The Master File Reference

The .slaide.yaml master is the YAML file that holds a deck's whole design - fonts, colors, gradients, layouts, and chrome, all reusable.

A master is a YAML file. It holds the whole design as data. One master serves many decks. You reference it from a deck’s headmatter:

---
master: ./your-theme.slaide.yaml
---

Omit master: and the deck uses the bundled aurora theme.

This page is the reference for the master’s shape. For a full walkthrough with examples, see Authoring a theme.

Top-level keys

Key	What it holds
`schema`	The format version. Use `slaide/1`.
`name`	The theme name.
`canvas`	The design size. `{ aspect, width, height }` in px. Slides scale to fit.
`fonts`	Named font roles, like `display` and `sans`. Real Google Fonts.
`typeScale`	Named size steps. `base`, `ratio`, and `steps`.
`colors`	Two tiers. `palette` for raw colors, `roles` for semantic aliases.
`gradients`	Named CSS gradients. Used by `.grad` text and slot fills.
`tokens`	Raw CSS variable overrides. Spacing, code panels, chart colors.
`backgrounds`	Named layers. `solid`, `gradient`, or `image`. There is no radial type.
`variants`	Named scoped overrides, like a light section.
`transitions`	`default` and `duration`.
`chrome`	`header`, `footer`, `logo`, `logoPos`.
`ui`	`progress`, the web position bar. Default on.
`layouts`	Grid templates with typed slots.

Value forms

These are the parts unique to slaide. Everything else is plain YAML.

Color reference: a palette key as {palette.navy}, a role as {accent}, or a raw CSS color.
Gradient reference: a gradient name, or {gradients.brand}.
Type-scale step: an explicit size like "72px" (recommended), or an integer exponent on the scale.
Layout: an areas map (a row of slot names per entry), a slots map, and optional rows, cols, gap, padding, align, background, variant. Keep areas rectangular. Every slot must appear in areas.
Slot: a type (title, subtitle, body, image, media, quote, caption) and an optional style map.

A minimal master

schema: slaide/1
name: my-theme
canvas: { aspect: "16:9", width: 1920, height: 1080 }

fonts:
  sans:    { family: "Inter",    provider: google, weights: [400, 600, 700] }
  display: { family: "Fraunces", provider: google, weights: [600, 900] }

colors:
  palette: { navy: "#0B1220", white: "#F8FAFC", blue: "#5B8CFF" }
  roles:   { background: "{palette.navy}", text: "{palette.white}", accent: "{palette.blue}" }

layouts:
  cover:
    areas: ["title", "subtitle"]
    rows: "1fr auto"
    slots:
      title:    { type: title }
      subtitle: { type: subtitle }

For fonts, gradients, tokens, backgrounds, variants, chrome, and the full slot style reference, see Authoring a theme.