preserved.

Step 3 — Abstract (after slides are confirmed done)

Write <topic>/abstracts/<slug>.md following the pattern of recent abstracts in that topic (read one or two first). Include at least a full abstract and a short abstract; for CNCF/KCD submissions also add "Benefits to the CNCF Ecosystem", "Key takeaways", and "Open Source Projects Used" (see ai/abstracts/modelplane.md). Ensure the talks.md entry's [Abstract] link points to this file. Pause for the user to review.

talks.md rules (mirror the repo's CLAUDE.md)

• New talks go to the top of the first # Talks section, as the first list item.
• Each # Talks section holds a maximum of 5 talks. If the top section already has 5, create a new # Talks section above it and add the talk there.
• Entry format (talk with slides + abstract): * [<Title>](<topic>/<slug>.html) ([Abstract](https://github.com/vfarcic/vfarcic.github.io/blob/master/<topic>/abstracts/<slug>.md))
• If a talk has an abstract but no slides yet, use just the title text (no .html link), matching existing entries.

Verify

Optionally serve locally (docker-compose up, http://localhost:8080) and open <topic>/<slug>.html to confirm slides render, images load, and notes (press s) show. Diagram stills should advance like an animation.