PowerPoint Template Master Fixer

Repair and maintain PowerPoint PPTX templates with slide masters, placeholders, theme fonts, theme colors, chart links, and branded layouts. Use when Codex needs to troubleshoot automated deck generation that breaks a PowerPoint template, inspect slide master OOXML, or preserve brand fidelity across generated slides.

Use this skill when the problem is not just one slide, but the template system behind the deck: slide masters, layouts, placeholders, theme colors, fonts, chart links, and brand rules.

Workflow

1. Identify the template failure: wrong layout, missing placeholder, changed font, broken chart link, shifted logo, bad theme color, or automated generation that ignores the master.
2. Preserve the original .pptx template and work from a copy. Do not flatten masters into ordinary shapes unless the user explicitly wants a static deck.
3. Inspect the deck structure before editing:
   • ppt/slideMasters/
   • ppt/slideLayouts/
   • ppt/slides/
   • ppt/theme/
   • ppt/charts/
   • relationship files under _rels
4. Map each visible issue to the right layer:
   • Master-level issue: brand elements, theme fonts, default colors, global objects.
   • Layout-level issue: placeholder types, positions, title/body/chart slots.
   • Slide-level issue: content inserted into the wrong placeholder or pasted as freeform shapes.
   • Relationship issue: chart, image, or embedded workbook link has moved or gone missing.
5. Prefer template-aware repairs. Reuse layouts and placeholders before adding manual shapes.
6. When using python-pptx, confirm whether the target feature is supported. For unsupported master/theme/chart-link edits, inspect or patch OOXML directly.
7. Validate by checking slide count, layout assignment, placeholder IDs/types, theme colors, fonts, charts, linked media, and a rendered or opened view when possible.

Fix Patterns

• Wrong placeholder filled: identify placeholder type and index from the layout, then bind content to that placeholder rather than assuming order.
• Theme colors ignored: use theme references where possible; avoid hard-coded RGB unless the brand guide requires it.
• Fonts change after generation: inspect theme font definitions and local text run overrides.
• Charts lose links: preserve chart relationship IDs, embedded workbook parts, and chart XML.
• Brand elements move: keep logos and fixed elements on masters or layouts, not repeated manually on each generated slide.

Output

Give the user:

• A diagnosis of the broken template layer.
• A repair or generation plan tied to specific PowerPoint parts.
• Any code or OOXML changes needed.
• A validation note describing what was checked visually and structurally.

Read references/requirement-plan.md only when the original discovery evidence is needed.