Slidev Plugin for Claude Code

Create developer-focused technical presentations using Slidev with evidence-based design guardrails

What is this?

A Claude Code plugin for creating technical presentations powered by Slidev - the presentation framework for developers. Specifically designed for tech talks, conference presentations, internal demos, and developer-focused content.

Key differentiator: Evidence-based design principles are enforced as guardrails, not suggestions. The plugin automatically prevents common presentation mistakes through hard limits based on cognitive science research.

Example Presentations

See real-world technical presentations created with this plugin, including source code and PDF exports:

• GPUs on Kubernetes Unlocked - Technical deep-dive on GPU scheduling (PDF)
• Lifting LLMs on K8s - Running large language models on Kubernetes (PDF)

Built on Slidev

Slidev is a web-based presentation tool built for developers. Write your slides in markdown, use Vue components, live code with Monaco editor, and export to PDF/PPTX. This plugin adds intelligent automation, evidence-based guardrails, and complete workflow management on top of Slidev's powerful foundation.

Key Features

🎯 Evidence-Based Design Guardrails (Enforced)

These are not suggestions - they're automatic hard limits based on cognitive science research:

• ≤6 elements per slide - Prevents information overload (Miller's Law: working memory holds 7±2 items)
• <50 words body text - Ensures slides support speech, not replace it
• One idea per slide - Automatically splits dense content into focused slides
• Meaningful assertion titles - "System handles 10K req/sec" not "Results"
• 18pt+ fonts, 4.5:1+ contrast - Accessibility by default, not afterthought
• Colorblind-safe palettes - Blue + Orange default (tested for all types of colorblindness)

When content exceeds limits: The plugin creates additional slides instead of cramming. Quality over convenience.

🛠️ Developer-Focused Features

• Code syntax highlighting - Shiki/Prism integration with 100+ languages
• Live coding - Monaco editor embedded in slides for demos
• Mermaid diagrams - Architecture, flowcharts, sequence diagrams
• Multi-platform diagrams - Auto-generate PlantUML + Excalidraw alternatives
• Modular slide files - 01-title.md, 02-hook.md etc. in slides/ directory
• Git-friendly - Meaningful diffs, easy collaboration

🔄 Complete Workflow

End-to-end presentation creation:

1. Frame presentation scope - Set duration, audience, and calculate target slide count
2. Interactive brainstorming - Web research and local file analysis
3. Structured outline with validation
4. Modular slide generation with enforced quality limits
5. Visual enhancement with diagrams and images
6. Presenter notes generation
7. LaTeX handout with prose explanations and research links
8. Export to PDF/PPTX/PNG

Prerequisites

Required

• Slidev - The presentation framework this plugin is built on

  npm install -g @slidev/cli
  

• Node.js (v18 or later)
• npm (comes with Node.js)

Optional

• LaTeX (pdflatex) - For handout generation

  • macOS: brew install --cask mactex-no-gui
  • Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install texlive-latex-base texlive-latex-extra

• mermaid-cli - For high-quality offline diagram rendering

  npm install -g @mermaid-js/mermaid-cli
  

• excalidraw-brute-export-cli - For Excalidraw diagram rendering (auto-installed on first use)

  npm install -g excalidraw-brute-export-cli
  npx playwright install-deps
  npx playwright install chromium
  

Installation

Via Marketplace (recommended):

# Add the marketplace (once)
/plugin marketplace add rhuss/cc-rhuss-marketplace

# Install the plugin
/plugin install slidev@cc-rhuss-marketplace

From source:

git clone https://github.com/rhuss/cc-slidev.git
cd cc-slidev

# Install plugin via Makefile
make install

# After making changes, reinstall
make reinstall

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full development workflow.

Complete Workflow Example

Here's a full end-to-end workflow for creating a technical presentation:

1. Frame your presentation

/slidev:frame

Set presentation parameters: duration, audience level, and style. The plugin calculates target slide count using research-based timing (90s per slide default).

2. Brainstorm content

/slidev:brainstorm

Interactive Q&A session about your presentation topic. The plugin researches the web, analyzes local files, and extracts key themes within your framing constraints.

3. Create structured outline

/slidev:outline

Generates a structured outline with slide breakdown, validates timing against your framing, and ensures logical flow.

4. Generate modular slides

/slidev:generate

Creates individual slide files in slides/ directory:

presentation/
├── slides.md                    # Master file (slide 1 = title from frontmatter)
├── slides/
│   ├── 02-hook.md              # Slide 2
│   ├── 03-problem-statement.md # Slide 3
│   ├── 04-architecture.md       # Slide 4
│   └── ...

Note: Slide 1 (title) comes from frontmatter in slides.md, so slide files start at 02-.

Each slide is enforced to meet quality standards automatically.

5. Preview with Slidev

/slidev:preview

Opens Slidev dev server at localhost:3030. Press p for presenter mode with notes. Hot reload on file changes.

6. Edit specific slides

/slidev:edit 5

Shows table of contents, current slide content, and quality analysis. Edit individual slide files directly.

7. Enhance with visuals

/slidev:visuals

Analyzes all slides and suggests:

• Mermaid diagrams (flowcharts, sequence, architecture)
• Stock photos (Unsplash integration)
• AI image prompts (DALL-E, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion)

Generates multiple options per slide.

8. Generate comprehensive handout

/slidev:handout

Creates professional LaTeX handout with:

• Embedded slide images (PNG export)
• Prose explanations
• Research links and citations
• Presenter notes

9. Export final presentation

/slidev:export pdf

Exports to PDF, PPTX, or PNG using Slidev's built-in exporters.

Result: Professional technical presentation ready for your conference talk or demo!

File Structure

When you create a presentation, the plugin generates this structure:

introduction-to-kubernetes/
├── slides.md                # Master Slidev file (slide 1 = title from frontmatter)
├── slides/
│   ├── 02-hook.md          # Slide 2 (first slide file)
│   ├── 03-problem.md       # Slide 3
│   ├── 04-kubernetes-architecture.md  # Slide 4
│   ├── 05-benefits.md      # Slide 5
│   └── ...
├── diagrams/                # ALL diagram sources (version controlled)
│   ├── kubernetes-architecture.mmd
│   ├── kubernetes-architecture.puml
│   ├── kubernetes-architecture.excalidraw
│   └── ...
├── presentation-config.md  # Framing parameters (duration, audience, etc.)
├── brainstorm.md           # Research and ideation notes
├── outline.md              # Validated presentation outline
├── handout.tex             # LaTeX handout source
├── handout.pdf             # Compiled handout
├── package.json            # Slidev dependencies
├── public/
│   └── images/             # Rendered diagrams and photos
│       ├── kubernetes-architecture/
│       │   ├── diagram.svg
│       │   ├── diagram-plantuml.svg
│       │   └── diagram-excalidraw.svg
│       └── ...
└── exports/
    ├── slides.pdf
    └── slides.pptx

Modular slides benefits:

• Files ordered in presentation sequence (01-, 02-, etc.)
• Meaningful names for easy navigation
• Individual edits without touching other slides
• Git-friendly collaboration

Diagram organization:

• Sources (diagrams/): Version-controlled, editable (.mmd, .puml, .excalidraw)
• Renders (public/images/): Generated artifacts (.svg, .png), can be regenerated
• NO EXCEPTIONS: All sources MUST be in top-level ./diagrams/ directory

All Commands

Command	Description
/slidev:init <topic>	Initialize new presentation project (full workflow orchestrator)
/slidev:frame	Define scope, duration, and slide count targets
/slidev:brainstorm	Interactive brainstorming with research
/slidev:outline	Create/revise presentation outline
/slidev:generate	Generate modular slides from outline
/slidev:edit <N>	Edit specific slide with context
/slidev:add <N>	Insert new slide at position N (shifts others back)
/slidev:delete <N>	Delete slide at position N with renumbering
/slidev:continue	Resume work on existing presentation
/slidev:visuals	Add diagrams and images to all slides
/slidev:diagram <N>	Create diagram for specific slide
/slidev:notes	Generate/enhance presenter notes
/slidev:handout	Generate LaTeX handout with slides and prose
/slidev:preview	Start Slidev dev server
/slidev:export <format>	Export to PDF, PPTX, PNG
/slidev:redraw-diagrams	Regenerate diagrams in multiple formats

Evidence-Based Design Principles

This plugin enforces (not suggests) design principles based on research from:

• MIT Communication Lab
• TED presentation guidelines
• PLOS Computational Biology
• Cognitive load research (Miller's Law)
• Accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1)

See references/presentation-best-practices.md for full research documentation.

Core Principles (Enforced)

1. One Idea Per Slide

• Each slide communicates exactly one central point
• If content requires >90 seconds, auto-split into multiple slides
• Slide title states the one clear finding

2. Meaningful Titles (Assertions, Not Labels)

• ❌ Bad: "Results", "Background", "Methods"
• ✅ Good: "System handles 10K req/sec", "Current solutions fail under load"
• Format: subject + verb + finding

3. Cognitive Load Limit (≤6 Elements)

• Count: bullets + images + diagrams + charts + code blocks
• Hard limit: If >6 elements → automatically split into multiple slides
• Research basis: Working memory capacity is 7±2 items

4. Minimal Text (<50 Words)

• Body text only - title not counted
• Use phrases, not sentences
• Hard limit: >50 words → split or move to presenter notes
• Detailed explanations go in presenter notes, not slides

5. Visual Over Text

• Almost every slide needs a visual (diagram, chart, image, code)
• Exceptions: quotes, definitions, transition slides
• Plugin suggests visuals during generation

6. Accessibility by Default

• Font sizes: Body ≥18pt, headings ≥24pt
• Contrast: ≥4.5:1 for all text
• Colors: Colorblind-safe palette (Blue + Orange default)
• Don't rely on color alone: Use patterns, labels, shapes

For Developers

Why This Plugin Exists

Generic presentation tools fail developers because:

• PowerPoint/Keynote: Not code-friendly, hard to version control
• Google Slides: No local workflow, limited code support
• Raw Slidev: Powerful but no guardrails against bad design

This plugin solves that by combining:

• Slidev's developer-friendly foundation (markdown, code, Git)
• Automatic enforcement of presentation best practices
• Complete workflow automation (brainstorm → export)
• Multi-platform diagram support

Ideal Use Cases

• Conference talks - Tech conferences, meetups, user groups
• Internal demos - Architecture reviews, sprint demos, technical deep-dives
• Training materials - Developer onboarding, workshops, tutorials
• Open source presentations - Community presentations with Git collaboration

Developer Features

Code Syntax Highlighting:

```python {2-3}
def process():
    important_line()      # Highlighted
    another_important()   # Highlighted
    return result
```

Live Coding (Monaco Editor):

```python {monaco}
def editable():
    return "Users can edit this code live"
```

Mermaid Diagrams:

```mermaid
graph TD
    A[Client] --> B[API Server]
    B --> C[Database]
```

Multi-Platform Diagrams:
The plugin auto-generates equivalent diagrams in:

• Mermaid (inline in slides)
• PlantUML (high-quality SVG)
• Excalidraw (hand-drawn style)

Configuration

Create .claude/slidev.local.md in your project for custom preferences:

---
# Slidev settings
theme: seriph                     # default, apple-basic, etc.
export_format: pdf                # pdf, pptx, png

# Presentation defaults
default_duration_minutes: 15
slides_per_minute: 1.5           # 90 seconds per slide

# Visual theme
visual_theme:
  primary_color: "#3b82f6"       # Blue
  secondary_color: "#f97316"     # Orange
  style: "technical"             # modern-minimal, technical, etc.

# Rendering
mermaid_rendering: inline        # inline, offline, online
---

All fields optional with sensible defaults.

Troubleshooting

Slidev not found

Install Slidev globally:

npm install -g @slidev/cli

Handout generation fails

Install LaTeX:

# macOS
brew install --cask mactex-no-gui

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install texlive-latex-base texlive-latex-extra

# Fedora/RHEL
sudo dnf install texlive-scheme-basic texlive-latex

Mermaid diagrams low quality

Install mermaid-cli for offline high-quality rendering:

npm install -g @mermaid-js/mermaid-cli

Excalidraw rendering fails

Install excalidraw-brute-export-cli and dependencies:

npm install -g excalidraw-brute-export-cli
npx playwright install-deps
npx playwright install chromium

Note: The script will auto-install these on first use if missing.

Development

# Validate plugin manifests
make validate

# Install or reinstall
make install
make reinstall

# Test workflow
/slidev:init Test Presentation

See CONTRIBUTING.md for details and ARCHITECTURE.md for system design.

License

MIT © Roland Huss

Credits

• Built with Slidev by Anthony Fu
• Evidence-based design principles from MIT Communication Lab, TED, PLOS Computational Biology
• Diagram support: Mermaid, PlantUML, Excalidraw

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and workflow. Feedback and suggestions are welcome via issues.

---

Tip: Start with /slidev:init Your Topic for a guided end-to-end workflow, or use individual commands for specific phases.