Codex Slides

The open-source AI slide studio that lives inside Codex.
Turn a prompt, a repo, or a pile of files into a beautiful, presentation-ready deck — without leaving your coding agent.

⚡ 10+ high-quality slides in ~4–5 minutes — Fast mode renders every page in parallel, not one by one
45 deck templates · 73 community styles · 24 guided scenarios → production-ready PPTX / PDF · Browser-first · zero separate API keys · web & desktop

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Codex Slides is an open-source slide studio built for coding agents. Describe a deck, point it at a repo or a folder of files, and watch your local Codex research, outline, style, render, and export a presentation — every slide a full visual canvas, all of it visible and steerable, none of it a hidden background task.

Think of it as the open-source, agent-native alternative to Gamma and Tome — except it lives inside the coding agent you already use, runs on your existing codex login with zero extra API keys, and keeps every project on your own disk.

What you get, out of the box:

• 118 ready-made visual systems — 45 curated deck templates across 15 professional categories, plus 73 community styles across 12 groups (reports, infographics, diagrams, data & maps, dashboards, posters, product, brand, architecture, photography, editorial, illustration).
• 24 guided scenarios in 6 groups — zero-to-one decks, source-to-slides, data stories, deep research, redesign, localization, training, keynotes, and more.
• ⚡ Fast mode — renders every page in parallel (not one-by-one), so a 10+ slide deck lands in ~4–5 minutes while the outline and visual direction stay locked.
• Production export — real, presentation-ready PPTX and print-ready PDF with speaker notes preserved; 1K/2K/4K render quality and five aspect ratios (16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 9:16, 3:4).
• Zero extra keys — runs on your existing codex login; every project stays on your disk.

Open Codex Slides in the Codex Browser and keep it visible.
Create a 12-slide market deck about 2026 humanoid robotics.
Let me confirm the questions, outline, and visual direction before rendering.

Try it in 60 seconds

codex plugin marketplace add nexu-io/codex-slides
codex plugin add codex-slides@codex-slides

Then start a new Codex task: “Open Codex Slides and build me a 6-slide deck about …” — and watch it happen live.

Like what you see? Give it a ⭐ — one click is the fastest way to help the next developer find Codex Slides.

Writing about Codex Slides? Everything a creator or reporter needs — boilerplate, stats, comparisons, an FAQ, ready-to-post copy in English / 中文 / 日本語, a video script, and an asset manifest — is in the Media & creator kit. Paste it into your agent and it can write the video or article for you.

Contents

• Why Codex Slides
• How it works
• See it inside Codex
• Examples
• Install in Codex
• Create your first deck
• Generate from files
• Modify an existing deck
• Features
• CLI and MCP
• Local development
• Desktop development and releases
• Roadmap
• Community style library and licenses
• Architecture and data
• Verification
• Troubleshooting
• Media & creator kit
• Star Codex Slides
• Contributing
• License

Why Codex Slides

Most AI slide generators hide the process behind one request and return a file. Codex Slides treats the presentation as a persistent, inspectable project you own end to end.

Typical one-shot generator	Codex Slides in Codex
Wait for a hidden end-to-end task	Open the live product before work begins
Discover problems after export	Confirm requirements, outline, and style first
Restart when the result is wrong	Continue editing the same saved project
Re-upload context every time	Keep Design Files and brand rules with the project
Rebuild a successful visual direction	Save a project as a reusable visual-system template
Describe visual bugs in prose	Mark directly on the slide
Separate app and agent histories	Codex and the Browser operate one shared project
Bring your own API keys and billing	Runs on your existing codex login, zero extra keys

Codex Slides is image-native: each slide is composed as a full visual canvas. That makes it strong for visual fidelity and rapid iteration. Exported PPTX files contain full-slide images rather than individually editable PowerPoint shapes.

How it works

Codex Slides keeps the entire chain live and steerable — from a rough idea to a finished, exportable deck.

Codex conversation
      │
      ▼
Open the Codex Slides home in the Codex Browser
      │
      ▼
Create a durable project
      │
      ├── Clarify the brief
      ├── Optional source-backed research
      ├── Review and revise the outline
      ├── Choose a visual direction
      ├── Watch slides render progressively
      └── Review the finished canvas
              │
              ├── Chat edits and queued follow-ups
              ├── Add / duplicate / move / delete / transition
              ├── Mark-based slide edits
              ├── Design Files and @ references
              ├── Save as a reusable project template
              ├── Brand & Design System
              ├── Play mode
              └── PDF / PPTX export

Projects are written to disk throughout the workflow. Opening the same project from Codex and another browser stays synchronized; rendering pages refresh from the canonical project state, and interrupted generation can resume safely.

See it inside Codex

Everything happens in a live, Browser-first workspace — not a black box. Start from a prompt, a proven visual direction, or a purpose-built workflow, then stay in the same durable project through questions, research, outline, generation, editing, presenting, and export.

1 · Start at Home — describe what you want to make, attach source files, choose the engine and output settings, or jump into a guided workflow.

2 · Explore Community Styles — browse 73 visual directions across reports, infographics, diagrams, data, UI, posters, products, brand systems, architecture, photography, editorial, and illustration.	3 · Pick a scenario — choose from 24 configured workflows for zero-to-one decks, source-to-slides, data stories, research, redesign, localization, training, keynotes, and more.
4 · Enter a durable project and clarify the brief — confirm audience, page count, aspect ratio, language, resolution, and visual intent before the outline begins.
5 · Research — run optional multi-round web research, then keep the Markdown brief and sources inspectable inside Design Files.	6 · Shape the outline — edit every title and talking point, add or remove slides, change the order, or ask the agent to revise the story.
7 · Lock the visual direction — Codex Slides ranks Community Styles against the topic and outline; choose one, search the full library, or keep the default.	8 · Generate progressively or in parallel — watch completed slides land in the canvas while remaining pages stay visible and resumable. Fast mode fans pages out in parallel and queues overflow.
9 · Edit in place — keep the complete slide in frame while you ask AI, mark a region, rewrite or redraw a page, add and reorder slides, set transitions, replace images, and prepare speaker notes.	10 · Present — start audience playback from any slide, or use Presenter Mode with a synchronized audience window, notes, navigation, and timer.
11 · Export — download a production-ready PowerPoint file or a print-ready PDF, with the project's speaker notes preserved.

Examples

Every card below is a real visual system that ships with Codex Slides, paired with the exact prompt that turns it into a finished deck. Each prompt opens a durable project, stops for outline and visual-direction approval, then renders in the Browser where you watch it happen — swap in your own topic, audience, or files and go.

Business & market report — charts, KPI callouts, and a tidy consulting-grade grid. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides in the Codex Browser and build a 12-slide market report on the 2026 humanoid-robotics market — size, CAGR, average selling price, and key takeaways — in a consulting-grade chart-and-KPI grid. Research first, then stop at the outline before rendering.	Data & dashboards — maps, donut and trend charts, and metric tiles. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides and turn the attached dataset into a data dashboard on global EV-charging infrastructure — a world map of charging points, a regional donut, a growth trend line, and metric tiles. Analytical and dense. Confirm the outline first.
Product keynote — cinematic, high-contrast title moments for launches. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides and create a cinematic product keynote — big high-contrast title moments, near-black slides with one glowing product hero and a single bold line per page. 16:9 at 4K. Show me the visual direction before generating.	Editorial — refined typography and a print-quality grid. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides and design an editorial, magazine-style deck — a refined serif masthead, a strict multi-column print grid, warm photography, and generous white space. Use my essay as the source. Approve the outline, then export PDF.
Seed pitch — midnight & traction — a confident dark title system, one electric-blue accent. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides in the Codex Browser and build a 10-slide seed pitch for a developer-tools startup — problem, insight, product, demo, traction, market, model, moat, team, ask. Use a confident dark "midnight" title system with one electric-blue accent. Stop at the outline, then render in Fast mode.	Product keynote — clean daylight — a bright, airy layout with soft 3D diagram nodes. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides and create a 14-slide product keynote for an agent-native platform. Bright, airy "daylight" layout with soft 3D diagram nodes and one indigo accent, one idea per slide. Show me the visual-direction options, then generate at 4K.
Answer-first data story — leads with the headline, then a map and trends. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides in the Browser and turn the attached dataset into a 9-slide data story that leads with the answer: a headline metric, a national map of where it's happening, trend and regional breakdowns, and a recommendation. Analytical and uncluttered. Confirm the outline first.	Editorial report — refined serif headlines and a strict print grid. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides. Use the attached PDF as the content source and rebuild it as a 12-slide editorial report — refined serif headlines, an ink-and-paper craft palette, and a strict print grid. Keep every fact, add nothing. Stop for outline approval, then export PPTX and PDF.
Liquid Glass bento dashboard — transparent glass cards over a soft blurred ground. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides and build a 6-slide product overview in the Liquid Glass Bento style — an asymmetric bento grid of transparent glass cards over a soft blurred ground, one hero cell plus titled metric tiles. Use my attached specs as the facts. Approve the outline before rendering.	One-page summary infographic — a whole story in one dense, sectioned page. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides and use the attached transcript as the source. Distill the whole meeting into a single dense "summary infographic" slide plus 4 supporting pages — decisions, owners, next steps, and risks, with icons and tidy sections. Show me the outline first.
Technical cutaway — a labeled cross-section that formalizes a rough sketch. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides. Use the attached whiteboard photo as a visual source and reconstruct the system as a 5-slide "technical cutaway" — a labeled cross-section hero, data flow, components, tradeoffs, and rollout. Keep my labels, formalize the sketch. Pause at the outline.	Bold product ad — a hero shot, one giant claim per page, a closing CTA. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides and turn our launch one-pager into a 5-slide "bold product ad" sequence — a hero shot, one giant claim per page, high-contrast type, and a closing CTA. Punchy and confident. Confirm the visual direction, then render at 4K.
Golden serif quote moment — a warm canvas with one oversized light-gold line. 📋 Copy the prompt Open my finished deck and add three "golden serif quote" interstitials — a warm brown canvas with one oversized light-gold serif line and a soft portrait fade — between the major sections. Keep the rest of the visual system intact. Show me the result in Play mode.	Watercolor annotated map — a hand-painted map anchoring a market story. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides and create an 8-slide market-entry brief centered on a watercolor annotated map of our target regions, with a ranked opportunity table and a phased plan. Run quick research first and keep the sources in Design Files. Approve the outline before rendering.
Retro industrial concept — moody studio renders with utilitarian type. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides and create a 6-slide product concept deck in a retro-industrial style — moody studio renders, utilitarian type, and spec callouts — for a piece of hardware described in the attached brief. Show the visual direction, then generate.	Vintage patent filing — aged paper, fine linework, numbered figure callouts. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides and present our hardware concept as a 7-slide "vintage patent filing" — aged paper, fine technical linework, numbered callouts, and a formal figure caption on every page. Use the attached CAD notes as the source. Outline first.
Engineering blueprint teardown — annotated diagrams on a precise technical grid. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides and build a 9-slide competitive teardown of us vs. three named rivals in an engineering blueprint grid — annotated diagrams, a feature matrix, pricing, and where we win. Fair and specific, no strawmen. Show the outline before rendering.	Chalkboard lesson — hand-drawn diagrams and boxed definitions for teaching. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides and build a 12-slide training module on "Reading a Flame Graph" in a warm chalkboard-lesson style — hand-drawn diagrams, boxed definitions, a worked example, and a short quiz. Write full speaker notes on every slide. Approve the outline before rendering.
Visual info guide — a tidy, icon-led explainer for a research readout. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides and turn the attached survey export into a 10-slide research readout as a clean visual info guide: method, three headline findings with supporting charts, verbatim quotes, and recommendations. Neutral, evidence-first. Outline first.	Exploded layer stack — a hero exploded diagram plus one slide per layer. 📋 Copy the prompt Open Codex Slides and explain our architecture as a 5-slide "exploded layer stack" — a hero exploded diagram plus one slide per layer with its role and interfaces. Use the attached design doc as the source. Pause at the outline.

The preview images above are visual systems that ship with Codex Slides — a few are real Codex Slides renders, the rest are community-contributed style references the model matches on art direction, not literal content. Every contributor and source is credited under Community style library and licenses.

Scenarios and visual systems

Codex Slides is not a single "generate" button. It ships 118 ready-made visual systems — 45 curated deck templates (15 professional categories × 3) plus 73 community styles (12 groups) — driven by 24 guided scenarios in 6 groups. Start from a finished direction, pick a scenario, or just describe your own.

24 guided scenarios (6 groups)

Group	Scenarios
Create	Create from scratch · Business report · Pitch deck · Project proposal
Transform sources	Beautify a deck (PPTX/HTML/PDF) · Document to deck · Notes / transcript to deck · Visuals / whiteboard to deck
Data & insights	Data visualization & insights · Recurring performance report · Financial results · Survey & user research
Research & decisions	Deep research presentation · Market & industry research · Competitive analysis · Literature review
Optimize a deck	Apply a brand system · Reference recreation / style transfer · Translate & localize · Restructure (compress / expand)
Specialized outputs	Training & courseware · Keynote & launch story · Portfolio & case study · Template-driven batch

45 curated deck templates (15 categories × 3)

Fundraising Pitch · Corporate Strategy · B2B Sales · Product Management · Design Craft · Academic Research · Professional Training · Data & Finance · Marketing & GTM · Consulting · Government & Policy · AI Literacy · Student Coursework · Career · Life & Story — each with an expert role, target audience, and its own visual grammar.

73 community styles (12 groups)

Curated from open prompt galleries and adapted into presentation-ready <page_style> systems, across Business & Report · Infographic · Diagram · Data & Map · UI & Dashboard · Poster & Ad · Product · Brand & Identity · Architecture & Space · Photo & Cinematic · Editorial · Illustration. A taste of the catalog:

Liquid Glass Bento · Summary Infographic · Engineering Blueprint Grid · Technical Cutaway · Watercolor Annotated Map · Visual Info Guide · UI Screenshot System · Retro CRT Interface · Bold Product Ad · Hyperreal Product Poster · Lifestyle Product Shot · Brand Identity Package · Cyberpunk Miniature City · 35mm Surreal Landscape · Golden Serif Quote · Neo-Parametric Editorial · Fashion Magazine Cover · Hand-Drawn Infographic · Paper Pop-Up Story · Voxel Icon System … and 53 more.

Codex Slides ranks these against your topic and outline at the inspiration step, so you can lock a direction in one click, search the full library, or keep the default.

Fast mode → production-ready export

• Fast mode renders every page in parallel (up to 4 in flight, overflow queued) instead of one-by-one, while the outline and visual direction stay locked — a 10+ slide deck lands in ~4–5 minutes.
• Production export: download a real PPTX and a print-ready PDF, with speaker notes preserved, straight from the project.
• Render quality 1K / 2K / 4K and five aspect ratios — 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 9:16, 3:4.

Install in Codex

Requirements

• Codex with plugin support
• Node.js 20 or newer
• A ChatGPT account authenticated once with codex login
• Git

No separate OpenAI API key or .env file is required for the default Codex workflow.

Install from the GitHub marketplace

This repository includes a Codex marketplace manifest, so the repository itself can be added as a plugin source:

codex plugin marketplace add nexu-io/codex-slides
codex plugin add codex-slides@codex-slides

Restart Codex or the ChatGPT desktop app after installation, then start a new task. You can also open /plugins in Codex to inspect installed plugins.

To update a Git-backed installation:

codex plugin marketplace upgrade codex-slides
codex plugin remove codex-slides@codex-slides
codex plugin add codex-slides@codex-slides

Restart Codex after the update so the new Skill, MCP server, and interface metadata are loaded. See OpenAI's local plugin installation documentation for the marketplace layout and reload behavior.

Install from a local checkout

git clone https://github.com/nexu-io/codex-slides.git
cd codex-slides
codex plugin marketplace add "$PWD"
codex plugin add codex-slides@codex-slides

After changing plugin files locally, reinstall the plugin and start a new Codex task so cached Skills are refreshed.

Create your first deck

Open a new Codex task and send:

Open Codex Slides in the Codex Browser and keep the product visible.
From the home page, create a project for a six-slide product launch deck.
Guide me through the clarification questions, outline review, visual direction,
and rendering. Do not generate the complete deck in a hidden background call.

Codex should:

1. Open the Codex Slides home screen.
2. Submit the brief through the visible composer.
3. Enter the newly created project.
4. Help answer the requirements form.
5. Show the editable outline.
6. Show visual-direction choices.
7. Render inside the project canvas.
8. Inspect the completed slides before export.

For an explicitly unattended or headless job, say so. Only then should Codex use the one-call create_deck / create fast path.

A localized visual tutorial with copy-ready prompts in English, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese is linked from the home page beneath the composer, and is also reachable directly once the local app is running:

http://127.0.0.1:4311/?tutorial=codex

Generate from files

Attach files to Codex or upload them from the Codex Slides composer. Give each source a clear semantic role:

Open Codex Slides in the Codex Browser.
Use the attached PDF as the content source, the spreadsheet as the dataset,
and the logo plus product screenshots as brand references.
Create the project through the visible UI and stop for outline approval before
rendering.

Supported project context includes images, PDFs, office documents, spreadsheets, Markdown, text, data files, HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and TypeScript. Scenario workflows can require or recommend specific source slots.

Modify an existing deck

Rewrite one slide

Open my latest Codex Slides project. Rewrite slide 3 for an executive audience,
reduce the copy by 50%, preserve the conclusion, regenerate only that slide,
and show the result in the Browser.

Change the structure

Add an executive summary after slide 1, duplicate slide 5 as an international
market variant, and delete the final appendix. Preserve the visual system and
transitions.

Restyle the complete deck

Restyle this deck as a restrained Swiss editorial report with a strict grid,
high-contrast typography, warm photography, and one blue accent. Keep the
Browser visible and show the result before export.

Edit from annotations

Open slide 4 in Mark mode. Follow my arrows, labels, and comment exactly,
regenerate only that slide, and keep the marked source in project history.

Apply a project-wide brand system

Open Brand & Design System. Save the logo, color roles, typography, spacing,
imagery, and voice as always-on project context. Redraw the deck, review it in
Play mode, then export PPTX and PDF.

Features

• Browser-first Codex workflow — open, operate, and verify the live product instead of waiting on an invisible task.
• Durable projects — every deck, checkpoint, conversation, queue, material, outline, and rendered image is persisted locally.
• Cross-surface synchronization — a project opened in another Browser tab follows externally generated or edited slide state.
• Gen-UI clarification — tailored questions for audience, purpose, length, language, format, and emphasis.
• Deep research — source-backed, editable Markdown briefs used as outline evidence.
• 24 workflow scenarios in six groups — creation, transformation, data, research, optimization, and specialized delivery.
• 45 curated deck templates plus 73 community visual directions across business reports, data, diagrams, UI, posters, products, brand systems, architecture, photography, editorial, and illustration.
• Reusable project templates — save any project as a visual-system snapshot, then reuse its brand rules, base style, format, brand assets, and up to six rendered-slide references from the home composer without copying its content.
• Design Files — inspect generated artifacts and uploads, edit text sources, reference project files in agent turns with @, copy an absolute file path, or download any file.
• Brand & Design System — persist identity, voice, palette, typography, imagery, effects, spacing, radii, and brand assets.
• Conversational editing — rewrite, add, remove, duplicate, reorder, transition, regenerate, or restyle through the Deck Agent.
• Automatic version history — every rendered-deck AI command and manual edit creates an immutable checkpoint with its prompt; inspect, play, restore, or export that exact PDF/PPTX.
• Queued follow-ups — keep prompting while generation or edits are in progress; requests run in order.
• Mark editing — draw arrows, shapes, labels, and comments directly on a slide, then regenerate from the annotated source.
• Play mode — full-screen, dual-window presentation with keyboard navigation and speaker notes.
• PDF and PPTX export — export after visual review.
• English, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese UI with strict key parity.
• Portable Skill and typed MCP server — the complete workflow remains available when one transport is unavailable.

CLI and MCP

Codex Slides exposes two equivalent automation transports:

• skills/codex-slides/scripts/codex-slides.mjs — portable Node CLI using only built-in web APIs and the local HTTP service;
• mcp/server.mjs — 38 typed MCP tools for Codex, including durable run start/status/wait/cancel.

Discover the CLI surface:

node skills/codex-slides/scripts/codex-slides.mjs capabilities

Browser-first interactive entry points:

node skills/codex-slides/scripts/codex-slides.mjs open
node skills/codex-slides/scripts/codex-slides.mjs start-project \
  --json '{"topic":"2026 humanoid robotics market","pages":6,"language":"en"}'

Explicit unattended path:

node skills/codex-slides/scripts/codex-slides.mjs create \
  --json '{"topic":"2026 humanoid robotics market","pages":6,"research":true}'

Important tool groups:

Area	MCP tools
Open and discover	open_codex_slides, start_project, get_capabilities, list_projects, get_project
Durable project runs	start_project_run, get_project_run, wait_project_run, cancel_project_run
Scenarios and sources	list_scenarios, upload_material, list_design_files, read_design_file, write_design_file, upload_design_file
Reusable templates	list_templates, list_project_templates, save_project_as_template, delete_project_template
Research and planning	get_onboarding_questions, deep_research, create_outline, revise_outline, rank_inspiration
Brand system	get_brand_design_system, update_brand_design_system
Create and edit	create_deck, render_deck, edit_deck, restyle_deck, manage_slide, regenerate_slide
Visual input and output	upload_slide_image, mark_edit_slide, export_deck
Presenter notes	get_speaker_notes, update_speaker_notes, generate_speaker_notes

The full Browser/CLI/MCP parity contract lives in CAPABILITY_MATRIX.md.

Local development

git clone https://github.com/nexu-io/codex-slides.git
cd codex-slides
corepack enable
pnpm install
codex login
pnpm dev

pnpm dev launches the Web service and Electron desktop together. Choose a narrower mode when you only need one surface:

Command	Starts	Service behavior
pnpm dev	Web + Desktop	Starts one shared Web service, opens Electron, and stops owned child processes on exit
pnpm dev:web	Web only	Serves http://127.0.0.1:4311
pnpm dev:desktop	Desktop	Reuses a healthy Web service or starts and waits for one automatically

Background lifecycle (start / restart / stop)

pnpm dev runs in the foreground and streams logs (Ctrl+C stops it). To run the same Web + Desktop stack in the background and manage it from any shell, use the lifecycle commands. Each accepts an optional target — all (default), web, or desktop:

Command	Purpose
pnpm dev:start [all|web|desktop]	Start in the background (daemon); waits for the Web service to become healthy, then returns
pnpm dev:stop [all|web|desktop]	Stop background services (all stops Desktop, then Web)
pnpm dev:restart [all|web|desktop]	Restart background services (stop then start)
pnpm dev:status [all|web|desktop]	Show what is running: PID, URL, uptime, and Web health (--json for machine-readable output)
pnpm dev:logs [all|web|desktop]	Tail the last 200 log lines; add -f / --follow to stream new output

Background output and process state live under .tmp/dev-runtime/ (web.log, desktop.log, and <target>.json). pnpm dev:start desktop starts its Web dependency automatically, and dev:start reuses an already-healthy Web service instead of starting a second one. Override the Web port with --web-port <port> on dev:start / dev:restart.

Production build:

pnpm build
pnpm start

Environment variables:

Variable	Default	Purpose
CODEX_SLIDES_URL	http://127.0.0.1:4311	Browser and local API base URL
CODEX_SLIDES_HOME	auto-detected	Source checkout used by the portable Skill
CODEX_SLIDES_APP_DIR	plugin root	Source checkout used by the MCP server
CODEX_SLIDES_LOG	OS temp directory	Auto-start server log
CODEX_SLIDES_NO_AUTO_START	unset	Set to 1 to disable MCP auto-start
CODEX_SLIDES_DATA_DIR	<repo>/data	Project/template data root; desktop builds set this to the OS user-data directory

Project data is stored under:

data/projects/<project-id>/
├── project.json
├── 01.png
├── 02.png
├── ...
└── files/
    ├── generated/
    └── uploaded/

data/templates/<template-id>/
├── template.json
├── references/
└── brand-assets/

Do not commit personal project data or uploaded source material.

Desktop development and releases

The same Next.js application can run in Electron on macOS, Windows, and Linux. In packaged builds, Electron starts the bundled standalone server on an available loopback port and stores durable data in the operating system's app data directory.

Command	Purpose
pnpm electron:check	Validate desktop metadata, icons, service startup, and runtime contracts
pnpm electron:dev	Alias of pnpm dev:desktop
pnpm electron:pack	Build an unpacked app for the current platform
pnpm electron:dist	Build installers for the current platform
pnpm smoke:standalone	Boot the built standalone server and require 200s from core routes
pnpm smoke:packaged	Boot the server from every unpacked app in dist/ and probe it
pnpm release <version>	Bump versions, run gates, tag, and push — the tag ships the release

The Desktop entry resolves its service dependency first: it attaches to a healthy CODEX_SLIDES_URL when one already exists, otherwise it starts dev:web, waits for /api/agents, then opens the Electron window. Closing or interrupting the combined command stops only the Web process that command owns, so a separately launched Web session is kept.

Desktop builds use an isolated .next-desktop output so a concurrent web/dev build cannot overwrite the runtime being packaged.

Releases are one action: run Actions → Release desktop apps → Run workflow with a version number (the workflow bumps versions, commits, and tags by itself), or locally run pnpm release 0.2.0, which bumps versions, runs the local gates, and pushes a v0.2.0 tag. Either path runs release-desktop.yml, which creates a draft GitHub Release, builds on native macOS, Windows, and Linux runners, boots the packaged server on every platform and requires HTTP 200 from core routes, uploads the .dmg, .zip, .exe, .AppImage, and .deb files plus SHA256SUMS.txt, and only then publishes the release. The full maintainer guide, including recovery steps, lives in docs/RELEASING.md.

Downloaded builds are not yet notarized: on macOS, right-click the app and choose Open on first launch (or approve it under System Settings → Privacy & Security), and on Windows use SmartScreen's More info → Run anyway. Desktop logs live in the OS app-data directory (codex-slides-desktop.log for the shell, codex-slides-server.log for the bundled server).

Roadmap

Codex Slides is early and moving fast. The goal is simple: be the best way to make slides with a coding agent. Priorities are grouped by horizon and may shift with community feedback.

Status	Item
✅ Shipped	Browser-first guided workflow: research → outline → style → render → edit → present → export
✅ Shipped	Durable projects, reusable project templates, and Design Files
✅ Shipped	Brand & Design System, mark-based editing, and dual-window Play mode
✅ Shipped	Immutable automatic version history with prompt inspection, playback, restore, and exact-version PDF/PPTX export
✅ Shipped	Portable Agent Skills, 38 typed MCP tools, durable runs, exact Browser handoffs, and Electron desktop apps
✅ Shipped	Unified Codex Slides naming and icon assets across Web, desktop, and the Codex plugin
🚧 In progress	Sharper template gallery and one-click community-style previews
🔜 Next	Editable-shape PPTX export (native text and vector objects, not just full-slide images)
🔜 Next	Live collaboration and shareable read-only present links
🔜 Next	Bring-your-own-agent support beyond Codex, and additional image backends
🔭 Exploring	Charts and tables from live data sources and spreadsheets
🔭 Exploring	Theme marketplace and per-organization brand kits
🔭 Exploring	Video/animated slide export and speaker-rehearsal mode

Have a request? Open a GitHub Issue or start a discussion — roadmap items are prioritized in the open.

Community style library and licenses

The Community styles Browser is a presentation-focused index distilled from the open prompt galleries below. Codex Slides keeps one catalog for the home Browser, the project inspiration checkpoint, Brand & Design System, prompt generation, the portable CLI, and MCP. Selecting a community style injects its adapted <page_style> rules and, when available, sends its preview as the first visual reference image. The model is told to match art direction and layout grammar, not to copy the preview's literal text, logos, subject, or composition.

Reference	License noted by the source	How Codex Slides uses it
YouMind Awesome GPT Image 2 and web gallery	CC BY 4.0	Category research, prompt-language references, and source discovery
freestylefly Awesome GPT Image 2	MIT	Adapted industrial template taxonomy and attributed remote previews
JimmyLv Awesome Nano Banana	CC BY 4.0, subject to per-case attribution overrides	Case discovery, prompt authorship, and presentation-suitable visual directions
YouMind Awesome Nano Banana Pro Prompts	CC BY 4.0	Curated local previews and adapted presentation style blocks
muset-ai Awesome Nano Banana Pro	CC BY 4.0, subject to per-case attribution overrides	Cross-checking Nano Banana Pro cases and visual coverage
jamez-bondos Awesome GPT-4o Images	CC BY 4.0, except separately noted OpenAI files and per-case overrides	Attributed preview images and reusable case-derived art directions

Each catalog item keeps its source collection, original author when known, and source URL in src/lib/community.ts. The files under public/community and remote community previews retain their upstream terms and attribution requirements; Codex Slides' MIT license does not relicense those assets. Before redistributing a specific preview, follow its source link and check any case-level ATTRIBUTION.yml or notice.

Architecture and data

Codex Skill / MCP server / Browser UI / Electron
                 │
                 ▼
        Next.js local HTTP API
                 │
        ┌────────┼────────┐
        ▼        ▼        ▼
    Codex text  web search  image generation
        │                   │
        └────────┬──────────┘
                 ▼
      on-disk project store
                 │
        ┌────────┴────────┐
        ▼                 ▼
      Browser          PDF / PPTX

Key directories:

.codex-plugin/    installable Codex plugin manifest
.agents/          Git marketplace metadata
.mcp.json         MCP registration
mcp/              typed MCP server
skills/           canonical and compatibility Skills
src/app/          Next.js UI and API routes
src/components/   launcher, tutorial, project workspace, editing surfaces
src/lib/          agents, research, pipeline, project store, export
scripts/          contract, i18n, Skill, and MCP probes
data/projects/    local project state and generated assets
data/templates/   reusable project visual systems and reference assets

The local app uses the existing codex login authentication. Text generation, web research, and image generation are invoked through the same authenticated Codex environment; no separate application API key is stored by Codex Slides.

Verification

Run the complete static contract:

pnpm typecheck
pnpm test
pnpm check:i18n
pnpm check:project-sync
pnpm check:skill
pnpm check:mcp
pnpm electron:check
pnpm build

With the local app running:

pnpm check:skill:live
pnpm check:mcp:live
pnpm check:project-sync:live

UI changes should also be checked at desktop, tablet, and phone widths. For project workflow changes, verify both the Codex Browser and a second browser tab using the same project URL.

Troubleshooting

Codex does not see the plugin

1. Run codex plugin list and confirm codex-slides is enabled.
2. Reinstall the plugin after changing its version or Skill files.
3. Restart Codex or the ChatGPT desktop app.
4. Start a new task; existing tasks may retain the old Skill snapshot.

The local app does not start

node --version       # must be 20+
pnpm install
pnpm build
pnpm start

Inspect the log at CODEX_SLIDES_LOG or the operating system temp directory.

One browser tab shows stale slides

Every open project page polls the canonical project, including while it already looks complete, and also refreshes on focus or visibility changes. This lets a visible browser discover a new Codex, MCP, CLI, or second-tab mutation. If an older build is still open, restart the local server and reload both tabs. Confirm the API state:

curl http://127.0.0.1:4311/api/projects/<project-id>

A project is stuck in rendering

Codex Slides waits for the active renderer and only resumes after the project has no disk heartbeat for 90 seconds. Reopen the project; already rendered pages are preserved and only pending or failed pages are retried.

Exported PPTX text is not editable

This is expected today. Codex Slides currently exports each completed slide as a full-slide image for visual fidelity. Editable-shape export is on the roadmap.

GitHub repository metadata

Recommended repository title, description, categories, topics, social-preview copy, and release naming are documented in docs/GITHUB_METADATA.md.

Media & creator kit

Covering Codex Slides — a video, a thread, a newsletter, a review? You don't have to learn the product first. docs/MEDIA_KIT.md is a press kit written to be handed to an AI agent: paste it in and ask for the piece you want.

It includes:

• Boilerplate, one-liners, and elevator pitches at multiple lengths — in English, 简体中文, and 日本語.
• A by-the-numbers table, story angles, and audience personas to build a piece around.
• A category comparison, an FAQ, and ready-to-post tweets, threads, and LinkedIn copy.
• 30- and 60-second video scripts with a shot list, plus an asset manifest mapping every screenshot.
• Two guardrail sections — ✅ Safe to claim and ⚠️ Do not claim — so generated promo stays accurate and never invents features, benchmarks, or an OpenAI affiliation.

Star Codex Slides

If Codex Slides saved you an afternoon, give it a ⭐. Stars don't pay rent — but they tell the next developer, agent, and contributor that this project is worth their attention. One click, three seconds, a real signal.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md, which covers setup, architecture boundaries, i18n, Skill/MCP parity, visual QA, tests, and pull-request expectations.

• Use GitHub Issues for bugs and feature proposals.
• Use GitHub private vulnerability reporting for security issues; see SECURITY.md.
• Be respectful and constructive; see CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md.

License

Codex Slides source code is available under the MIT License. Community previews and adapted prompt references retain the upstream terms and attribution documented in Community style library and licenses.

Acknowledgements

Codex Slides builds on ideas and implementation patterns from:

• Anionex/banana-slides for the original image-generation presentation mechanism;
• nexu-io/html-anything for local agent detection and invocation patterns;
• nexu-io/html-video and zhongerxin/cowart for per-unit and mark-edit interaction ideas;
• Open Design for the agent-native design workflow and product direction.

---

Open Codex Slides in Codex. Keep it visible. Make every slide steerable.