Getting Started

Build a deck two ways. Let your AI write it, or edit it by hand. Both work on the same plain-text file.

Slaide gives you two ways to work, on one plain-text file. Let an AI build the deck. Or take over by hand. Both edit the same .slaide source, so you switch whenever you want. No drift. No lock-in.

1. Let your AI build it

First, install slaide:

npm install -g @aivorynet/slaide
npx playwright install chromium   # only for PDF, PPTX, and image export

Then install the agent skill into your AI tool. One command detects Claude Code, Codex, or Gemini:

slaide install

Now just ask. For example: “make a 6-slide overview of our Q3 roadmap.”

With the skill in place, the agent runs the whole job on its own:

  1. Writes the .slaide source. Markdown goes into the theme’s named slots.
  2. Validates it with slaide validate --strict and fixes every issue.
  3. Looks at its own work. It renders all slides into one small image with slaide shoot --montage and reads that image back. This catches clipped text, weak contrast, and overflow that validation cannot see. It edits and re-shoots until the deck is clean.
  4. Exports the deck. Web, PDF, and editable PowerPoint.

That whole loop runs automatically once the skill is installed. You review a small text diff, not a binary you cannot inspect.

Building your own agent instead? Point it at the MCP server. Same engine, same results.

2. Edit it by hand (paid feature)

Open any deck in the Slaide editor, click Edit, and change text or move shapes right on the slide. Save writes your changes back to the .slaide file and re-renders. It is a fast way to fix wording or nudge a layout without touching code.

Switch anytime

Both sides edit the same file. So the handoff is clean. The AI drafts a deck. You polish a few slides by hand. Then you ask the AI to carry on. Your deck stays a small text file you own.

Drive it yourself (CLI)

Everything the AI and the editor do is the open-source slaide CLI underneath.

Nothing to set up:

npx @aivorynet/slaide new talk.slaide

Or install it globally:

npm install -g @aivorynet/slaide
npx playwright install chromium   # only for PDF, PPTX, and image export

Scaffold, check, preview, build:

slaide new talk.slaide --title "My Talk"          # scaffold a starter deck
slaide validate talk.slaide --strict              # catch layout, slot, and contrast issues
slaide dev talk.slaide                            # live preview at http://localhost:4321
slaide shoot talk.slaide --montage out/sheet.jpg  # every slide as one image
slaide build talk.slaide --out out                # self-contained out/index.html

A scaffolded deck is just text:

---
master: ./theme.slaide.yaml     # omit for the bundled "aurora" theme
title: My Talk
---
layout: cover
---
:: title ::
[My Talk]{.grad}
:: subtitle ::
written in slaide
---
layout: title-content
footer: A first deck
---
## Why a new language
- Plain text in    >>>
- Beautiful out    >>>
??? Speaker note. The audience never sees this.

Export and share:

slaide export talk.slaide --pdf out/talk.pdf
slaide export talk.slaide --pptx out/talk.pptx   # real text boxes, shapes, images
slaide pack talk.slaide -o talk.slaidec          # one shareable .slaidec file

Next steps