deckbuilder 1.0.7

Intelligent PowerPoint presentation generation with content-first design philosophy, PlaceKitten image processing, and comprehensive CLI tools

🎯 Deckbuilder

Transform LLMs from layout pickers into presentation consultants

Deckbuilder is a powerful Python library, Command Line, and MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for PowerPoint presentation generation.

Decknuilder currently supports JSON and Frontmatter formatted Markdown for content. Any slide template can be mapped using JSON with template support being progressivley added to Markdown.

[!IMPORTANT]
Deckbuilder is currently under active development and should NOT be considered production ready.

The MCP server will be enhanced to be with a content-first design philosophy, Deckbuilder's MCP server will transform how AI creates presentations by focusing on what you want to communicate rather than just what layouts exist.

✨ Key Features

🚀 One-Shot Presentation Generation

Create complete PowerPoint presentations from JSON or Markdown with YAML frontmatter in a single command.

🎨 Rich Content Support

• Advanced Formatting: **bold**, *italic*, ___underline___, ***bold italic***
• International Support: 20 proofing languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese
• Typography Control: Custom font families with global -f/--font argument
• Mixed Content: Seamlessly combine headings, paragraphs, and bullet points
• Professional Tables: Custom styling with themes and colors
• 50+ Business Layouts: Progressive library of professional presentation templates

🖼️ Smart Image Processing

• Placekitten Generation: Professional placeholder generation with computer vision
• Intelligent Fallbacks: Automatic handling of missing/invalid images
• Smart Cropping: Face detection and rule-of-thirds composition
• Professional Filters: 10+ effects optimized for business presentations
• Performance Optimized: <2s generation, intelligent caching

⚡ Enhanced CLI Experience

• Professional Hierarchical Interface: Clean command structure (deckbuilder <command> <subcommand>)
• One-Command Setup: deckbuilder init creates templates and configuration
• Context-Aware Paths: CLI args > env vars > current directory precedence
• Always Local Output: CLI outputs to current directory for predictable local development
• Global Arguments: -t/--template-folder, -l/--language, -f/--font for complete customization
• Comprehensive Command Structure:
  • deckbuilder template → analyze, validate, document, enhance, list
  • deckbuilder config → show, languages, completion
  • deckbuilder image → generate, crop
  • deckbuilder remap → update existing PowerPoint files with language/font changes
• Template Management: Analyze, validate, and enhance PowerPoint templates with detailed validation

🎯 Content-First Intelligence - Currently under design

Instead of asking "what layouts exist?", Deckbuilder will ask "what do you want to communicate?" This will transform the system from a layout picker into an intelligent presentation consultant.

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

pip install deckbuilder

CLI Usage (Standalone)

# Initialize templates (one-time setup) This will create the default template and mapping JSON.
deckbuilder init

# Create presentation from markdown (outputs to current directory)
deckbuilder create presentation.md

# Use custom template folder (CLI arg overrides env vars)
deckbuilder --template-folder /custom/templates create presentation.md

# Create with custom language and font (supports both formats)
deckbuilder create presentation.md --language "es-ES" --font "Arial"
deckbuilder create presentation.md --language "Spanish (Spain)" --font "Times New Roman"

# View supported languages
deckbuilder config languages

# Template management
deckbuilder template analyze default --verbose
deckbuilder template validate default
deckbuilder template list

# Image generation  
deckbuilder image generate 800 600 --filter grayscale
deckbuilder image crop image.jpg 800 600

# Language and font remapping for existing PowerPoint files
deckbuilder remap existing.pptx --language en-US --font Arial

# View current configuration (shows path sources)
deckbuilder config show

# Get help
deckbuilder --help

MCP Server (Claude Desktop)

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "deckbuilder": {
      "command": "deckbuilder-server",
      "env": {
        "DECK_TEMPLATE_FOLDER": "/Users/username/Documents/Deckbuilder/Templates",
        "DECK_TEMPLATE_NAME": "default",
        "DECK_OUTPUT_FOLDER": "/Users/username/Documents/Deckbuilder",
        "DECK_PROOFING_LANGUAGE": "en-AU",
        "DECK_DEFAULT_FONT": "Calibri"
      }
    }
  }
}

New Environment Variables:

• DECK_PROOFING_LANGUAGE: Set proofing language for spell-check and grammar (accepts both "en-AU" and "English (Australia)" formats)
• DECK_DEFAULT_FONT: Set default font family for all presentations
• Default Language: Australian English (en-AU) if not specified

📝 Usage Examples

Markdown with Frontmatter (Recommended)

---
layout: Title Slide
---
# **Deckbuilder** Presentation
## Creating presentations with *content-first* intelligence

---
layout: Four Columns
title: Feature Comparison
columns:
  - title: Performance
    content: "**Fast** processing with optimized algorithms"
  - title: Security
    content: "***Enterprise-grade*** encryption and compliance"
  - title: Usability
    content: "*Intuitive* interface with minimal learning curve"
  - title: Cost
    content: "___Transparent___ pricing with proven ROI"
---

---
layout: Picture with Caption
title: Market Analysis
media:
  image_path: "charts/revenue_growth.png"  # Auto-fallback to PlaceKitten if missing
  alt_text: "Revenue growth chart"
  caption: "**Q4 Revenue Growth** - 23% increase"
---

JSON Format (Programmatic)

{
  "presentation": {
    "slides": [
      {
        "type": "Title Slide",
        "title": "**Deckbuilder** Presentation",
        "subtitle": "Content-first presentation generation"
      },
      {
        "type": "Title and Content",
        "title": "Key Benefits",
        "content": [
          "**Intelligent** content analysis",
          "*Semantic* layout recommendations",
          "***Professional*** template system"
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Python API

from deckbuilder import Deckbuilder

# Initialize engine
db = Deckbuilder()

# Create from markdown
result = db.create_presentation_from_markdown(
    markdown_content=open("presentation.md").read(),
    fileName="My_Presentation"
)

# Create from JSON
result = db.create_presentation(
    json_data={"presentation": {"slides": [...]}},
    fileName="JSON_Presentation"
)

print(f"✅ Created: {result}")

🌍 Language & Font Support

Supported Languages (20)

Deckbuilder supports 20 proofing languages for spell-check and grammar. You can use either locale codes (en-AU) or full names (English (Australia)):

# View all supported languages (shows both formats)
deckbuilder config languages

Available Languages:

• English (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia)
• Spanish (Spain, Mexico, Latin America)
• French (France, Canada)
• German (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
• Italian, Portuguese (Brazil, Portugal)
• Chinese (Simplified, Traditional), Japanese, Korean
• Dutch, Russian, Arabic

Font Customization

# Set language and font globally (supports both formats)
export DECK_PROOFING_LANGUAGE="en-AU"           # Locale code format
export DECK_PROOFING_LANGUAGE="English (Australia)"  # Full name format
export DECK_DEFAULT_FONT="Arial"

# Or use CLI arguments (both formats work)
deckbuilder create presentation.md --language "fr-CA" --font "Times New Roman"
deckbuilder create presentation.md --language "French (Canada)" --font "Arial"

# Check current settings (shows locale codes and descriptions)
deckbuilder config show

🖼️ PlaceKitten Image Processing

Smart Image Fallback System - When images are missing or invalid, PlaceKitten automatically generates professional placeholders:

from placekitten import PlaceKitten

pk = PlaceKitten()
placeholder = (pk.generate(1920, 1080, image_id=1)
                .smart_crop(1920, 1080)
                .apply_filter("grayscale")
                .save("professional_placeholder.jpg"))

Features:

• ✅ File Validation: Checks image existence, format, and accessibility
• ✅ Professional Styling: Automatic grayscale filtering for business context
• ✅ Smart Cropping: Computer vision-based cropping with face detection
• ✅ Performance Optimized: Intelligent caching prevents duplicate processing
• ✅ Seamless Integration: Zero user intervention required

🏗️ Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    MCP Server Layer                 │
│  ┌─────────────────┐        ┌────────────────────┐  │
│  │   FastMCP       │        │   Content-First    │  │
│  │   Endpoints     │◄──────►│   MCP Tools        │  │
│  └────────┬────────┘        └────────────────────┘  │
│           │                                         │
├───────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                 Presentation Engine                 │
│  ┌─────────────────┐        ┌────────────────────┐  │
│  │  PowerPoint     │        │   Template         │  │
│  │  Generation     │◄──────►│   Management       │  │
│  └────────┬────────┘        └────────────────────┘  │
│           │                                         │
├───────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                Content Intelligence                 │
│  ┌─────────────────┐        ┌────────────────────┐  │
│  │  Layout         │        │   PlaceKitten      │  │
│  │  Intelligence   │        │   Processing       │  │
│  └─────────────────┘        └────────────────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

🎨 Supported Markdown Layouts

✅ Currently Implemented

• Title Slide - Opening slide with title and subtitle
• Title and Content - Rich text with headings, paragraphs, bullets
• Four Columns - Quad content areas with structured frontmatter
• Two Content - Side-by-side content areas
• Comparison - Left vs right comparison layout
• Table - Data tables with professional styling
• Section Header - Divider slides between topics
• Picture with Caption - Image-focused slides with smart fallbacks

🚧 Progressive Implementation (50+ Planned)

• Big Number displays, SWOT Analysis, Feature Matrix
• Timeline, Process Flow, Organizational Chart
• Dashboard, Metrics, Financial layouts
• And 40+ more business presentation layouts

See Supported Templates for complete roadmap.

🛠️ Development

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+
• Virtual environments are recommended.

Development Install

git clone https://github.com/teknologika/deckbuilder.git
cd deckbuilder
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e .[dev]

Code Quality Standards

# Format code (required before commits)
black --line-length 100 src/

# Check linting (required)
flake8 src/ tests/ --max-line-length=100 --ignore=E203,W503,E501

# Run tests (required)
pytest tests/

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create feature branch: git checkout -b feature-name
3. Follow code quality standards
4. Add comprehensive tests
5. Submit pull request with clear description

📚 Documentation

• PLANNING.md - Project architecture and design principles
• TASK.md - Current to-do list and planned features
• API Documentation - Complete API reference
• Feature Specifications - Detailed feature documentation
• PlaceKitten Library - Image processing documentation

🔧 Technology Stack

• Python 3.11+ with modern type hints and comprehensive error handling
• FastMCP for Model Context Protocol server implementation
• python-pptx for PowerPoint generation and template manipulation
• PyYAML for structured frontmatter processing
• OpenCV + Pillow for computer vision and image processing
• pytest for unit testing
• Anthropic Claude - for most of the development gruntwork :-)

📋 Troubleshooting

Template not found:

# Create templates folder
deckbuilder init

# Check configuration
deckbuilder config

Permission denied when saving:

• Verify output folder has write permissions
• Ensure files aren't open in PowerPoint

MCP connection failures:

• Verify virtual environment is activated
• Check Python path in Claude Desktop config
• Ensure all dependencies are installed

📄 License

Apache License 2.0 - See LICENSE file for details.

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Built with ❤️ for intelligent presentation generation - Copyright Bruce McLeod

🚀 Get Started • 📖 Documentation • 🐛 Report Issues