Presentation Kit

AI-powered presentation skills for Claude Code, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible AI tools. Targets Figma Slides via the figma-console MCP server.

Turn a brief into a defensible deck: research → outline → narrative arc → visual design → slides → motion → speaker notes → rehearsal → handoff. No generic templates, no stock slop.

What makes this different

Narrative arc as a first-class choice. Pick SCQA, Strategic Narrative, Sparkline, or 10/20/30 up front. Outlines are validated against arc beats before a pixel is drawn. No incumbent presentation tool does this.

Action titles enforced. Every slide's title is a full-sentence takeaway, not a topic label. "Market Size" is rejected; "The market is growing 40% year over year" is accepted. A ghost-deck test scores your titles as a standalone essay before the deck is built.

Visual > verbal. A visualization chooser at plan time picks charts, diagrams, or grids over bullet lists whenever possible.

Cited speaker notes. Every claim on a slide traces to a source in research.json. Notes include citations. Your deck is defensible.

Rehearsal coach. An interactive rehearse skill times your delivery, flags long sentences, unpronounceable acronyms, and pacing drift. Parity with Copilot Speaker Coach — shipped as a Claude skill.

What you get (v0.1 — MVP, 14 skills, 2 phases)

Phase 1 — Foundation → Skeleton Deck

Command	What it does
/setup-deck	Interviews brand identity → writes tokens, typography, motion, color-modes, file structure
/setup-templates	Profiles existing Figma slide-masters + registers 13 built-in templates
/brief	Defines problem, audience, single CTA, duration, tone
/research	Researcher agent (WebSearch + your docs) → cited claim map in research.json
/outline	Action-titled outline + ghost-deck test + voice audit
/arc	Picks narrative arc: --type=scqa|narrative|sparkline|10-20-30 + beat mapping
/style-preview	3 aesthetic directions rendered on a sample slide — you pick one
/plan-deck	Compiles outline + arc + aesthetic + research → deck.json + per-slide specs
/build	Executes deck.json in Figma Slides via the 5-layer build model

Phase 2 — Rich + Ship

Command	What it does
/image	Per-slide image generation via external provider; --layered produces bg/mid/fg as editable Figma layers
/motion	Transitions + cross-slide Smart Animate + audit for missing / excessive motion
/notes	Speaker notes: --generate / --timing ([~45s] markers) / --qa-prep / --coach
/rehearse	Interactive rehearsal: reads aloud via TTS, times you, flags pacing and clarity issues
/handoff	Audits + parallel QA (4 subagents) + healing loop (≥ 8/10 score gate) + shareable bundle

Deferred to v0.2

eval-skills, presentation-kit-upgrade, slide-from-notes, capture-url, brainstorm-arcs, stress-test, cleanup.

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Prerequisites

1. An AI tool with MCP support — Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf.
2. Figma Desktop with a Slides file open.
3. Figma Console MCP — the Desktop Bridge plugin running in your Figma file.

Installation

Option A: Claude Code (global)

git clone https://github.com/bladefury3/presentation-kit.git ~/.presentation-kit
cd ~/.presentation-kit && ./setup

Option B: Project-local

git clone https://github.com/bladefury3/presentation-kit.git
cd presentation-kit && ./setup --local

Option C: Cursor

git clone https://github.com/bladefury3/presentation-kit.git ~/.presentation-kit
cd ~/.presentation-kit && ./setup --cursor=/path/to/your/project

Figma Console MCP configuration

Add to ~/.claude/settings.json (Claude Code) or .cursor/mcp.json (Cursor):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "figma-console": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "figma-console-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Then open your Figma Slides file and run the Desktop Bridge plugin (Plugins → Development → Figma Desktop Bridge).

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Your first 15 minutes

Step 1:  Open a Figma Slides file. Run the Desktop Bridge plugin.
Step 2:  /setup-deck
         → Interviews brand identity, writes design-system/*,
           scaffolds title / section / closing slides.
Step 3:  /setup-templates
         → Registers 13 shipped templates in the registry.
Step 4:  /brief
         → HMW, audience, CTA, duration, tone. 3-4 questions.
Step 5:  /research
         → Cites claims into research.json.
Step 6:  /outline → /arc → /style-preview → /plan-deck → /build
         → Skeleton deck in Figma Slides.
Step 7:  /image → /motion → /notes → /rehearse → /handoff
         → Rich, rehearsed, audited, shipped.

Common workflows

"I need a 10-minute pitch by tomorrow"

/brief                     → 10-min, VC audience, single ask
/research                  → cited claims
/outline                   → action titles; ghost-deck gate
/arc --type=narrative      → Raskin strategic narrative
/style-preview             → pick aesthetic
/plan-deck → /build        → skeleton in Figma Slides
/image --layered           → per-slide images
/notes --generate --timing → speaker notes with pacing markers
/handoff                   → audit + bundle

"I have a 30-page research doc — make it a 20-min exec update"

/brief                       → "leadership review, 20 min, decision needed"
/research --source=doc.pdf
/outline
/arc --type=scqa             → Minto: front-load the answer
/plan-deck → /build
/notes --timing              → 20-min budget
/rehearse                    → catch pacing drift

"Make my deck not look generic"

/style-preview   → commit to one of 3 distinct aesthetic directions before any slide
/plan-deck       → enforces layout variety (no two consecutive same-template slides)
/handoff         → parallel QA catches AI slop patterns

"I'm nervous about speaker notes"

/notes --generate --qa-prep  → claim + evidence + transition + anticipated Q&A per slide
/notes --timing              → [~45s] markers
/rehearse                    → times you, flags long sentences, unpronounceable acronyms

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How it works

Phase 1: FOUNDATION → SKELETON DECK
  /setup-deck → /setup-templates → /brief → /research → /outline → /arc → /style-preview
    → /plan-deck → /build
  End state: structurally complete skeleton deck in Figma Slides
             (action titles, arc beats, brand tokens, template-correct layouts)

Phase 2: RICH + SHIP
  /image → /motion → /notes → /rehearse → /handoff
  End state: rich, rehearsed, audited, score-≥8/10 deck + shareable bundle

Skills read from and write to three local directories:

Directory	What's in it	Created by
design-system/	Brand, tokens, typography, motion, color-modes, templates, decisions	/setup-deck, /setup-templates + all skills (decisions log)
plans/<deck-slug>/	Per-deck: brief, research, outline, arc, deck.json, slides/, notes, qa, handoff bundle	/brief, /research, /outline, /arc, /plan-deck, /build, /notes, /handoff
benchmarks/	Test cases, rubrics, results	/eval-skills (v0.2)

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Architecture

See CLAUDE.md for the full project structure, the 15 core directives, and skill-developer conventions. See PRINCIPLES.md for storytelling frameworks, typography, coordinate grid, color system, cognitive load laws, and the AI Slop Check. See ETHOS.md for the design philosophy.

Some of the key architectural decisions:

• Slides-first authoring. Skills commit directly to Figma Slides — not to Design-mode frames we later export. Templates are authored once as slide-masters in Design mode; instances are placed on slides.
• Outline (human) + deck.json (machine) two-layer. You edit outline.md. /plan-deck compiles to deck.json. You never hand-edit the compiled form.
• Speaker notes via escape hatch. figma-console has no typed tool for speaker notes; we use figma_execute + Plugin API (slide.speakerNotes = "..."). One shared helper. Validated on day-one smoke test.
• Image generation external → figma_set_image_fill. /image shells out to configurable provider (OpenAI / Gemini / Replicate) via Bash, then applies via figma_set_image_fill. Provider lives in design-system/image-provider.json.

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Design principles

Presentation Kit embeds established frameworks into every skill:

• Storytelling arcs — SCQA (Minto), Strategic Narrative (Raskin), Sparkline (Duarte), 10/20/30 (Kawasaki)
• Visual > Verbal — visualization chooser enforced at plan time
• Gestalt + Cognitive Load — Hick's, Miller's, Fitts's, Von Restorff applied to slide density
• 5-layer build model — Background → Structure → Graphics → Typography → Polish (from luan007/figma-slides-mcp)
• Ghost-deck test — titles alone must tell the story (from academic-pptx-skill)
• AI Slop Check — catches generic card grids, stock hero images, bullet-list defaults

See PRINCIPLES.md.

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Credits & prior art

Presentation Kit stands on work from:

• luan007/figma-slides-mcp — 5-layer build model, typography role mapping, coordinate grid, 6 D3 chart patterns, anti-patterns format, text-mastery dance.
• Gabberflast/academic-pptx-skill — action-title enforcement, ghost-deck test.
• Julianlapis/agentic-slides — parallel QA subagents with healing threshold.
• zarazhangrui/frontend-slides — 3-style preview gate pattern.
• Nancy Duarte, Andy Raskin, Barbara Minto, Guy Kawasaki — the arc frameworks.
• Canva Magic Layers — layered AI image pattern.
• Microsoft Copilot Speaker Coach — the rehearsal-coach inspiration.

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Uninstall

cd ~/.presentation-kit && ./setup --uninstall

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Author

Sidharath Chhatani