PPTX Generator MCP Server

Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for generating professional PowerPoint presentations from Markdown.

Transform your lesson plans and documentation into beautiful PPTX presentations with support for:

✅ Inline code with monospace formatting
✅ Code blocks with syntax highlighting background
✅ Tables with styled headers
✅ Bold text and mixed formatting
✅ Bullet lists with proper indentation
✅ Mixed content slides (bullets + code + tables)
✅ Custom branding (logos, colors, instructor info)

📋 Table of Contents

Requirements
Installation
- Method 1: Quick Install (Recommended)
- Method 2: Manual Install
Configuration
- Claude Desktop Setup
- Customization
Usage
- In Claude Desktop
- Markdown Format
Examples
Troubleshooting
Updating
Uninstalling

🔧 Requirements

Node.js 18.0 or higher (Download)
Claude Desktop (Download)
macOS, Linux, or Windows

Check your Node.js version:

node -v

📦 Installation

Method 1: Quick Install (Recommended)

1. Clone the repository:

cd ~/Documents  # or any directory you prefer
git clone https://github.com/dmytro-ustynov/pptx-generator-mcp.git
cd pptx-generator-mcp

2. Run the installation script:

./install.sh

The script will:

Install all dependencies
Install the command globally
Show you the Claude Desktop configuration

3. Configure Claude Desktop:

The installer will show you what to add. Copy the configuration to:

macOS/Linux: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pptx-generator": {
      "command": "pptx-generator-mcp"
    }
  }
}

4. Restart Claude Desktop

✅ Done! The pptx-generator tools are now available in Claude.

Method 2: Manual Install

1. Clone and install dependencies:

# Change dmytro-ustynov to your username if you want to use your fork
git clone https://github.com/dmytro-ustynov/pptx-generator-mcp.git 
cd pptx-generator-mcp
npm install

2. Install globally:

npm install -g .

Or with sudo if needed:

sudo npm install -g .

3. Verify installation:

which pptx-generator-mcp
# Should show: /usr/local/bin/pptx-generator-mcp (or similar)

4. Configure Claude Desktop (same as Method 1, step 3)

⚙️ Configuration

Claude Desktop Setup

After installation, configure Claude Desktop to use the MCP server.

macOS/Linux:

# Open the config file
code ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
# or
nano ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows:

notepad %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add this configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pptx-generator": {
      "command": "pptx-generator-mcp"
    }
  }
}

If you have other MCP servers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pptx-generator": {
      "command": "pptx-generator-mcp"
    },
    "other-server": {
      "command": "other-server-command"
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop for changes to take effect.

Customization

Customize colors, fonts, and branding by editing config.json in the installation directory.

Find your installation:

npm list -g pptx-generator-mcp
# Shows: /usr/local/lib/node_modules/pptx-generator-mcp

Edit config:

cd $(npm root -g)/pptx-generator-mcp
nano config.json

Configuration options:

Instructor Information

{
  "instructor": {
    "rank": "майор",
    "name": "Дмитро УСТИНОВ",
    "position": "викладач"
  }
}

Institution Details

{
  "institution": {
    "name": [
      "Військовий інститут",
      "телекомунікацій та інформатизації",
      "імені Героїв Крут"
    ],
    "department": "кафедри Комп'ютерних наук та інтелектуальних технологій"
  }
}

Colors

Colors are adjusted according to the official Armed Forces of Ukraine brandbook, and the logo is Armed Forces of Ukraine emblem.

{
  "colors": {
    "step": "#6A653A",        // Dividers and table headers
    "titleText": "#003366",   // Slide titles
    "bodyText": "#333333"     // Regular text
  }
}

Fonts

{
  "fonts": {
    "title": "Raleway",
    "body": "Open Sans",
    "code": "JetBrains Mono"  // For inline code and code blocks
  }
}

Font Sizes

{
  "sizes": {
    "slideTitle": 28,
    "body": 18,
    "code": 14
  }
}

After editing config.json:

No need to restart Claude Desktop
Changes apply to next generated presentation

🎯 Usage

In Claude Desktop

Once installed and configured, you can use these tools in Claude:

1. Generate a presentation:

Create a presentation about Docker basics with 5 slides

Claude will use the pptx-generator:generate_presentation tool automatically.

2. Get a template:

Show me the markdown template for presentations

Uses pptx-generator:get_template tool.

3. View configuration:

What are the current presentation settings?

Uses pptx-generator:get_config tool.

4. Update instructor:

Change the instructor to "капітан Іван ПЕТРЕНКО"

Uses pptx-generator:update_instructor tool.

Markdown Format

Presentations are created from Markdown with special syntax:

Frontmatter (Required)

---
discipline: Веб-розробка
type: practical
module: "3: Docker та контейнеризація"
lesson: "3.1: Основи Docker"
---

Types:

practical - Практичне заняття
lecture - Лекційне заняття
group - Групове заняття

Slide Types

Plan Slide:

## [plan] План заняття

- Topic 1
- Topic 2
- Topic 3

Divider Slide:

## [divider] 🔹 ЧАСТИНА 1. Introduction

Content Slide:

## [content] Slide Title

Regular text with **bold** and `inline code`.

Bullet points:
- First point with **bold**
- Second point with `code`
- Third point with **bold** and `code` mixed

Code block:
```bash
docker ps
docker images

Table:

Column 1	Column 2
`value1`	Description 1
`value2`	Description 2


#### Formatting

- **Bold text:** `**text**`
- **Inline code:** `` `code` ``
- **Code blocks:** Triple backticks with optional language
- **Tables:** Standard Markdown table syntax
- **Bullets:** `-` or `*` with optional indentation

---

## 📚 Examples

### Simple Presentation

```markdown
---
discipline: Programming Basics
type: lecture
module: "1: Introduction"
lesson: "1.1: Hello World"
---

## [plan] План заняття

- What is programming
- First program
- Variables and types

## [divider] 🔹 Getting Started

## [content] What is Programming?

**Programming** is giving instructions to computers.

Key concepts:
- Variables store data
- Functions perform actions
- Loops repeat tasks

Example:
```python
print("Hello, World!")


### Advanced Features

```markdown
## [content] Docker Commands

Common commands:

| Command | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| `docker ps` | List running containers |
| `docker images` | List images |
| `docker run` | Run a container |

Example usage:
```bash
docker run -d -p 80:80 nginx

The -d flag runs in detached mode.


---

## 🐛 Troubleshooting

### Command not found: pptx-generator-mcp

**Solution 1:** Check if installed globally
```bash
npm list -g pptx-generator-mcp

Solution 2: Add npm global bin to PATH

# Find npm global bin path
npm config get prefix

# Add to PATH (add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc)
export PATH=$(npm config get prefix)/bin:$PATH

Solution 3: Reinstall

cd /path/to/pptx-generator-mcp
npm install -g .

Tools not showing in Claude

Check Claude Desktop config:

cat ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Verify JSON syntax (use JSONLint)
Restart Claude Desktop completely:
- Quit Claude Desktop (Cmd+Q on macOS)
- Reopen Claude Desktop
Check MCP server logs (if available in Claude Desktop)

Permission denied when installing

Solution: Use sudo

sudo npm install -g .

Or install without sudo by configuring npm:

mkdir ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'
echo 'export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Fonts not displaying correctly

Issue: Custom fonts like JetBrains Mono not showing

Solution: Install the font on your system:

Download JetBrains Mono
Install the font
Restart PowerPoint/Keynote

🔄 Updating

To update to the latest version:

# Navigate to repository
cd /path/to/pptx-generator-mcp

# Pull latest changes
git pull

# Reinstall
npm install
npm install -g .

No need to restart Claude Desktop - changes take effect immediately for new presentations.

🗑️ Uninstalling

# Uninstall global command
npm uninstall -g pptx-generator-mcp

# Remove repository
rm -rf /path/to/pptx-generator-mcp

# Remove from Claude Desktop config
# Edit: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
# Remove the "pptx-generator" section

📖 Additional Resources

MCP Documentation: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/
Claude Desktop: https://claude.ai/download
Markdown Guide: https://www.markdownguide.org/

📝 License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch
Submit a pull request

💬 Support

For issues or questions:

Open an issue on GitHub
Check the Troubleshooting section

Made with ❤️ for VITI education