PowerPoint MCP Server

This is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for creating and editing PowerPoint presentations. Built with Python and python-pptx.

Features

Presentation Management: Create, open, save, and close presentations
Slide Operations: Add, delete, duplicate, and reorder slides
Content Creation: Add textboxes, images, shapes, tables, and charts
Icons: Insert Phosphor SVG icons with custom colors
Modifications: Modify shapes, delete elements, find and replace text
Escape Hatch: Execute arbitrary python-pptx code for advanced operations

Requirements

Python 3.9 or higher
No PowerPoint installation required – works directly with .pptx files

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/juanocampo400/powerpoint-mcp.git
cd powerpoint-mcp

Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

(Optional) For icon support:
- Windows: pip install cairosvg (works if pycairo is installed, which is common with graphics/PDF tools)
- macOS: brew install cairo pango && pip install cairosvg

Usage with Claude

Add to your Claude configuration using Claude Code CLI:

macOS:

cd powerpoint-mcp
chmod +x server.sh
claude mcp add powerpoint-mcp --scope user -- $PWD/server.sh

Windows (Git Bash):

cd powerpoint-mcp
claude mcp add powerpoint-mcp --scope user -- python $PWD/server.py

Note: --scope user makes the server available globally. Without it, the server only works when you're in the project directory.

Why server.sh on macOS? The wrapper script sets DYLD_FALLBACK_LIBRARY_PATH so Python can find the Homebrew-installed cairo library (required for icon support). Without this, icons may not work even if cairo is installed correctly.

Or manually edit ~/.claude.json:

macOS:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "powerpoint-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "/Users/yourname/powerpoint-mcp/server.sh",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Windows:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "powerpoint-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "C:/Users/yourname/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python312/python.exe",
      "args": ["C:/Users/yourname/powerpoint-mcp/server.py"]
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

Core Management

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | manage_presentation | Open, create, save, save_as, close presentations | | get_presentation_info | Get slide count, dimensions, overview | | manage_slide | Add, delete, duplicate, move slides | | get_slide_snapshot | Get detailed info about shapes on a slide |

Content Creation

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | add_textbox | Add text with formatting (font, size, color, alignment) | | add_image | Insert images (PNG, JPG, etc.) | | add_shape | Add shapes (rectangle, oval, arrow, star, etc.) | | add_table | Create tables with data | | add_chart | Create charts (bar, column, line, pie, area) | | insert_icon | Insert Phosphor SVG icons | | list_icons | List available icons by category |

Modifications

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | modify_shape | Change position, size, color, text of shapes | | delete_shape | Remove shapes by ID or name | | find_and_replace | Find and replace text across slides |

Advanced

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | evaluate_code | Execute arbitrary python-pptx code |

Recommended Workflow & Next Steps

This MCP server works best when paired with a well-prepared PowerPoint template. Here's the recommended workflow based on testing:

Quick Start (No Template Prep)

Download a template from PowerPoint's built-in library (e.g., "Architecture Pitch Deck")
Save it to your working folder
Ask Claude Code to create a presentation using the template

Results: Works fairly well out of the box – Claude Code can identify placeholders and populate content.

Better Results (Templatized)

For improved results, ask Claude Code to prepare the template first:

Save a PowerPoint template to your working folder
Ask Claude Code to: "Strip the existing text and replace it with generic placeholder text to make this a reusable template"
Make your own personal tweaks to master layouts and example slides (e.g., icon placement, text box size)
Use the prepared template for your presentations

Results: More consistent placeholder detection, cleaner content replacement, and better overall output.

Recommended Next Steps

Once you have a workflow that works well for your use case:

Create a custom template – Design or modify a template that matches your branding/style guidelines
Package into a skill – Create a Claude Code skill that encodes your storytelling and branding guidelines, so Claude follows them automatically when creating presentations
Optional: Add a hook – Configure a hook to load your skill before the MCP tools are invoked, ensuring consistent results every time

This approach gets closer to "one-shotting" powerpoint slides consistently.

Notes

All positions and sizes use inches as the unit
Colors are specified as hex codes (e.g., "#FF0000" for red)
Icons are bundled from Phosphor Icons (1,500+ icons available)
The server keeps one presentation open in memory at a time

MCP Servers