marp-slide

Overview of marp-slide skill

What marp-slide does

The marp-slide skill helps an agent turn rough presentation requests into polished Marp slide decks using ready-made themes, slide structure guidance, and Marp-specific syntax references. It is best for people who want usable slide markdown fast, not just a generic “write me slides” answer.

Who should use marp-slide

Use marp-slide if you:

• create slide decks from notes, outlines, or meeting content
• want Marp-compatible markdown instead of PowerPoint-only output
• need better visual consistency without hand-designing CSS
• often ask an agent to “make it look good” and want that request grounded in an actual workflow

Best-fit job to be done

The real job is not “generate bullets.” It is: choose a fitting theme, structure slides so they present well, and produce Marp markdown that is close to render-ready. That matters if you need to move from idea to deck quickly without manually researching Marp syntax, image patterns, and theme styling.

What makes this skill different

Compared with an ordinary prompt, marp-slide gives you:

• 7 included visual directions: default, minimal, colorful, dark, gradient, tech, business
• template files in assets/ you can reuse directly
• reference docs for Marp syntax, image layouts, theme selection, advanced features, and CSS customization
• an opinionated workflow for vague requests like “make it professional” or “make it cool”

What users care about before installing

The key adoption questions are simple:

• Will it save time versus prompting from scratch? Usually yes, if you need Marp output specifically.
• Is it flexible? Yes for theme choice and deck drafting; less so if you want highly custom brand systems.
• Is it beginner-friendly? Mostly yes, because the templates and references reduce Marp guesswork.
• Is it for any presentation format? No. It is strongest when your target format is Marp markdown.

How to Use marp-slide skill

Install context for marp-slide

If your agent environment supports Skills installation, the common toolkit pattern is:

npx skills add softaworks/agent-toolkit --skill marp-slide

If your setup does not use that installer, open the skill folder directly at skills/marp-slide in the repository and use its files as your working reference. The important point is that marp-slide is most useful when the agent can read both SKILL.md and the supporting assets/ and references/ files.

Read these files first

For fastest onboarding, read in this order:

1. SKILL.md
2. references/marp-syntax.md
3. references/theme-selection.md
4. assets/template-*.md matching your use case
5. references/image-patterns.md if visuals matter
6. references/advanced-features.md and references/theme-css-guide.md if you need customization

This reading path gives you the biggest information gain with the least repository digging.

What input marp-slide needs

marp-slide works best when you provide:

• audience: executives, students, engineers, customers
• goal: persuade, explain, teach, report status
• deck length: target slide count or time limit
• source material: notes, bullets, doc excerpt, meeting summary
• tone: formal, technical, minimal, energetic
• visual preference: theme, light/dark, image-heavy vs text-light
• output constraint: pure Marp markdown, with or without speaker notes

If you only say “make a slide deck,” the skill can still draft something, but theme choice and slide density become guesswork.

Turn a rough request into a strong marp-slide prompt

Weak prompt:

• “Create slides about our API migration.”

Stronger prompt:

• “Use marp-slide to create a 10-slide Marp deck for engineering managers about our API migration. Audience knows the old system but not the rollout plan. Use the tech theme, keep slides concise, include one architecture slide, one risk slide, and one migration timeline slide. Optimize for a 12-minute internal presentation.”

That version gives the skill enough context to choose structure, density, and theme correctly.

Theme selection that actually affects output

The theme decision changes readability and fit more than most users expect:

• tech: engineering, product architecture, developer talks
• business: quarterly reviews, proposals, client-facing internal reports
• minimal: academic, workshop, documentation-style decks
• colorful or gradient: event, creative, promotional, lighter tone
• dark: dark-room presentations or when you want higher visual contrast
• default: safe choice when the brief is broad or uncertain

If you do not care about style language, pick by audience rather than by personal taste.

Start from a template, not a blank deck

A practical marp-slide workflow is to open the closest template in assets/ and adapt it:

• assets/template-business.md
• assets/template-tech.md
• assets/template-minimal.md
• assets/template-dark.md
• assets/template-colorful.md
• assets/template-gradient.md
• assets/template-basic.md

This is better than asking the agent to invent formatting from scratch, because these templates already encode layout, typography, and spacing decisions.

Suggested workflow for real slide creation

A reliable usage flow:

1. choose a theme
2. extract the message and audience
3. draft a slide outline first
4. expand each slide into Marp markdown
5. add images or diagrams only where they clarify
6. render and trim text-heavy slides
7. customize CSS only if the deck already works structurally

This sequence avoids a common failure mode: spending time on styling before the slide logic is sound.

Tips that materially improve deck quality

For better marp-slide output:

• ask for a slide outline before full content if your brief is messy
• specify “3–5 bullets max per slide” when you want presentable decks
• tell the agent which slides should be visual, not just textual
• request a title slide and closing slide explicitly if you need them
• give a speaking duration; it strongly influences slide count and density

These inputs improve the first draft more than generic “be professional” wording.

When to use the Marp references

The references are not just background docs; they solve predictable blockers:

• references/marp-syntax.md: basic authoring and directives
• references/image-patterns.md: image placement and official Marpit patterns
• references/best-practices.md: slide density and structure
• references/advanced-features.md: richer layouts and effects
• references/theme-css-guide.md: custom CSS changes
• references/official-themes.md: broader Marp theming context

Use them when you want output that will render cleanly, not merely read well in plain markdown.

Example marp-slide usage prompt

You can invoke the skill with a prompt like:

“Use marp-slide to create a Marp deck from these notes. Audience: startup investors. Goal: explain product traction and funding use. Length: 8 slides. Theme: business. Include a strong lead slide, one market slide, one traction slide, one roadmap slide, and a closing ask. Keep each slide presentation-friendly, not document-heavy.”

That prompt is specific enough to trigger the skill’s value without over-constraining the draft.

marp-slide skill FAQ

Is marp-slide better than a normal slide-writing prompt?

Usually yes if you need Marp output. A normal prompt may give decent slide text, but marp-slide adds theme selection, reusable templates, Marp-specific formatting references, and a stronger default workflow.

Is marp-slide only for developers?

No. The repo includes themes for business, academic, and creative use cases. It is technical underneath because Marp is markdown-based, but the actual use cases are broader than developer talks.

Can beginners use the marp-slide skill?

Yes, especially if they follow the templates. The easiest path is: choose the closest theme, provide audience and goal, then let the agent draft a short deck. You do not need to know Marp deeply to get value.

When is marp-slide not a good fit?

Skip marp-slide if:

• you need a PowerPoint-native workflow with heavy manual animation
• brand compliance requires custom corporate templates not represented here
• your output is really a long report, not a slide deck
• you do not plan to use Marp or markdown at all

Does marp-slide handle custom styling?

Partly. The included CSS themes cover a lot, and references/theme-css-guide.md helps with changes. But if you need a fully bespoke design system, expect extra editing beyond the base skill.

Does marp-slide work for image-heavy decks?

Yes, but only if you provide image intent clearly. The skill includes references/image-patterns.md, which matters because image layout in Marp is syntax-sensitive. If visuals are central, say which slides should contain them and what role they play.

How to Improve marp-slide skill

Give better source material

The biggest quality gain comes from better inputs, not more adjectives. Good source inputs include:

• a rough outline with priority points
• raw notes grouped by topic
• a doc section to condense
• desired slide count and timing
• examples of decks you want to resemble

Unsorted dumps force the agent to guess the narrative.

Specify audience and decision outcome

A strong marp-slide brief says what the audience should understand or do after the deck. For example:

• approve a migration plan
• understand a research finding
• choose between options
• remember teaching points

That helps the agent choose what deserves a slide and what should be cut.

Prevent text-heavy first drafts

A common failure mode is overpacked slides. To improve marp-slide output, ask for:

• fewer bullets per slide
• shorter headings
• split dense topics across two slides
• one message per slide
• presenter-friendly wording over document-style prose

This is especially important if your source material is a memo or transcript.

Use the right template before editing CSS

Users often jump into theme CSS too early. Better practice:

1. pick the nearest template
2. validate structure and readability
3. then tune colors, spacing, or typography if needed

If the deck is weak structurally, CSS changes will not rescue it.

Iterate with targeted revision requests

After the first draft, avoid “improve this” as your only follow-up. Better revision prompts:

• “Reduce slide 4 to three bullets and add a clearer takeaway.”
• “Convert slides 5 and 6 into a problem/solution pair.”
• “Switch from default to business and tighten the tone for executives.”
• “Add one image-friendly slide using Marp-compatible layout patterns.”

Targeted revisions produce better second passes than broad style requests.

Use repository references as a quality checklist

A practical way to improve marp-slide results is to treat the reference files as post-draft checks:

• syntax validity: references/marp-syntax.md
• image correctness: references/image-patterns.md
• design polish: references/best-practices.md
• deeper customization: references/advanced-features.md and references/theme-css-guide.md

That turns the skill from a one-shot prompt into a repeatable slide workflow.

Know the main tradeoff of marp-slide

The strength of marp-slide is speed to credible Marp decks. The tradeoff is that it is opinionated around Marp structure and included themes. If you want pixel-perfect bespoke presentation design, use it for fast drafting and structure, then customize further instead of expecting final-brand perfection on the first pass.