Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Monochrome HTML Grant Deck agent skill
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The Monochrome HTML Grant Deck skill gives an AI agent a fixed visual template for academic and grant-style presentations. It is a monochrome serif-and-sans HTML slide deck, and the agent fills it with your own headlines, numbers and sections. This guide explains what the skill does, how to install it, how to trigger it with plain requests, and what to check before you submit anything.
Monochrome HTML Grant Decknexu-io/open-design · Apache-2.0 Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download the ZIP. Get the skill ZIP from the skill page on this site. Unzip it so the folder contains SKILL.md and template.json.
- 2Install the skill. Put the folder in ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or in a project's .claude/skills/ folder. Alternatively, upload it in the Claude apps under Settings, Capabilities, Skills.
- 3Write a clear request. Describe the deck's purpose, audience, decision and source material. Mention grant, research or HTML deck so the skill is triggered.
- 4Answer the agent's questions. The agent asks for missing essentials such as audience, deadline and must-keep numbers. Provide them so the slides use your real content.
- 5Review the generated HTML. Open the single HTML file in a browser and check every headline, number and section label against your sources.
- 6Check the science yourself. The agent formats content but does not verify claims, novelty or figures. Have a subject expert review the deck before it goes to a committee.
What is an agent skill, and what does this one do?
An agent skill is a folder of instructions and files that an AI agent can load when a task matches it. This skill is named html-ppt-zhangzara-monochrome. Its job is to make the agent build presentations in one specific look: ivory ledger paper, all-black type, Lora serif headlines and Jost body text, with no color.
When you ask for an academic or grant-style deck, the agent copies the template's example file, replaces the placeholder content with your headlines, numbers, names and section labels, and returns a single self-contained HTML file. The fonts, palette, layout grid and decorative elements are meant to stay unchanged.
- Output is one HTML file that works on its own.
- The look is light, formal and dense, with text-heavy slides.
- The demo deck has 16 slides; the agent can add or remove slides by duplicating existing layouts.
- The bundled example topic (a CRISPR base-editing grant) is sample content, not a claim about real research.
Install the skill on Claude or in a project
You can install the skill for yourself or for one project. Download the ZIP file from the skill page on this site and unzip it. For a personal install, place the unzipped folder in ~/.claude/skills/. For a single project, place it in the project's .claude/skills/ folder.
If you use the Claude apps instead of files on disk, you can upload the skill under Settings, then Capabilities, then Skills. Use whichever route matches how you work. Either way, the skill's folder should contain SKILL.md and template.json, which are the two files listed for this skill.
- Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
- Project install: unzip into the project's .claude/skills/
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the skill
How to trigger the skill with a natural request
You do not need a special command. The agent loads the skill when your request matches its description and triggers, which include terms such as grant, research, academic-review-deck, html deck and html slides. Say what the deck is for, who will read it and what decision it should support.
The skill's example prompt asks the agent to first request only the missing essentials: audience, decision target, source-of-truth materials, deadline and must-keep numbers. Answering these up front gives better slides.
- "Make an HTML grant deck for a review committee about my sickle-cell gene editing proposal. The decision is whether to fund year one. Here are my milestones and budget numbers."
- "Build a single-file HTML research deck in the monochrome style from this white paper outline."
- "Turn my 12 slides of notes into a sober academic HTML deck, keeping every number exactly as I gave it."
Give the agent the right inputs
The skill formats your content. It does not check the science, the novelty or the numbers. Before you start, collect the material you want the deck to rely on, such as your hypothesis, approach, milestones, risks and any figures that must stay exact.
Plan for the audience and decision as well. A grant committee needs to see the risk and the milestones clearly. A review deck needs the evidence chain to be easy to follow.
- Audience and the decision you want them to make
- Source documents for every claim and number
- Figures that must not change, and their exact wording
- Deadline and any length limit
What the agent does with the template
The skill sets out a clear workflow. The agent clones the example file into your workspace, then replaces the placeholders with your content. It must match existing dimensions when swapping image placeholders. If your content is longer than the demo, it duplicates a slide of the most suitable layout; if shorter, it drops slides from the bottom and updates the page-number labels.
If a slide needs a layout the template lacks, the agent designs one from scratch using the same fonts, palette and decorative parts. The skill tells the agent not to swap to a different template, not to recolor, and not to remove corner brackets, paper grain or geometric shapes. The output is wrapped in an artifact tag with the identifier zhangzara-monochrome.
- Replace placeholders instead of rewriting the design
- Duplicate or remove slides to match your content length
- Keep the navigation script and keyboard handler as shipped
<artifact identifier="zhangzara-monochrome" type="text/html" title="Deck Title">Safety, licensing and what to check
This skill runs no scripts and makes no network calls, according to its listing. It requires nothing beyond the skill files themselves. Still, the content you put into the deck is your responsibility, and the agent will not verify it.
Licensing has two parts. The skill listing is under Apache-2.0. The SKILL.md file says the template is vendored from an MIT-licensed upstream project and that the full MIT license text, with the original copyright notice, must be redistributed with any copy of example.html, template.json or vendored assets. The file list for this skill shows only SKILL.md and template.json, so check whether your download includes that license file before you redistribute the template.
- Runs scripts: no
- Uses network: no
- Scientific claims, novelty and numbers must be checked by a human
- Keep the upstream MIT license text with any redistributed copy of the template
What people use it for
- Grant proposal decks for a review committee that need a sober, text-dense look
- Research progress reviews or white papers delivered as one HTML file
- Bilingual EN/CN briefs with minimal decoration
- Policy or advisory briefs that should read like a typeset ledger
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the Monochrome HTML Grant Deck skill?
Download the ZIP from the skill page on this site and unzip it. For personal use, put the folder in ~/.claude/skills/; for one project, put it in that project's .claude/skills/ folder. In the Claude apps, you can instead upload it under Settings, Capabilities, Skills.
Does this skill need anything else to run?
The listing says it requires nothing beyond the skill itself. It runs no scripts and makes no network calls.
Is the Monochrome grant deck skill free to use?
The skill listing is licensed under Apache-2.0. The template it vendors comes from an MIT-licensed upstream project, and that license must be kept with any redistributed copy.
Can I change the colours or fonts in the deck?
No. The skill tells the agent to keep the fonts, palette and decorative elements unchanged and not to recolor the deck. It is designed for an all-ink, black-on-ivory look, so pick a different template if you need colour or imagery.
Will the agent check my research claims and numbers?
No. The agent formats your content but does not verify the science, novelty or numbers. A human expert needs to check every claim before the deck is used.
What are good alternatives if this style does not fit?
The skill is a poor fit for decks that need colour, imagery or playful branding. For those, choose a template built for that style. This skill is best for sober, text-dense grant reviews, research reports and white papers.
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Our verdict
Use this skill if you want a sober, text-dense single-file HTML deck for a grant committee, research review or white paper, and you will check the content yourself. Pick a different template if you need colour, imagery or playful branding, or if you expect the agent to validate the science.
Download the skill