officecli-morph-ppt

Generate Morph-animated PPTs with officecli

Security Scan

The skill's files and runtime instructions are consistent with its stated purpose (building Morph-animated PPTs using officecli); it does not request credentials or hidden network endpoints, but it does instruct downloading/executing officecli install scripts from GitHub raw content (a common but moderate-risk operation you should review before running).

Purpose & Capability

Name/description (Generate Morph-animated PPTs with officecli) matches the included materials: extensive design guidance, templates, and helper scripts that call the officecli CLI to build and verify PPTX files. The requested resources (python, officecli CLI usage, local reference files) are proportional to the stated goal.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md and helper scripts focus on creating slides, naming shapes, ghosting, verifying transitions, and running officecli commands. They reference only local reference files included in the skill and call officecli to inspect/modify PPTX. There is no instruction to read unrelated system files or to exfiltrate data.

Install Mechanism

The registry provides no formal install spec, but SKILL.md includes an explicit 'before you start' routine that uses curl to download and run an install script from raw.githubusercontent.com and queries the GitHub API to check latest releases. Downloading and executing install scripts from raw GitHub URLs is common but carries moderate risk — review the referenced install.sh before running and prefer manual installation if you prefer to avoid auto-executing remote scripts.

Credentials

The skill declares no required environment variables, no credentials, and no config paths. The helper scripts operate on local files and call officecli; they do not require or request unrelated secrets or cloud credentials.

Persistence & Privilege

The skill is instruction-only (no persistent install requested by the registry), always:false, and user-invocable. It does not request system-wide changes or modify other skills' configuration. The agent may run the included scripts and officecli commands, which is appropriate for a build tool.

Assessment

This skill appears coherent and aligned with its stated purpose, but review the following before use: - Review the install steps in reference/officecli-pptx-min.md: it uses curl to fetch and run an install.sh from raw.githubusercontent.com and queries the GitHub API. Inspect that install.sh on GitHub (and the repo) before running it, or install officecli yourself from a trusted source first. - All helper scripts call the officecli CLI and run local Python/shell commands. Run builds in an isolated workspace or VM if you are cautious, so the scripts cannot affect unrelated files. - The skill does not request any credentials; do not provide secrets to it. If you must grant network access, prefer manually installing officecli and verifying its version instead of letting the skill auto-download. - The SKILL.md already warns not to 'Open with system app' during generation to avoid file locks — follow that guidance. If you want higher assurance: manually inspect the referenced install.sh and the iOfficeAI/OfficeCli GitHub repo, run officecli installation commands yourself, and then run only the local helper scripts from this package.

Morph

Generate visually compelling PPTs with smooth Morph animations.

Philosophy: Trust yourself to learn through practice. This skill provides workflow and references — you bring creativity and judgment.

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Use when

• User wants to generate a .pptx

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What is Morph?

PowerPoint's Morph transition creates smooth animations by matching shapes with identical names across adjacent slides.

Slide 1: shape name="!!circle" x=5cm  width=8cm
Slide 2: shape name="!!circle" x=20cm width=12cm
         ↓
Result: Circle smoothly moves and grows

Three core concepts:

• Scene Actors: Persistent shapes with !! prefix that evolve across slides
• Ghosting: Move shapes to x=36cm (off-screen) instead of deleting
• Content: Text/data added fresh per slide, previous content ghosted first

For details: reference/pptx-design.md

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Workflow

Phase 1: Understand the Topic

Ask only when topic is unclear, otherwise proceed directly.

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Phase 2: Plan the Story

FIRST: Read the thinking framework

→ Open and read reference/decision-rules.md — it provides the structured approach for planning compelling presentations (Pyramid Principle, SCQA, page types).

Then create brief.md with:

• Context: Topic, audience, purpose, narrative structure (SCQA or Problem-Solution)
• Outline: Conclusion first + slide-by-slide summary
• Page briefs: For each slide:
  • Objective (what should this slide achieve?)
  • Content (specific text/data to include)
  • Page type (title | evidence | transition | conclusion)
  • Design notes (visual emphasis, scene actor behavior)

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Phase 3: Design and Generate

Before generation starts, always remind the user:

• The PPT file may be rewritten multiple times during build.
• Once the PPT file appears in the workspace, the user can preview the live generation progress directly in AionUi.
• Do not click "Open with system app" during generation, to avoid file lock / write conflicts.
• Use clear, direct language and make this a concrete warning, not an optional suggestion.

FIRST: Ensure latest officecli version

Follow the installation check in reference/officecli-pptx-min.md section 0 (checks version and upgrades only if needed).

IMPORTANT: Use morph-helpers for reliable workflow

Generate a Python script that uses reference/morph-helpers.py — this provides helper functions with built-in verification. Python works cross-platform (Mac / Windows / Linux).

Shape naming rules (for best results):

Use these naming patterns for clear code and reliable verification:

1. Scene actors (persistent across slides):

   • Format: name=!!actor-name
   • Examples: name=!!ring-1, name=!!dot-accent, name=!!line-top
   • Behavior: Modify position/size/color, NEVER ghost

2. Content shapes (unique per slide):

   • Format: name=#sN-description
   • Pattern: # + s + slide_number + - + description
   • Examples: name=#s1-title, name=#s2-card1, name=#s3-stats
   • Behavior: Ghost (x=36cm) when moving to next slide

Why this naming matters:

• ✅ Better detection: Primary method (#sN- pattern matching) is fastest and most accurate
• ✅ Readable code: Anyone can tell #s1-title is slide 1's title
• ✅ Easy debugging: grep "#s1-" finds all slide 1 content quickly
• ⚠️ Backup detection exists: Even without # prefix, duplicate text detection will catch most issues (but has edge cases)

Bottom line: Follow these patterns in your code examples, and verification will work smoothly.

Then proceed with pattern:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import subprocess, sys, os

def run(*args):
    result = subprocess.run(list(args))
    if result.returncode != 0:
        sys.exit(result.returncode)

# Load helper functions (provides morph_clone_slide, morph_ghost_content, morph_verify_slide)
SCRIPT_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
def helper(*args):
    run(sys.executable, os.path.join(SCRIPT_DIR, "reference", "morph-helpers.py"), *[str(a) for a in args])

OUTPUT = "deck.pptx"
run("officecli", "create", OUTPUT)

# ============ SLIDE 1 ============
print("Building Slide 1...")
run("officecli", "add", OUTPUT, "/", "--type", "slide")
run("officecli", "set", OUTPUT, "/slide[1]", "--prop", "background=1A1A2E")

# Scene actors (!!-prefixed, will persist and morph across slides)
run("officecli", "add", OUTPUT, "/slide[1]", "--type", "shape",
    "--prop", "name=!!ring-1", "--prop", "preset=ellipse", "--prop", "fill=E94560",
    "--prop", "opacity=0.3", "--prop", "x=5cm", "--prop", "y=3cm", "--prop", "width=8cm", "--prop", "height=8cm")
run("officecli", "add", OUTPUT, "/slide[1]", "--type", "shape",
    "--prop", "name=!!dot-accent", "--prop", "preset=ellipse", "--prop", "fill=0F3460",
    "--prop", "x=28cm", "--prop", "y=15cm", "--prop", "width=1cm", "--prop", "height=1cm")

# Content shapes (#s1- prefix, will be ghosted on next slide)
# Use generous width (25-30cm for titles) to avoid text wrapping!
run("officecli", "add", OUTPUT, "/slide[1]", "--type", "shape",
    "--prop", "name=#s1-title", "--prop", "text=Main Title",
    "--prop", "font=Arial Black", "--prop", "size=64", "--prop", "bold=true",
    "--prop", "color=FFFFFF", "--prop", "x=10cm", "--prop", "y=8cm",
    "--prop", "width=28cm", "--prop", "height=3cm", "--prop", "fill=none")

# ============ SLIDE 2 ============
print("Building Slide 2...")

# Use helper: automatically clone + set transition + list shapes + verify
helper("clone", OUTPUT, 1, 2)

# Use helper: ghost all content from slide 1 (shape index 3 = #s1-title)
helper("ghost", OUTPUT, 2, 3)

# Add new content for slide 2
run("officecli", "add", OUTPUT, "/slide[2]", "--type", "shape",
    "--prop", "name=#s2-title", "--prop", "text=Second Slide",
    "--prop", "font=Arial Black", "--prop", "size=64", "--prop", "bold=true",
    "--prop", "color=FFFFFF", "--prop", "x=10cm", "--prop", "y=8cm",
    "--prop", "width=28cm", "--prop", "height=3cm", "--prop", "fill=none")

# Adjust scene actors to create motion
run("officecli", "set", OUTPUT, "/slide[2]/shape[1]", "--prop", "x=15cm", "--prop", "y=5cm")  # !!ring-1 moves
run("officecli", "set", OUTPUT, "/slide[2]/shape[2]", "--prop", "x=5cm",  "--prop", "y=10cm") # !!dot-accent moves

# Use helper: verify slide is correct (transition + ghosting)
helper("verify", OUTPUT, 2)

# ============ SLIDE 3 ============
print("Building Slide 3...")

helper("clone", OUTPUT, 2, 3)
helper("ghost", OUTPUT, 3, 4)  # Ghost #s2-title (now at index 4)

run("officecli", "add", OUTPUT, "/slide[3]", "--type", "shape",
    "--prop", "name=#s3-title", "--prop", "text=Third Slide",
    "--prop", "font=Arial Black", "--prop", "size=64", "--prop", "bold=true",
    "--prop", "color=FFFFFF", "--prop", "x=10cm", "--prop", "y=8cm",
    "--prop", "width=28cm", "--prop", "height=3cm", "--prop", "fill=none")

run("officecli", "set", OUTPUT, "/slide[3]/shape[1]", "--prop", "x=25cm", "--prop", "y=8cm")
run("officecli", "set", OUTPUT, "/slide[3]/shape[2]", "--prop", "x=10cm", "--prop", "y=5cm")

helper("verify", OUTPUT, 3)

# ============ FINAL VERIFICATION ============
print()
print("=========================================")
helper("final-check", OUTPUT)

print()
print("Build complete! Open", OUTPUT, "in PowerPoint to see morph animations.")

Key advantages of using helpers:

• ✅ Fewer steps: morph_clone_slide = clone + transition + list + verify (4 steps → 1 function)
• ✅ Instant feedback: Each helper shows ✅ or ❌ immediately
• ✅ Can't forget: Transition and verification are automatic
• ✅ Clear errors: If something is wrong, you'll know exactly what and where
• ✅ Dual detection: Catches unghosted content by both naming pattern AND duplicate text detection
  • Even if you forget # prefix, duplicate detection will still catch the problem!

Essential rules:

• Naming: Scene actors use !! prefix, content uses #sN- prefix (best practice for verification and readability)
• Transition: Every slide after the first MUST have transition=morph (without this, no animation!)
• Ghosting: Before adding new slide content, ghost ALL previous content shapes to x=36cm (don't delete)
• Motion: Adjust scene actor (!!-*) positions between slides for animation
• Variety: Create spatial variety between adjacent slides
• Text Width: Use generous widths to prevent text wrapping:
  • Centered titles (64-72pt): 28-30cm width
  • Centered subtitles (28-40pt): 25-28cm width
  • Left-aligned titles: 20-25cm width
  • Body text: 8-12cm (single-column), 16-18cm (double-column)
  • When in doubt, make it wider! See reference/pptx-design.md for details

Design resources:

• reference/pptx-design.md — Design principles (Canvas, Fonts, Colors, Scene Actors, Page Types, Style References)
• reference/officecli-pptx-min.md — Command syntax
• reference/styles/<name>/ — Visual style examples (optional inspiration, browse by use case in styles/INDEX.md)

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Phase 4: Deliver

Outputs (3 files):

1. <topic>.pptx
2. Build script (complete, re-runnable — bash/python/powershell/etc.)
3. brief.md

Verification (your build script already includes this):

If you used morph-helpers.py, verification is already done! The build script calls helper("verify", ...) and helper("final-check", ...) automatically.

Just validate the final structure:

officecli validate <file>.pptx
officecli view <file>.pptx outline

If verification fails, see Troubleshooting section below.

Final delivery message requirements:

• Tell the user the deck with polished Morph animations is ready.
• Explicitly recommend opening the generated PPT now to preview the motion effects.
• Use affirmative wording (e.g., "ready now", "open it now to preview the animation quality").

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Troubleshooting

If morph_verify_slide or morph_final_check reports issues:

1. Missing transition:

   # Check which slides are missing transition
   officecli get <file>.pptx '/slide[2]' --json | grep transition
   officecli get <file>.pptx '/slide[3]' --json | grep transition
   # Expected: "transition": "morph"
   
   # Fix:
   officecli set <file>.pptx '/slide[2]' --prop transition=morph
   

2. Unghosted content:

   # Find unghosted shapes manually
   import subprocess
   for slide in range(2, 7):
       print(f"Slide {slide}:")
       subprocess.run(["officecli", "get", "<file>.pptx", f"/slide[{slide}]", "--depth", "1"])
   # If you see shapes like "#s1-title" on slide 2 (not at x=36cm), they should be ghosted
   
   # Fix (run in terminal):
   # officecli set <file>.pptx /slide[N]/shape[X] --prop x=36cm
   

3. Visual issues:

   # Open HTML preview to debug layout
   officecli view <file>.pptx html
   

Note: Scene actors (!!-prefixed) should appear on all slides — that's normal. Only content shapes (#sN- prefix) need ghosting.

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Phase 5: Iterate

Ask user for feedback, support quick adjustments.

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References

• reference/decision-rules.md — Planning logic, Pyramid Principle
• reference/pptx-design.md — Design principles (Canvas, Fonts, Colors, Scene Actors, Page Types)
• reference/officecli-pptx-min.md — Tool syntax
• reference/styles/INDEX.md — Visual style examples organized by use case

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First time? Read "Understanding Morph" above, skim one style reference for inspiration, then generate. Always use morph-helpers.py workflow. You'll learn by doing.

Trust yourself. You have vision, design sense, and the ability to iterate. These tools enable you — your creativity makes it excellent.