markdown-pptx

markdown-pptx is a Markdown-to-PowerPoint CLI for both people and agents. You can use it directly from the terminal, but the format and CLI are intentionally designed to be easy for coding agents to use reliably, and this extends their natural strength with Markdown into generating real, editable PowerPoint slides instead of plain text outlines or ad hoc exports.

It converts constrained Markdown slide decks into editable PowerPoint .pptx presentations using real PowerPoint layouts and placeholders. The format is intentionally strict: each # H1 starts a slide, YAML front matter controls document and slide behavior, and the tool exposes inspection-friendly modes like --syntax, --list-layouts, and --list-color-schemes while failing on ambiguous mappings instead of inventing free-positioned text boxes.

Install

Run directly with uvx

uvx markdown-pptx --help

Install as a tool

uv tool install markdown-pptx

CLI

markdown-pptx deck.md
markdown-pptx deck.md out.pptx
markdown-pptx deck.md --ignore-document-colors
markdown-pptx deck.md --ignore-document-colors --ignore-slide-colors
markdown-pptx --list-layouts
markdown-pptx --list-color-schemes
markdown-pptx --syntax

When you use --template, the template's existing theme colors and theme fonts are kept unless the markdown explicitly sets color_scheme or fonts.

--ignore-document-colors ignores document-level markdown color settings (color_scheme, title_color, body_color, and non-image document backgrounds). --ignore-slide-colors ignores slide-level title_color, body_color, and non-image slide backgrounds. Use both flags together to let the template provide all colors while still keeping the markdown content and layouts.

Format

Document structure

1. An optional document front matter block may appear only at the top of the file.
2. Each # H1 starts a new slide.
3. An optional slide front matter block may appear only immediately after an # H1.
4. Everything until the next # H1 is that slide's body content.

Example deck

---
aspect_ratio: "16:9"
fonts:
  body: Aptos
  headings: Aptos Display
color_scheme:
  preset: Office
title_color: "var(--dark-1)"
body_color: "var(--dark-1)"
background: "linear-gradient(90deg, var(--light-1) 0%, var(--light-2) 100%)"
---

# Title slide
---
layout: Title Slide
notes: |
  Introduce the deck.
---

Markdown in. Editable PowerPoint out.

# Overview
---
layout: Title and Content
background: "linear-gradient(90deg, var(--accent-1) 0%, var(--accent-2) 100%)"
---

## Goals
- Keep the markdown readable
- Use real PowerPoint placeholders
- Fail on ambiguous mappings

Document-level front matter

These keys are valid only in the opening front matter block at the top of the document:

• aspect_ratio
  • "16:9" or "4:3"
• fonts
  • body
  • headings
• color_scheme
  • preset: Office
  • or explicit overrides for the 12 PowerPoint theme colors
• background
  • solid color
  • linear-gradient(...)
  • radial-gradient(...)
  • url(...)
  • none
• title_color
  • default color for title placeholders across the deck
• body_color
  • default color for body/subtitle placeholders across the deck

Document front matter example

---
aspect_ratio: "16:9"
fonts:
  body: Aptos
  headings: Aptos Display
color_scheme:
  preset: Office
title_color: "var(--dark-1)"
body_color: "var(--accent-4)"
background: "linear-gradient(90deg, var(--light-1) 0%, var(--light-2) 100%)"
---

Slide-level front matter

These keys are valid only immediately after a slide # H1:

• layout
  • Title Slide
  • Title and Content
  • Section Header
  • Title Only
  • Blank
• background
  • overrides the document background for that slide
• title_color
  • overrides the document title color for that slide
• body_color
  • overrides the document body color for that slide
• hide_background_graphics
  • hides inherited master graphics on that slide
• notes
  • speaker notes stored in the PPTX notes pane

Slide front matter example

# Section break
---
layout: Section Header
background: "linear-gradient(90deg, var(--accent-1) 0%, var(--accent-2) 100%)"
title_color: "var(--light-1)"
body_color: "var(--light-1)"
notes: |
  Introduce the next section.
---

This subtitle is rendered into the Section Header body/subtitle placeholder.

Supported color syntax

For title_color, body_color, and color-bearing backgrounds/gradient stops:

• Hex: #0E2841
• RGB: rgb(14, 40, 65)
• HSL: hsl(210, 65%, 15%)
• Theme references:
  • var(--dark-1)
  • var(--light-1)
  • var(--dark-2)
  • var(--light-2)
  • var(--accent-1) through var(--accent-6)
  • var(--hyperlink)
  • var(--followed-hyperlink)

Supported markdown

• Paragraphs
• Bullet lists
• Ordered lists
• Nested lists up to three levels
• ## through ###### headings inside a slide
• Emphasis, strong, inline code, links
• Fenced code blocks
• Blockquotes
• Pipe tables
• Local images
• Remote images

Layout and rendering rules

• Blank requires an empty title and empty body.
• Title Only allows no body content.
• Title Slide and Section Header render slide body text into the subtitle/body placeholder.
• Title and Content supports either text flow, one image, or one table.
• Missing required placeholders are treated as errors.
• The renderer uses real PowerPoint placeholders rather than synthesized text boxes for title/body content.

Unsupported markdown/features

• Setext headings
• Indented code blocks
• Raw HTML
• Task lists
• Footnotes
• Arbitrary positioning
• Layered backgrounds
• Animations

Examples

• Sample source deck: sample/showcase.md
• Sample rendered deck: sample/showcase.pptx
• Sample local image: sample/showcase-local.png

Development

Run tests:

uv run pytest

Build distributables:

uv build