pptx-tools

Give AI agents native access to PowerPoint. Read slides, extract content, add slides, update text and shape data, and insert images—all through natural language, without touching Office.

pptx-tools is a .NET Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that bridges AI reasoning and PowerPoint files. It's built for developers and power users who want to automate content extraction, data-driven slide updates, and intelligent presentation generation.

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Quick Install

Note: NuGet publishing is planned. For now, build from source.

git clone https://github.com/jongalloway/pptx-tools.git
cd pptx-tools
dotnet build PptxTools.slnx --configuration Release

Wire it up to Claude Desktop

Add the following to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pptx-tools": {
      "command": "dotnet",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--project",
        "/absolute/path/to/pptx-tools/src/PptxTools",
        "--configuration",
        "Release"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Once NuGet publishing is set up, this simplifies to:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pptx-tools": {
      "command": "pptx"
    }
  }
}

See docs/QUICKSTART.md for a full walkthrough.

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What You Can Do

Tools (21)

Tool	What it does
pptx_list_slides	List all slides with metadata
pptx_list_layouts	List available slide layouts
pptx_get_slide_content	Extract structured content from a slide (shapes, text, tables)
pptx_get_slide_xml	Get the raw XML for a slide (power users)
pptx_manage_slides	Create slides: Add (blank), AddFromLayout (template + placeholders), or Duplicate (clone + overrides)
pptx_update_slide_data	Update a named or indexed shape while preserving formatting — preferred for single data-driven updates
pptx_batch_update	Apply multiple named text updates across a deck in one open/save cycle
pptx_insert_image	Embed an image (PNG, JPG, GIF) on a slide
pptx_replace_image	Replace an image in an existing picture shape — inherits geometry from the layout, no manual coordinates needed
pptx_insert_table	Insert a new table onto a slide with headers and data rows
pptx_update_table	Update cell values in an existing table — target by name or zero-based index
pptx_chart_data	Read or update data in an existing chart (bar, column, line, pie, area, scatter) — preserves all chart formatting
pptx_write_notes	Set or replace speaker notes on a slide (supports append and multi-paragraph)
pptx_reorder_slides	Move a single slide or batch reorder all slides
pptx_delete_slide	Remove a slide by its 1-based slide number
pptx_extract_talking_points	Extract the highest-signal talking points from each slide
pptx_export_markdown	Export a full presentation to a structured markdown file
pptx_analyze_file_size	Analyze file size breakdown by category (slides, images, video/audio, masters, layouts)
pptx_manage_media	Analyze media assets, deduplicate identical media by hash, or extract video/audio metadata (codec, resolution, duration, bitrate)
pptx_manage_layouts	Find unused layouts/masters or remove them with before/after validation
pptx_optimize_images	Compress/optimize images by downscaling, format conversion, and recompression

When to use pptx_manage_slides: Use AddFromLayout when you want PowerPoint to respect an existing template layout while you fill placeholders in one call. Placeholder keys use semantic names like Title, Body:1, or Picture:2. Use Duplicate when you already have a styled slide you want to reuse — it deep-clones the slide and related parts, then applies optional placeholder overrides to the duplicate only.

When to use pptx_replace_image: Use pptx_replace_image to swap the image in an existing picture shape (by name or index). The shape's position and size are preserved from the layout, so no EMU coordinates are needed. Supports PNG, JPEG, and SVG. Use the optional altText parameter for accessibility.

When to use pptx_batch_update: Use pptx_batch_update when you already know several shape names and want to refresh an entire deck in one pass. It applies multiple text mutations in one open/save cycle and returns per-mutation success details.

When to use pptx_insert_table: Use pptx_insert_table to add a new DrawingML table to a slide. Pass column headers and row data as arrays. Position and size are specified in EMUs (914,400 EMUs = 1 inch); defaults place a full-width table 1.5 inches from the top. Assign a name via tableName so you can target the table later with pptx_update_table.

When to use pptx_update_table: Use pptx_update_table to overwrite cell values in an existing table. Locate the table by its tableName (case-insensitive, takes precedence) or by tableIndex (zero-based). Each update targets a cell by zero-based row and column indices. Out-of-range updates are silently skipped and counted in CellsSkipped.

When to use pptx_chart_data: Use pptx_chart_data to read or refresh data in an existing chart without touching its styling. Call with action: Read to inspect chart type, series names, categories, and values. Call with action: Update to replace values — provide an updates array where each entry specifies the zero-based SeriesIndex and the new Values, Categories, and/or SeriesName. All chart formatting (colors, fonts, line styles) is preserved. Supports Column, Bar, Line, Pie, Area, Scatter, and their 3D/Doughnut variants. Locate the chart by chartName or chartIndex; if the slide has only one chart, both may be omitted.

Resources

Resources let agents browse presentation state without imperative tool calls. Access them using URIs of the form pptx://{file}/{resource} where {file} is the URL-encoded absolute path to the .pptx file.

Resource URI	What it returns
pptx://{file}/slides	JSON array of all slides with index, title, notes, and placeholder count
pptx://{file}/layouts	JSON array of available slide layouts with index and name
pptx://{file}/shape-map	JSON object keyed by zero-based slide index (e.g. "0", "1"), each containing all named shapes with type, placeholder type, and current text

Example: To browse slide content in /home/user/deck.pptx, access pptx://%2Fhome%2Fuser%2Fdeck.pptx/slides (file path URL-encoded).

The shape-map resource is especially useful for discovering shape names before calling pptx_update_slide_data.

Prompts

Prompts are reusable workflow templates that give agents a structured starting point for common tasks.

Prompt	What it does
refresh-qbr-deck	Step-by-step workflow for refreshing a QBR deck with live metrics from a data source
create-agenda-slide	Adds an agenda slide listing current slide titles at the end of the deck
replace-kpi-placeholders	Finds all placeholder tokens (e.g. {{KPI_NAME}}, [VALUE], TBD) and replaces them with real values

Completions

pptx-tools supports argument auto-completion for:

• layoutName — autocompletes layout names from the actual presentation file (requires file or filePath context argument)
• shapeName — autocompletes shape names across all slides in a single file pass (requires file or filePath context argument)
• placeholderType — suggests standard OpenXML placeholder type names (title, body, ctrTitle, etc.)

Limitations: pptx-tools updates text content, inserts images, creates tables, and refreshes data in existing charts. It does not create charts from scratch or modify slide master/theme styles. Complex layout changes should be done in PowerPoint directly.

→ Full parameter docs and examples: docs/TOOL_REFERENCE.md

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Use Cases

Meeting Prep Assistant Ask your AI assistant to read your keynote deck, pull out the key talking points per slide, and give you a quick summary before you walk into the room. Use pptx_extract_talking_points to get ranked, noise-filtered bullet points from every slide in a single call.

Documentation Generator Export a training presentation to markdown for your knowledge base. Use pptx_export_markdown to convert the whole deck—headings, bullets, tables, and image references—to a structured .md file in one step. Keep the deck as the source of truth; let the agent keep the docs in sync.

Data Dashboard Updater Connect pptx-tools with a data source MCP. Your agent fetches today's KPIs and updates the metrics slide automatically—no manual editing needed. Use the refresh-qbr-deck prompt to guide the workflow, or browse the pptx://{file}/shape-map resource first to discover shape names. See the multi-source composition guide and the included mock-data-mcp example to run it locally.

See docs/EXAMPLES.md for complete agent prompts and sample tool call sequences for each scenario.

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Contributing / Dev Setup

Requirements: .NET 10 SDK

# Build
dotnet build PptxTools.slnx --configuration Release

# Test
dotnet test PptxTools.slnx --configuration Release

Architecture overview and internal docs live in docs/PRD.md.

Contributions are welcome—open an issue or a PR.