slaide

A new presentation file format, built for AI.

.slaide is a native, plain-text format for presentations: Markdown plus a small YAML theme. PowerPoint's .pptx is bulky XML that language models get wrong. A .slaide file is a few kilobytes of text an AI writes correctly, every time. One file renders to a navigable web deck, a high-fidelity PDF, and editable PowerPoint. A reusable theme carries the design, so nobody hand-places pixels.

AI writes it because it is just text. AI designs it because the theme does the design. You bring the idea.

Most of slaide is free and open source. The language, the renderer, the native viewer, export, import, the MCP server, and the agent skill all live in this repo under Apache-2.0. You can use it today, for anything.

Install

One command — nothing else to set up:

npm install -g @aivorynet/slaide

That gives you the slaide command (write, validate, render, export, import) and slaide app, which opens decks in the native viewer/editor — the app is fetched automatically the first time you run it. Want to try it with no install at all? npx @aivorynet/slaide new talk.slaide.

npx playwright install chromium   # only for PDF, PPTX, and image export

Use

slaide new talk.slaide            # scaffold a deck
slaide validate talk.slaide       # check it before rendering
slaide dev talk.slaide            # live preview at http://localhost:4321
slaide app talk.slaide            # open in the native viewer/editor (fetched on first run)
slaide build talk.slaide --out out  # self-contained out/index.html
slaide export talk.slaide --pdf out/talk.pdf
slaide export talk.slaide --pptx out/talk.pptx   # real text boxes, shapes, images
slaide import deck.pptx            # PowerPoint or Keynote into .slaide
slaide pack talk.slaide            # one shareable .slaidec file

Write

A deck is just text:

---
master: ./theme.slaide.yaml     # omit for the bundled "aurora" theme
title: My Talk
---
layout: cover
---
:: title ::
[Smart Inference]{.grad}
:: subtitle ::
written in slaide
---
layout: title-content
---
## Why a new language
- Plain text in    >>>
- Beautiful out    >>>
??? Speaker note. The audience never sees this.

Slides split on ---. :: name :: routes Markdown into a theme slot. >>> is a build step. ??? is a speaker note. Reference layouts, colors, and fonts by name. The full grammar is in docs/.

The desktop app

slaide app talk.slaide

The native viewer opens folders, single files, and packed .slaidec bundles, presents full screen, and exports PDF. The first time you run slaide app, the CLI downloads the viewer + engine from the GitHub release, verifies it (SHA-256, and a minisign signature once releases are signed), registers the .slaide file type so double-click works, and opens the deck. slaide upgrade updates it in place.

No Node? Install the standalone app without npm — same signed binaries, fetched, verified, and registered for you:

# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://github.com/aivorynet/slaide/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh
# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://github.com/aivorynet/slaide/releases/latest/download/install.ps1 | iex

…or a package manager (scoop install slaide, brew install --cask slaide, winget install Slaide), or download the archive from Releases, unzip, and run the bundled installer (it installs the binaries shipped inside, no network) — or just run slaide-view directly. (Or build from source with npm run build:viewer.)

Editing is Pro: run slaide auth login (or click Sign in in the app) — Slaide fetches the Pro engine and unlocks it for a licensed account.

For AI agents

slaide ships an agent skill and an MCP server. Install the skill into Claude Code, Codex, or Gemini with slaide install. Point a custom agent at the server with slaide mcp. Both run the same engine as the CLI. (slaide install sets up the agent skill — distinct from slaide app, which installs the desktop viewer.)

Free and Pro

Everything above is free, forever. Slaide Pro adds in-place visual editing and high-fidelity PowerPoint import. Run slaide auth login (or click Sign in, top-right, in the app): Slaide fetches the Pro engine and unlocks editing for a licensed account — the same binary serves everyone, the license is the only difference. Building from a source clone stays read-only by design: the Pro editor engine is proprietary and isn't in this repo, so there's nothing to patch out (a clone can't build Pro; the downloaded app fetches it on sign-in). See docs/open-core.md. Plans and prices are at getslaide.com.

How it works

.slaide plus its theme compiles to one intermediate representation, then renders to the web runtime and to PDF. The IR is the contract, so the web deck and the PDF cannot drift. PowerPoint export and import read the same model.

License

Apache-2.0. "slaide" and the slaide logo are trademarks of AIVory, Inc. See TRADEMARK.md and docs/open-core.md.

Built by AIVory, Inc. If slaide is useful to you, star the repo.