Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Slides Polish agent skill (slides-polish)
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
Slides Polish is an agent skill for the final visual pass on an academic talk deck that has already been generated, either as a Beamer PDF or a PowerPoint file. It makes the agent render each slide, compare it page by page with a reference PDF, and apply small layout and typography fixes. This guide explains what the skill does, how to install it, how to trigger it, and what it needs to run.
Slides Polishwanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep · MIT Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download and unzip. Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ or your project's .claude/skills/ folder.
- 2Check requirements. Confirm python3 with python-pptx, pdfinfo, pdftoppm or mutool, and a LaTeX toolchain if you use Beamer.
- 3Prepare a reference PDF. Export or locate the PDF of the talk style you want the deck to match.
- 4Make a request. Ask in plain language, for example "polish slides", and point to the reference PDF.
- 5Let the agent review each slide. The agent renders each page and reviews it against the reference, applying small fixes to a _polished copy.
- 6Check the output. Open the _polished file, compare it with the reference, and keep the _pre_polish snapshot as a fallback.
What an agent skill is and what slides-polish makes the agent do
An agent skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file that tells an AI coding agent how to handle one kind of task. When a request matches the skill's description, the agent follows its instructions and can use the tools it lists.
Slides Polish is meant for a deck that looks mostly right but needs a final pass. The agent renders each slide to an image, compares it with a reference PDF, and makes small fixes such as font size, text box resizing, callout style, and stray italic formatting. It works on a copy, so the original deck is kept as a snapshot.
The skill is scoped to layout and typography only. It does not rewrite slide content, claims, numbers, or citations. For content changes, use the paper-slides workflow instead.
- Renders slides to PNG and reviews them one page at a time against a reference PDF
- Bumps PPTX fonts toward projector-readable size
- Fixes text-frame overflow and removes italic style leaks
- Keeps the original deck as <stem>_pre_polish and writes edits to a _polished copy
Install slides-polish: download the ZIP and unzip it
Download the ZIP from the skill page on this site. Then unzip it into one of two locations, depending on how you want to use the skill.
For a personal install available in all your projects, unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/. For a single project, unzip it into that project's .claude/skills/ folder. The skill folder should contain SKILL.md.
You can also upload the skill in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
- Personal: ~/.claude/skills/
- Project only: <your-project>/.claude/skills/
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills (upload)
Check the requirements before you start
The skill needs several tools on your machine. It does not install them for you. At the start it checks what is missing and reports it.
For PowerPoint input you need python3 with python-pptx, pdfinfo, and either pdftoppm (poppler) or mutool for rendering slides to PNG. soffice (LibreOffice) converts PPTX to PDF; if it is missing, you can export a PDF manually from PowerPoint or Keynote.
For Beamer input you need a LaTeX toolchain with xelatex or pdflatex and latexmk. The skill also uses a reviewer backend such as Codex with image input, which it references as its default reviewer. Without a working reviewer route the skill stops rather than guessing.
- python3 with python-pptx (pip install python-pptx)
- pdfinfo plus pdftoppm (poppler) or mutool
- soffice (LibreOffice) for PPTX to PDF, or manual PDF export
- LaTeX: xelatex or pdflatex, plus latexmk, for Beamer recompiles
- A reviewer backend with image input, such as Codex
pip install python-pptxTrigger the skill with a natural request
You do not need a special command. Describe what you want in plain language, and mention the reference PDF. The skill asks for a reference if you do not give one, and it does not pick a style on its own.
The skill's description lists trigger phrases, including "polish slides", "PPTX 字体太小" (PPTX font too small), "和 Beamer 比一下" (compare with Beamer), "per-page review", and "和 codex 一页一页过" (go through page by page with Codex).
- "Polish my slides and match the layout of the Beamer reference in reference_talk.pdf."
- "PPTX 字体太小, please bump the fonts for projector readability."
- "Do a per-page review of talk.pptx against ./why_rf_2025.pdf."
/slides-polish talk_pptx/talk.pptx — reference: talk_beamer/main.pdf — style: why-rfOptions you can pass
The argument hint shows the optional settings. You can give a slides path, a reference PDF, a style preset, an effort level, and an interactive flag. Interactive mode pauses for your confirmation before each fix.
Default style is generic. The reference PDF is the visual ground truth; the preset only affects color and element choices. Output files are versioned, so repeat runs do not overwrite earlier results.
- reference: <ref-pdf> (required)
- style: generic | why-rf | neurips | icml | iclr | cvpr (default generic)
- effort: lite | balanced | max | beast (default balanced)
- interactive: confirm each fix before it is applied
/slides-polish talk_beamer/ — reference: ./reference_talk.pdf — style: generic — effort: maxSafety notes: scripts and network access
This skill runs scripts and uses the network. Its tool list allows shell commands and it calls a reviewer backend for per-page review. Review what it will run before you approve it, and keep your original deck backed up.
The skill writes to a copy and keeps the original as a snapshot, so the original file is not overwritten. Check the _polished output before you use it in front of an audience.
- Runs scripts: yes. Uses network: yes (reviewer calls).
- Original deck is kept as <stem>_pre_polish; the source is never overwritten.
- It is not for changing content, claims, numbers, or citations.
What people use it for
- Matching a PowerPoint talk's visual weight to a Beamer compile of the same talk
- Enlarging PPTX fonts so text is readable on a projector without checking every slide by hand
- Removing stray italic formatting and fixing text boxes that overflow
- Running a final per-page visual pass on a deck produced by paper-slides
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the slides-polish skill?
Download the ZIP from the skill page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder. You can also upload it in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
Is slides-polish free to use?
The skill is published under the MIT licence. This page does not list prices, and the skill's other requirements, such as a reviewer backend and LaTeX or LibreOffice, are separate tools you install yourself.
What do I need installed to run it?
You need python3 with python-pptx, pdfinfo, and pdftoppm or mutool for rendering. Add soffice for PPTX conversion and a LaTeX toolchain for Beamer recompiles. The skill also needs a reviewer backend with image input, such as Codex.
Does slides-polish change my slide content?
No. The skill is limited to layout and typography. It does not change content, claims, numbers, citations, or figures. For content work, use the paper-slides workflow.
What happens if I don't have a reference PDF?
The skill requires a reference PDF and asks you for one rather than guessing a style. It also stops if the review route is unavailable.
Will it overwrite my original slides?
No. The original is kept, a snapshot is saved as <stem>_pre_polish, and all edits go to a versioned _polished copy.
How is it different from just resizing fonts by hand?
The skill checks each slide against a reference rendering, so it can catch layout drift and overflow page by page. Manual checking takes longer, though you can still review the output yourself.
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Our verdict
Use slides-polish if you have a generated Beamer or PowerPoint deck that looks mostly right and must match a reference talk, and you are comfortable running scripts and a reviewer backend. Pick something else if you need to change slide content, or if you cannot install the LaTeX, poppler, and reviewer tools it depends on.
Download the skill