name: md-slides
description: Convert Markdown to presentation slides in multiple formats (PDF, PPTX, HTML). Use when user mentions slides, presentations, Marp, Beamer, or wants to generate PDF/PPTX from markdown. Supports flavors (audience, style, language), visual comparisons, and AI-generated images via mcp-image.
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Glob, Grep, mcp__mcp-image__generate_image

Markdown Universal Slides Generator

Convert Markdown source files to presentation slides in multiple formats.

Workflow

From prompt (recommended workflow):

Prompt → Claude writes slides.md → [Optional: Generate images] → User reviews/edits → Convert to PDF/PPTX

1. Generate markdown content based on user's prompt
2. Write to a .md file first (e.g., slides.md or output/slides.md)
3. Optional: If visuals needed and mcp-image is configured, generate diagrams/charts
4. Tell user: "I've created slides.md. Review and edit if needed."
5. Ask before converting: "Ready to convert to PDF/PPTX?"
6. Convert using the appropriate tool (use --allow-local-files if images included)

From existing file:

slides.md → Select tool → Convert to PDF/PPTX

Core Concept

One source, multiple outputs:

slides.md → Marp/Pandoc/python-pptx → PDF / PPTX / HTML

Slide Flavors

When creating slides, ask or infer these parameters to customize output:

Audience Types

Visual Styles

Language Options

Content Density

Flavor Examples

Manager presentation (Chinese):

audience: manager
style: professional
language: zh
length: standard

→ Use Gaia theme, executive summary, key findings, recommendations

Technical tutorial (English):

audience: developer
style: minimal
language: en
length: detailed

→ Use default theme, code examples, step-by-step

Research showcase:

audience: general
style: visual
language: mixed
length: standard

→ Use Gaia with custom CSS, screenshots, comparisons

Available Tools & Best Use Cases

Quick Commands

Generate with Marp (Recommended)

# PDF output
marp slides.md -o slides.pdf

# PPTX output
marp slides.md -o slides.pptx

# HTML output
marp slides.md -o slides.html

# With custom theme
marp slides.md --theme gaia -o slides.pdf

# Allow local images
marp slides.md -o slides.pdf --allow-local-files

Generate with Pandoc Beamer

# Basic PDF
pandoc slides.md -t beamer -o slides.pdf

# With XeLaTeX (better font support, required for CJK)
pandoc slides.md -t beamer --pdf-engine=xelatex -o slides.pdf

# With theme
pandoc slides.md -t beamer -V theme:metropolis -o slides.pdf

# CJK support
pandoc slides.md -t beamer --pdf-engine=xelatex \
  -V mainfont="Noto Sans CJK SC" -o slides.pdf

Generate with reveal.js

pandoc slides.md -t revealjs -s -o slides.html
pandoc slides.md -t revealjs -s -V theme=moon -o slides.html

Markdown Slide Format

Marp Format

---
marp: true
theme: default  # or gaia, uncover
paginate: true
---

# Slide Title

Content here

---

# Next Slide

- Bullet points
- More content

Pandoc/Beamer Format

---
title: Presentation Title
author: Author Name
date: 2026
---

# Section Title

## Slide Title

- Content
- More content

---

## Another Slide

Content continues

Generating Visual Showcases

When user wants to compare tools visually:

1. Create sample slides with representative content:
2. Title slide with Chinese/English
3. Code highlighting example
4. Math formulas

5. Tables

6. Generate outputs from all tools:
   ```bash
   # Marp outputs
   marp sample.md -o output/marp.pdf
   marp sample.md -o output/marp.pptx

# Beamer outputs
pandoc sample.md -t beamer --pdf-engine=xelatex -o output/beamer.pdf

# Pandoc PPTX
pandoc sample.md -o output/pandoc.pptx
```

1. Create screenshots for comparison:
   bash pdftoppm -png -f 1 -l 1 -r 150 output/marp.pdf screenshots/marp pdftoppm -png -f 1 -l 1 -r 150 output/beamer.pdf screenshots/beamer

2. Build comparison presentation with embedded screenshots

Tool Selection Guide

LLM Integration Pattern

import subprocess

def generate_slides(content: str, output_path: str):
    """Generate slides from LLM-produced content."""
    md_content = f"""---
marp: true
theme: gaia
paginate: true
---

{content}
"""
    with open("/tmp/slides.md", "w") as f:
        f.write(md_content)

    subprocess.run(["marp", "/tmp/slides.md", "-o", output_path], check=True)
    return output_path

Troubleshooting

AI Image Generation (mcp-image)

Generate professional diagrams, charts, and illustrations for slides using the mcp-image MCP server powered by Google Gemini.

Prerequisites

The user must have mcp-image configured:

claude mcp add mcp-image \
  --env GEMINI_API_KEY=AIza... \
  --env IMAGE_OUTPUT_DIR=/absolute/path/to/images \
  -- npx -y mcp-image

Image Generation Tool

Use mcp__mcp-image__generate_image with these parameters:

Workflow with Image Generation

1. User requests slides with visuals
2. Generate slide markdown content
3. Identify slides needing diagrams/charts
4. Call mcp-image to generate visuals
5. Embed generated images in markdown
6. Convert to PDF/PPTX with --allow-local-files

Example: Generate Architecture Diagram

# Step 1: Call mcp-image
mcp__mcp-image__generate_image(
    prompt="Professional flowchart showing: User → API Gateway → Microservices → Database. Clean lines, blue color scheme, white background, no text labels",
    aspectRatio="16:9",
    imageSize="2K"
)
# Returns: /path/to/images/generated-image.png

# Step 2: Embed in slides
---
# System Architecture

![Architecture Diagram](./images/generated-image.png)

Best Prompts for Slide Visuals

Image Generation Tips

1. Be specific: "Blue color scheme, white background, minimalist" > "nice looking"
2. Specify no text: Add "no text labels" if you'll add text in slides
3. Use 16:9: Best aspect ratio for presentation slides
4. Request consistency: "Same style as previous diagram" for visual coherence
5. Keep it simple: Complex diagrams may not render well

Cost Awareness

Tip: Generate 2K for drafts, 4K for final presentations.

Complete Example: AI-Enhanced Slides

---
marp: true
theme: gaia
paginate: true
---

# Cloud Migration Strategy

---

# Current Architecture

![Current State](./images/current-arch.png)
<!-- Generated: "Legacy monolithic architecture diagram with single database,
     traditional servers, showing bottlenecks. Gray/red color scheme" -->

---

# Target Architecture

![Target State](./images/target-arch.png)
<!-- Generated: "Modern cloud-native architecture with microservices,
     Kubernetes, multiple databases. Blue/green color scheme, clean" -->

---

# Migration Timeline

![Timeline](./images/migration-timeline.png)
<!-- Generated: "Horizontal timeline: Q1 Assessment → Q2 Pilot → Q3 Migration → Q4 Optimization.
     Professional style, blue gradient" -->

Reference Files

• Sample Markdown: docs/sample-universal.md
• Marp-specific sample: docs/sample-marp-format.md
• Research report: docs/report-research-zh.md
• Showcase presentation: docs/presentation-showcase-zh.md