Optimization: This skill uses on-demand loading. Heavy content lives in references/ and is loaded only when needed.

Language rule: Skill instructions are English. Detect the project's primary language (from README, comments, docs, commit messages). Generate the presentation in that language. If bilingual, ask the user.

Diacritics rule: When the chosen output language uses diacritics (French, Spanish, Portuguese, etc.), render them correctly — including on capitals (É, À, Ç, Ô…). Never strip accents to ASCII: write "sécurité" not "securite", "Rôle" not "Role". ASCII-flattened French is a defect, not a style.

Writing style: Favor clarity — short sentences, one idea per sentence, plain words. A metaphor only when it clarifies. Keep one consistent register (impersonal/infinitive for operational docs). Separate narrative prose, meant to make the reader understand, from telegraphic content (tables, commands, checklists) which stays terse for action.

No fabricated output: Never invent command output, console captures, API responses, metrics, or logs. When real output is needed, emit a clearly-marked placeholder (🚧 "replace with a real capture"), never plausible-but-fake text presented as real.

Presentation Forge — Marp Deck Generator

Generate speaker-ready technical presentation decks from any project artifact — code, architecture docs, ADRs, audit reports, or a plain description.

Core Principle — Two biological mechanisms

Input

$ARGUMENTS is one of:

• File or directory: the skill reads the project and builds a presentation about it
• Topic description: "pitch for grob — LLM proxy with audit trail"
• Empty: reads the current project root and asks which tier

Workflow

Step 0 — Determine tier

Ask the user or take it from arguments. Do not auto-detect — presentation context is too varied to infer.

Read references/tiers.md for the three tiers:

Step 1 — Reconnaissance

Read the project. Build a mental model of: what it does, who it's for, what problem it solves, what makes it different. Use the shared reconnaissance brief — read ../shared/recon.md (the same model readme and demo use, so all three tell one story).

Step 2 — Choose narrative framework

Read references/slide-structure.md for frameworks by tier. Default:

• pitch: Hook → Solution → Proof → CTA
• lightning: SCR (Situation-Complication-Resolution)
• talk: 5-Box (What → Why → How → What If → What Next)

Step 3 — Generate Marp Markdown

Read references/marp-reference.md for syntax, themes, and advanced techniques.

Mandatory rules:

• Every slide passes the 5-second test — the audience grasps the message in 5 seconds
• Every slide has speaker notes in <!-- ... --> comments — not optional
• Headings are assertions, not labels (Alley model): # Pods restart 3x faster with preemption not # Preemption
• Max 6 words on visual slides, max 5 bullet points on content slides
• Code blocks: max 8 lines, highlight the 2-3 lines that matter
• Dark theme by default (better for conference projectors in bright rooms)
• Mermaid diagrams via cli-forge-schema handoff when architecture visuals are needed

Step 4 — Write output files

Write the .md file to docs/slides/{tier}-{name}.md (or talks/ if the project convention differs). Standard path, no AI markers.

If the project has CI (GitHub Actions or GitLab CI), suggest the CI template from references/ci-templates.md for PDF generation and Pages deployment.

Step 5 — Quality checklist

Before delivering, verify:

• [ ] Every slide passes the 5-second rule (peacock test)
• [ ] Removing any slide either breaks the narrative trail or proves it was noise
• [ ] Speaker notes present on every slide
• [ ] No slide has > 8 lines of code or > 5 bullet points
• [ ] Opening hook and closing slide form a callback pair
• [ ] Dark theme renders well (high contrast, no color-only information)
• [ ] Total slide count matches tier expectation

Anti-Patterns

Read references/anti-patterns.md for the 11 named anti-patterns to detect and avoid during generation (Feature List, Wall of Code, Architecture Astronaut, Demo Gods, Slideument, Curse of Knowledge, Apology Slide, Bibliography, Outline Slide, Font Roulette, Premature Abstraction).

Dynamic Handoffs

Rule: Recommend, don't auto-execute.

Rules for the Generator

1. The slides support the speaker, they don't replace them. If the deck is readable without a speaker, it's a document — not a presentation.
2. Concrete before abstract. Show the specific case, then generalize. Never the reverse.
3. One idea per slide, one idea per talk (lightning). A lightning talk with two ideas is two bad talks.
4. Speaker notes are the real content. The slides are visual anchors. The notes are what the speaker actually says.
5. Dark theme by default. Conference projectors in bright rooms render dark backgrounds with light text better than the inverse.
6. Gotchas — read ../gotchas.md before producing output to avoid known mistakes.

Integration with other cli-* skills