Pptx Template Parsing

PPTX Template Parsing

Turn a .pptx template into a semantic spec.json that downstream generation can fill mechanically — without the agent ever hand-reading shape indices off the slide.

This is the first half of the pipeline:

template.pptx ─[THIS SKILL]→ spec.json (+ summary.txt + renders/*.png)
                                   │
                                   ▼
                          ppt-template-adaptation  (authors content_plan.json, fills the deck)

When to use

• A user provides a PPT template that will be reused (not redesigned).
• Before any generation: generation needs the spec.json slot map this skill produces.
• When you need to know, per slide: what role it plays, where the title/body/cards/icons/logo/images

live, and which slides repeat a card structure.

• When a generated deck has layout, style, overlap, or missing-slot problems. Check whether parsing

captured the right slots and text styles before adding generation fallbacks.

Operating rule

The parser output is the contract. Do not hand-pick PowerPoint shape indices from memory, screenshots, or a previous failed deck. If fill_plan is wrong, fix parsing/classification first, rerun this skill, then regenerate with ppt-template-adaptation.

What it produces

| Output | Purpose | |---|---| | spec.json | The machine-readable contract consumed by generation. See references/spec-schema.md. | | summary.txt | One line per slide: role + confidence + detected slots. Read this first. | | renders/*.png | One PNG per slide when rendering is enabled. Use for human/visual review when allowed. |

How to run

python3 skills/pptx-template-parsing/scripts/parse_template.py \
  --template "PPT模板/大气人工智能科技感PPT模板.pptx" \
  --out workspace/specs/ai_tech

Flags:

• --no-render — skip LibreOffice rendering (faster; do this for a quick structural pass).
• --limit N — only parse the first N slides (useful while iterating).
• --dpi 110 — render resolution (default 110).

Rendering needs libreoffice + pdftoppm on PATH. If rendering fails the parser still emits spec.json (renders are best-effort).

Required workflow

1. Run parse_template.py against the original template, not a previously generated deck.
2. Read summary.txt and flag any low-confidence slide (role_confidence < 0.5) or unexpected slot

count, especially contents and repeated-card slides.

1. Read the relevant fill_plan entries in spec.json: title, labels, body, cards,

images, charts, tables, logo, and visual_obstacles.

1. For text-sensitive templates, inspect each slot's style.paragraphs / title_style.paragraphs.

Mixed-format boxes must preserve paragraph/run style instead of being flattened during generation.

1. Check template.theme.font_availability. Missing fonts explain render differences, but the PPTX

should still preserve the original font names in style.

1. Only after the slot map looks coherent, hand spec.json to ppt-template-adaptation and create a

content_plan.json.

Debugging checklist

• Contents page: card count must match visible directory entries. If four entries parse as one large

card, fix card-list/group extraction here.

• Shared text boxes: if a single text box contains number/title/body with different styles, the parsed

style must include paragraphs with run-level sizes/colors.

• Alignment: preserve parser values such as CENTER, LEFT, and DISTRIBUTE. Do not reinterpret

WPS distributed alignment as ordinary center.

• Icon/image boundary: small semantic glyphs belong in cards[].icon; photos/screenshots belong in

images[].

• Chart/table pages: if native chart/table slots are present, expose them as charts[] / tables[];

do not treat them as ordinary text pages.

How the classifier works (no single signal is trusted)

Each shape gets a role, a role_confidence, and the list of signals that fired, so its decision is reviewable against the render. Roles are assigned in priority order — hard shape types (table/chart) → real placeholders → stock placeholder text (点击输入标题) → font-size/geometry heuristics. Groups become card only when they carry substantive text. Full rules: references/classification-signals.md.

Slide roles (cover / contents / section_divider / content / ending) and the per-slide fill_plan are derived on top of the shape roles. Full rules: references/slide-roles.md.

Reference read order

Read only what the task needs:

• references/spec-schema.md — required when consuming or debugging spec.json.
• references/classification-signals.md — read when a shape role is wrong.
• references/slide-roles.md — read when a slide role, card count, or fill_plan is wrong.

Scripts

• scripts/parse_template.py — CLI entry: template → spec.json + summary.txt + renders.
• scripts/shape_classifier.py — per-shape role classification (builds the node tree).
• scripts/slide_classifier.py — slide role + card-list detection + fill_plan synthesis.

These scripts depend on lib/pptx_toolkit (shape walking, geometry, rendering).

Accuracy expectations

This is heuristic classification, not ground truth. role_confidence and signals exist precisely so a reviewer can catch mistakes. Always sanity-check summary.txt and the relevant spec.json entries before authoring a content_plan.json against the spec. When visual review is available, compare renders against the template; otherwise leave the render artifacts for human review and rely on structural checks.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: CxyZyr
• Source: CxyZyr/PPTX-Template-Skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.