Slidev Presentation Skill

Overview

Create and edit high-quality Slidev presentations. Slidev turns a single Markdown file into a presentation with live code, animations, diagrams, and PDF/PPTX export. It is the strongest tool available for tech talks because slides can show code the way code actually behaves — Monaco editors run inline, Shiki Magic-Move morphs code between states, TwoSlash surfaces TypeScript type info, and the whole deck is a git-versionable markdown file.

Primary use cases this skill supports:

• Conference talks (20–40 min, narrative arc, Q&A)
• Workshops and hands-on sessions (live coding, exercises, dual-pane cmd/result)
• Lightning talks (5–10 min, punchy, high animation)
• Live-coding demos embedded in any deck
• Edits to an existing Slidev project

Runtime requirements: Node.js ≥ 20.12.0 (Node 24 recommended; Slidev's own create-slidev pins engines.node >=20.12.0). pnpm is the preferred package manager (matches Slidev's official docs); npm and yarn work identically.

Slidev version this skill targets: v52+ (Shiki Magic-Move, TwoSlash, MDC syntax, modern Monaco API all available).

Decision Flow

Follow this order when the user asks to work with slides.

1. Is this a new deck or an existing one?

New deck → Go to §2 (Pick a template). Existing deck → Read slides.md first. Never rewrite; make targeted edits. Jump to §7 (Editing workflow).

2. Pick the right starting template

Ask the user (or infer from their phrasing) which of these fits best:

If none fits cleanly, start from starter-deck.md and compose. Don't invent a new structure — copy an asset and modify.

3. Bootstrap the project

Run the following (adapt cwd):

# Create project directory and scaffold (interactive prompt accepts defaults)
pnpm create slidev my-deck
cd my-deck

Then replace the generated slides.md with the selected template from assets/. Keep the generated package.json, netlify.toml (if any), and .gitignore.

For a manual bootstrap without the interactive prompt, see references/07-config.md → "Minimal project scaffold".

4. Configure headmatter

Every deck has one YAML block at the top (headmatter) that configures the whole deck. Start with this opinionated default and add options as needed:

---
theme: seriph
title: Your Talk Title
info: |
  One-line description — shows in browser tab, PDF metadata, presenter mode.
author: Speaker Name
keywords: [tag1, tag2]
colorSchema: auto
transition: slide-left
mdc: true
lineNumbers: false
drawings:
  persist: false
fonts:
  sans: 'Geist'
  serif: 'Geist'
  mono: 'Geist Mono'
  provider: google
  weights: '400,500,600,700'
lang: en
---

When to change what — see references/07-config.md for a complete field reference.

5. Write the slide body

Open the chosen asset template and modify it. Key rules:

• One concept per slide. If a slide has two headings, split it.
• 6×6 rule. Max 6 bullets, max 6 words per bullet. Anything more belongs in speaker notes.
• Progressive disclosure. Wrap bullet lists in <v-clicks> so the speaker reveals one point at a time.
• Code blocks always get a language (```ts not ```). Otherwise Shiki cannot highlight.
• Speaker notes go in HTML comments at the end of each slide. They only appear in presenter mode.

6. Choose the right feature for each idea

Use the feature that matches the intent. Don't reach for Monaco when line highlighting is enough.

7. Editing an existing deck

1. Read slides.md in full before any edit. Understand the headmatter, the slide count, the layouts used, the theme.
2. Locate the target slide by heading or content.
3. Make the smallest possible edit — add a slide with ---, change a layout line, add a <v-clicks> wrapper. Never reformat unrelated slides.
4. If the change affects the whole deck (e.g. theme change), update only the headmatter.
5. Run pnpm dev --open in the deck directory; the user verifies in the browser.

8. Export or deploy

Ask the user what they need:

• PDF (most common for hand-outs): pnpm export — requires playwright-chromium as dev dep.
• Static site: pnpm build produces dist/.
• GitHub Pages / Vercel / Netlify: see references/08-export-deploy.md for ready CI snippets.

Quality Checklist

Before reporting a deck done, run through references/11-quality-checklist.md. Covers content, frontmatter, speaker notes, runtime checks, and accessibility.

Anti-Patterns (do not do)

• Do not paste novels. If a slide body is longer than ~80 words, split the slide.
• Do not generate lorem-ipsum content. Ask the user for real content, or leave TODO: markers.
• Do not use untyped code blocks. ``` code ``` → always specify the language.
• Do not add a README.md inside the skill folder. (Anthropic skill convention.) Repo-level READMEs are fine.
• Do not inline an entire reference into SKILL.md. If you're tempted, you're in the wrong layer — move it to references/.
• Do not recommend themes not in the Slidev theme gallery unless the user asked for a custom theme.

Resources

When details are needed beyond this file, read the specific reference, don't guess. Each references/ file is self-contained.

Internal (bundled, read on demand):

• references/01-syntax.md — markdown conventions, headmatter, slide separators, notes, imports
• references/02-layouts.md — all built-in layouts with side-by-side comparison
• references/03-components.md — v-click, v-motion, Toc, Link, icons, Youtube, Tweet
• references/04-code-presentation.md — Shiki, Magic-Move, TwoSlash, Monaco, code groups
• references/05-diagrams-math.md — Mermaid, PlantUML, KaTeX, chemistry
• references/06-themes-styling.md — theme gallery, colorSchema, fonts, UnoCSS, scoped CSS
• references/07-config.md — complete headmatter schema + slidev.config.ts
• references/08-export-deploy.md — PDF, PPTX, static, GitHub Pages, Vercel, Netlify, CI
• references/09-live-demo-patterns.md — dual-pane layouts, demo choreography, fallback slides
• references/10-troubleshooting.md — cache, Monaco, Playwright export, common errors
• references/11-quality-checklist.md — pre-ship checks for content, frontmatter, speaker notes, runtime, accessib