deckcraft

Overview

DeckCraft is an open-source (MIT OR Apache-2.0), clean-room reimplementation of Microsoft PowerPoint, written in pure Rust: it builds decks with masters/layouts, shapes, text, tables, charts, SmartArt and media; presents them full screen; and exchanges PowerPoint .pptx plus its own .deckcraft format (README.md:13, 64-80; Cargo.toml:1-8). It is alpha: v0.8.0, claiming 84% feature breadth and ~55% ready for real work by its own measurement (ROADMAP.md:3, 17-23). Native builds target macOS, Windows, Linux and FreeBSD, with a WebAssembly build for browsers (README.md:201-230). Source: github.com/storytold/deckcraft (Cargo.toml:11).

Audit basis: this checkout is tag v0.8.0, commit 22db9261f9d1a214c296fd390173130c45d76d66. The installed /Applications/DeckCraft.app reports CFBundleShortVersionString 0.8.0 and DeckCraftBuildCommit 22db9261f9d1a214c296fd390173130c45d76d66, so the bundle matches this source exactly. Verify against your installed version if the ArtCraft Launcher has auto-updated since: the code is moving quickly, and some docs/ pages already lag the code (see the final bullets in “Sources & evidence”).

Capabilities (verified)

Deck structure and design

• Slides, masters and layouts. Eleven layout kinds (Title, Title and Content, Section Header, Two Content, Comparison, Title Only, Blank, Content with Caption, Picture with Caption, Title and Vertical Text, Vertical Title and Text) plus Custom (crates/model/src/lib.rs:679-710). Slide masters, notes master, handout master, placeholder inheritance, sections, notes, comments, headers/footers, custom shows and custom slide sizes are modelled (crates/model/src/lib.rs; crates/engine/src/cmd/slide.rs:45-58; crates/engine/src/cmd/design.rs:52-61; crates/engine/src/cmd/review.rs:13-17).
• Themes. Eight built-in themes — DeckCraft, Harbor, Ember, Meadow, Nocturne, Paper, Coral Reef, Slate — each with colour, font and effect schemes; four variants per theme; Browse for Themes imports .thmx, .pptx or .potx (crates/model/src/theme.rs:155-175, 178-260; crates/engine/src/cmd/design.rs:17-40, 148-174; crates/pptx/src/lib.rs:66-69).
• Starter decks. Six original starters — Briefing, Lesson, Pitch, Field Notes, Quarterly, Evening Talk — via file.new {template} (crates/engine/src/templates.rs:37-168; crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:20).
• Shapes. 183 shape/connector presets in the catalogue, with adjust handles, connectors that stay glued, freeform/curve/scribble tools, merge operations (union, combine, fragment, intersect, subtract), gradient/picture/pattern fills, dashes, arrowheads, shadows, glow, soft edges and reflections (crates/geom/src/preset.rs:147; crates/engine/src/cmd/shape.rs:14-150; crates/engine/src/cmd/merge.rs; crates/engine/src/cmd/picture_style.rs).
• Text. In-place editing with DrawingML run/paragraph properties, bullets and numbering, columns, autofit (none/shrink/resize), vertical and RTL text, fields, hyperlinks, tab stops, line spacing and text warps (crates/engine/src/cmd/text.rs:17-90; crates/engine/src/cmd/format.rs:18-215; crates/model/src/text.rs; crates/geom/src/warp.rs).
• Tables. Styled tables with cell merges, diagonal borders, row/column insert/delete, distribution, heights and borders (crates/engine/src/cmd/table.rs; crates/pptx/tests/corpus_charts.rs covers merged tables and diagonals).

Content

• Pictures. PNG, JPEG, GIF (including animated GIFs), WebP, BMP and TIFF are decoded; EMF/WMF are drawn through deckcraft-metafile when they arrive inside a deck (crates/render/src/images.rs:119-134; crates/metafile/src/lib.rs:20-30; docs/file-format-parity.md:39-42). Crop, brightness/contrast, duotone, alpha and some artistic effects are modelled (crates/engine/src/cmd/picture_style.rs; crates/engine/src/cmd/artistic.rs).
• Charts. 28 chart types in the model, including the seven Office-2016 chartEx types (waterfall, funnel, histogram, Pareto, box & whisker, treemap, sunburst), plus radar, stock, region map (kept and drawn, not offered in the menus) and combo (crates/model/src/chart.rs:9-41). Insert with categories/series (insert.chart), edit data with chart.data or the Chart Data dialog, change type with chart.type; trendlines are drawn (crates/engine/src/cmd/insert.rs:66-72, 108-114, 1716; crates/model/src/chart.rs; crates/pptx/src/read/chart.rs).
• SmartArt. A SmartArt graphic is a group whose outline is edited in a Text Pane; 45 layouts and 9 styles, with Add Shape, Promote, Demote, Remove and layout switching; saved to .pptx as a real diagram (crates/engine/src/cmd/smartart.rs:26-80; crates/pptx/src/dgm.rs).
• Media. Audio: MP3, AAC/M4A, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, CAF, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis and Opus. Video: H.264, HEVC, VP9 and AV1 in MP4/MOV/WebM/MKV, software-decoded in pure Rust (crates/media/src/lib.rs:1-25; crates/engine/src/cmd/insert.rs:74-75, 319-373).
• Other insertables. Lucide 1.56 stroke icons as custom shapes (insert.icon), WordArt, symbols, date/time fields, slide numbers and an equation dialog that inserts styled text (not OMML) (crates/engine/src/icons.rs; crates/engine/src/cmd/insert.rs:26-134; crates/ui-egui/src/dialogs.rs:1699-1706).

Presenting

• 48 transitions plus “None” (49 rows), including Morph, with each transition’s effect options (crates/model/src/anim.rs:52-106; docs/animation-parity.md:16-40).
• Animations. 106 picker entries: 64 non-path effects (24 entrance, 23 exit, 17 emphasis), 39 motion paths and 3 media controls; start modes (on click / with previous / after previous), by-paragraph builds, triggers, repeat and bounce end (crates/model/src/anim.rs:320-437; crates/engine/src/cmd/animation.rs; docs/animation-parity.md:50-57).
• Slide show. Full-screen show, presenter view in a second window, pen and laser pointer, black/white screens, See All Slides, zoom, hyperlinks/actions, custom shows, rehearse timings and media playback (crates/ui-egui/src/show.rs:1-40, 430-500; crates/engine/src/cmd/review.rs:63-90; docs/control-protocol.md:30-52).
• Views. Normal, Outline, Slide Sorter, Notes Page and Reading; slide/notes/handout master views (crates/ui-egui/src/lib.rs:227-234; crates/ui-egui/src/ribbon.rs:154).

Files

• Native `.deckcraft`: a zip with a stored mimetype, presentation.json and media/<id> entries, format version 1; readers ignore unknown fields, and legacy .slidecraft files still open (crates/format/src/lib.rs:1-24, 56-85; crates/format/src/lib.rs:15-18).
• PowerPoint `.pptx`: read and write; .potx and .ppsx open, and v0.8.0 writes the correct template/slideshow content type (crates/pptx/src/lib.rs:61-85; test crates/pptx/tests/roundtrip.rs:1089). Unknown parts are kept as Opaque/raw XML where the model does not understand them (docs/architecture.md:64-69).
• Outline text: .txt and .md import (outline levels; Markdown headings become slides) and .txt/.md export (crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:149-156; crates/format/src/lib.rs:412-523).
• PDF: slides, notes pages or handouts (1/2/3/4/6/9 per page), Letter/A4/Legal/A3, portrait/landscape, hidden-slide and slide-range options, selectable invisible text layer and bookmarks; slide artwork itself is a raster image (crates/pdf/src/lib.rs:67-105, 451-462; crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:274-337).
• Images and GIF: PNG/JPEG per slide (one or all), and an animated GIF of the deck (one frame per slide, 16-3840 px wide, 0.1-600 s per slide, loop or play once, slide range, hidden slides skipped) (crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:481-545; crates/engine/src/gif_export.rs:1-35).
• AutoRecover: unsaved presentations are written to a recovery folder and reopened at the next start; saving or closing removes the entry (crates/engine/src/recovery.rs:1-35; apps/deckcraft/src/main.rs:240-247).

Automation

• 320 commands, each with id, label, ribbon/menu place, shortcut, parameter docs, enabled check and run function, registered in 28 modules (crates/engine/src/cmd/mod.rs:161-192; count of cmd! specs = 320). Session::execute is the single dispatch path used by the UI, CLI, control channel and MCP (crates/engine/src/lib.rs:579-600).
• `deckcraft-cli`: info, render, render-transition, convert, run, commands, describe, app, mcp, bench, links, version (apps/deckcraft-cli/src/main.rs:35-83; apps/deckcraft-cli/src/help.rs:8-157).
• JSON control channel: deckcraft --control PORT listens on 127.0.0.1 only and speaks one JSON object per line; methods include engine.execute, document.inspect, ui.inspect, ui.pointer, ui.key, ui.text, ui.dialog.open, ui.screenshot, ui.render, show.start, app.open/save/export/quit (docs/control-protocol.md:1-52; apps/deckcraft/src/control_server.rs:44-58).
• MCP: deckcraft-cli mcp serves 25 tools over stdio — list_commands, run_command, batch, new_presentation, open_presentation, save_presentation, export, inspect_document, inspect_slide, render_slide, add_slide, go_to_slide, add_shape, add_text_box, set_text, insert_picture, insert_table, insert_chart, select, pointer, select_tool, key, type_text, plus screenshot and call_app in connected mode (crates/mcp/src/tools.rs:65-290; docs/mcp.md:80-104). It also exposes deckcraft://document and deckcraft://commands resources (crates/mcp/src/server.rs:31-32, 157-165).
• File confinement: --automation-read-root / --automation-write-root confine every path a command reads or writes (open, pictures, audio, video, save, export, render output); they cannot be combined with --connect (docs/mcp.md:28-78; apps/deckcraft-cli/src/main.rs:588-635).

Platforms

• macOS 11+ universal app, signed and notarized; Windows x64/arm64/x86, Linux (AppImage, Flatpak, deb, rpm, tarball), FreeBSD and a static WebAssembly site (README.md:201-230; /Applications/DeckCraft.app/Contents/Info.plist).
• Rendering is CPU-side through vello_cpu; the UI is egui/eframe (Cargo.toml:57-71; docs/architecture.md:49-60). The web build uses WebGPU with a WebGL2 fallback and downloads files instead of using save dialogs (apps/deckcraft-web/src/main.rs:1-25; apps/deckcraft-web/src/Cargo.toml:23-25).

Known limitations and not-implemented

File exchange and PowerPoint fidelity

• No external deck corpus. All PPTX round-trip tests use decks authored in this repo; fidelity on real corporate decks, templates, SmartArt, chartex and embedded fonts is “mostly unknown” by the project’s own admission (docs/gaps.md:67-92; crates/pptx/tests/corpus*.rs). The claim that exported .pptx opens in PowerPoint without repair is a docs claim, not independently verified here (docs/architecture.md:64-69).
• Known PPTX round-trip losses: media playback options and animation rewind are not written back (#74, #77); a combo chart’s secondary axis is not written when the chart is rebuilt; editing a chart drops its embedded workbook; imported SmartArt is redrawn with DeckCraft’s simpler layout; MicroType Express embedded-font subsets are kept but not drawn (docs/gaps.md:94-152; docs/file-format-parity.md:75-88).
• Unsupported input formats: legacy .ppt/.pot/.pps and OpenDocument .odp are not read; .pptm/.potm/.ppsm are not supported formats and their macros are not preserved or run (a macro-enabled package may still be read as plain OOXML); password-protected decks fail with a clear error, and there is no password protection on save (crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:139-163, 340-348; docs/file-format-parity.md:17-25, 89-90; crates/pptx/src/lib.rs:56-58).

Pictures and media

• SVG is not rendered. insert.picture accepts image/svg+xml, but the renderer has no SVG decoder, so an inserted SVG is not drawn; use PNG/JPEG. A PowerPoint file that stores a PNG fallback beside its SVG may still show that fallback (crates/engine/src/cmd/insert.rs:366-394; crates/render/src/images.rs:119-134; docs/gaps.md:101-108).
• HEIC is not supported. EMF/WMF render when imported in a deck but are not sniffed by insert.picture; WMA/WMV are recognised but not decoded; online video embeds are not supported (docs/file-format-parity.md:41-48; crates/engine/src/cmd/insert.rs:319-373; crates/media/src/lib.rs:4-7).
• Web build is silent: it has no AudioOut, so media plays without sound; it also has no TCP control channel and does not persist preferences (apps/deckcraft-web/src/web.rs:114-140; apps/deckcraft-web/src/main.rs:8-15).

Output

• PDF artwork is rasterized. Each slide is placed as an image at print resolution under an invisible real-text layer; text is selectable/searchable, but the artwork is not vector. Large decks produce large PDFs and zoom/print quality follows the raster DPI (crates/pdf/README.md:3-6; docs/gaps.md:130-134).
• No native print dialog. The File ▸ Print page builds a PDF and opens it in the system viewer/browser; there is no printer list, copies, sides or colour selection (crates/ui-egui/src/lib.rs:806-828; docs/ui-parity.md Print row).
• No MP4/MOV export. Only an animated GIF exists; it shows one static frame per slide, with no transitions or build animations (docs/gaps.md:141-147; crates/engine/src/gif_export.rs:1-8). GIF is capped at 500 frames, 3840 px wide and 200M total pixels (crates/engine/src/gif_export.rs:29-35).

Platform and UI

• No native macOS menu bar. menus::menu_tree() exists but nothing installs it; use the ribbon, command palette (Cmd+Shift+P, crates/ui-egui/src/lib.rs:396) or commands (docs/ui-parity.md:24; crates/ui-egui/src/menus.rs:161).
• Presenter view is a second window but is not assigned to the second display/projector (docs/gaps.md:304; crates/ui-egui/src/show.rs:1035-1037, 1757).
• CPU rasterization and software video decode; no GPU slide rendering or hardware decode (docs/gaps.md:305-308; Cargo.toml:57).
• English-only UI, no string catalogue or RTL mirroring (ROADMAP.md:85-106).
• No pinch-zoom; pen pressure works but tilt does not (docs/gaps.md:309-314).

Feature depth

• Charts are partial: data can be edited by command/dialog, but chart elements and some chartex behaviour are thinner than PowerPoint’s (docs/gaps.md:166-185; crates/engine/src/cmd/insert.rs:108-114).
• Animations are partial: 64 non-path effects of roughly 190 in PowerPoint; preview plays the slide from the start, not from the selected effect (docs/gaps.md:29, 201-206; crates/model/src/anim.rs:320-437).
• SmartArt is shallow: imported diagrams are redrawn with DeckCraft’s layouts; PowerPoint has ~200 layouts, picture layouts and 3-D styles (docs/gaps.md:187-199; crates/engine/src/cmd/smartart.rs:26-80).
• No recording: the Record tab’s Record button is disabled (“needs audio capture”), and there is no record-slide-show (crates/ui-egui/src/ribbon.rs:2077-2078; docs/gaps.md:272-277).
• Equations are not OMML: the Equation dialog inserts pretty-printed text; OMML is neither read nor written (crates/ui-egui/src/dialogs.rs:1699-1706; docs/file-format-parity.md:78).
• No AI/cloud features: no Copilot/Designer/Speaker Coach/Translate; only offline Design Ideas arrangements (docs/gaps.md:347-351; crates/engine/src/cmd/ideas.rs:1-20).
• No add-ins or VBA by policy; MCP/CLI is the automation alternative (docs/gaps.md:345).

Automation and data-safety behaviours to know

• `file.close` closes a dirty document without prompting. The UI’s Close (app.closePresentation, Cmd+W) prompts; the raw engine command does not (crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:569-574; crates/ui-egui/src/lib.rs:388, 715-723). Do not call file.close on unsaved work.
• `app.quit` over the control channel quits without asking. Pass {"save": true} to save first; otherwise unsaved changes are lost (crates/ui-egui/src/control.rs:364-372).
• `file.save`/`file.saveAs` without a `path` ask the UI for one and write nothing in headless use; always pass path (crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:396-415).
• Do not use `file.save`/`--save` for `.png`/`.jpg`. save_bytes has writers for .pptx/.potx/.ppsx, .pdf, .gif, outline and native, but not for PNG/JPEG; a .png/.jpg path falls through to native .deckcraft zip bytes under the image name (crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:261-268, 340-376). Use file.export/--export (or the GUI’s Save As, which routes those types through export_as) for images. MCP save_presentation and control-channel app.save inherit the same trap.
• `run` stops at the first failing command and saves nothing (apps/deckcraft-cli/src/help.rs:92-93).
• The control channel has no authentication. It binds loopback only; do not expose or port-forward it (docs/control-protocol.md:3-4; apps/deckcraft/src/control_server.rs:52).

How to operate

Check what is installed

/Applications/DeckCraft.app/Contents/MacOS/DeckCraft --version   # prints: deckcraft 0.8.0
command -v deckcraft-cli                                          # headless CLI is a separate download

The .app bundle contains no deckcraft-cli. The CLI ships as the separate release asset deckcraft-cli-<ver>-macos-universal.zip (packaging/macos/package.sh:5, 44, 156-167; README.md:206). On the audit machine deckcraft-cli was not on PATH and not inside the bundle. Download/unzip the CLI, build it with cargo build --release -p deckcraft-cli, or automate through the control channel instead.

Launch

open -a DeckCraft                          # normal GUI
open -a DeckCraft --args --sample          # sample deck
open -a DeckCraft /path/to/talk.pptx       # open a file
/Applications/DeckCraft.app/Contents/MacOS/DeckCraft --control 7990 --sample

GUI flags: --control PORT, --sample, --show, --help, --version, and file paths (apps/deckcraft/src/main.rs:129-161; verified by running --help). The control port can also come from DECKCRAFT_CONTROL_PORT. The app opens .deckcraft, .pptx, .potx, .ppsx, .txt, .md (the last two as outlines) and applies .thmx/.pptx themes through Design ▸ Browse for Themes (apps/deckcraft/src/main.rs:95-111; crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:127-163; crates/engine/src/cmd/design.rs:148-174).

CLI

deckcraft-cli is the most reliable automation surface; it needs no window.

Examples:

deckcraft-cli commands format.
deckcraft-cli describe shape.insert
deckcraft-cli run --cmd 'slide.new={"layout":"titleOnly","title":"Q3 results"}' \
  --cmd 'shape.insert={"preset":"roundRect","rect":[80,160,320,120],"text":"Revenue"}' \
  --save q3.deckcraft
deckcraft-cli render q3.deckcraft --all --scale 1 out/
deckcraft-cli convert q3.deckcraft q3.pdf
deckcraft-cli run --in q3.deckcraft --export q3-notes.pdf \
  --export-params '{"layout":"notes","paper":"a4"}'

--print prints each command’s answer; it is not a printer flag (help.rs:92). convert gives no PDF-layout options; use run --export or file.export for notes/handouts.

Conventions that prevent most automation bugs

• Coordinates are points on a 960×540 (16:9) slide unless the deck says otherwise; a rect is [x, y, width, height], x right and y down (help.rs:82-84; crates/model/src/defaults.rs:17).
• Slide indices are 0-based; image files written by --all are named from 1 (slide-01.png) (help.rs:84-86; crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:483-514).
• Shape ids are looked up on the current slide only; slide.go changes the current slide (help.rs:86-87; crates/engine/src/cmd/slide.rs:26).
• slide.new inserts after the current slide and selects the new slide; pass at for an explicit index (crates/engine/src/cmd/slide.rs:103-154).
• Commands that add a shape select it; format.* acts on the selection, while many shape commands take ids directly (help.rs:88-90).
• Text bodies use \n for a new paragraph and a leading tab per level for bullets (crates/engine/src/cmd/slide.rs:124-133; apps/deckcraft-cli/src/help.rs:70-78).

Documents, open/save/export

• One process can hold several presentations; file.new/file.open add documents, window.next cycles the active one, and view.newWindow opens a second, non-editing window on the same deck (crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:12-71; crates/ui-egui/src/doc_window.rs:1-8).
• Open: file.open {path}. Native .deckcraft, .pptx/.potx/.ppsx, and .txt/.md outlines. Open is lenient for PPTX (unknown parts skipped/kept), and background-loaded in the GUI (crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:127-163; docs/architecture.md:64-69; crates/ui-egui/src/opening.rs).
• Save: file.save {path, format?} or file.saveAs {path}. The format follows the extension unless format is given: .deckcraft, .pptx, .potx, .ppsx, .pdf, .gif, .txt/.md (crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:261-268, 340-376, 396-415). For `.png`/`.jpg`, use `file.export` instead: save_bytes has no PNG/JPEG writer, so a .png/.jpg path through file.save writes native zip bytes under the image name; the GUI’s Save As avoids this by routing images through export_as (crates/ui-egui/src/backstage.rs:926-958). Writes go to a unique .saving sibling and are renamed over the target, so a failed save does not truncate the old file (crates/engine/src/io.rs:20-50).
• Export: file.export {path, format?, ...}. PNG/JPEG export the current slide, one slide, or all; PDF accepts layout: slides|notes|handouts, perPage, paper, orientation, dpi, slides (range string or indices), includeHidden, textLayer, frame; GIF accepts width, secondsPerSlide, loop, slides, includeHidden (crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:36, 481-545).
• Native format as source of truth: keep the .deckcraft master and treat .pptx as an exchange copy. Native save is lossless for DeckCraft’s model; PPTX has the known losses above (crates/format/src/lib.rs:1-3; docs/gaps.md:94-152).

Drive a running app

Start deckcraft --control 7990, then either:

deckcraft-cli app --port 7990 --method ui.screenshot '{"path":"/tmp/shot.png"}'
deckcraft-cli app --port 7990 shape.insert '{"preset":"star5","rect":[100,100,200,200]}'

or speak JSON lines directly to 127.0.0.1:7990:

{"id":1,"method":"engine.execute","params":{"command":"shape.insert","params":{"preset":"star5","rect":[100,100,200,200]}}}
{"id":2,"method":"ui.screenshot","params":{"path":"/tmp/shot.png"}}

Use ui.inspect first to learn window/canvas/slide rects, the active tool, open dialogs and documents; ui.pointer takes slide points, ui.click/ui.drag take screen points (docs/control-protocol.md:30-52). The MCP equivalent is deckcraft-cli mcp --connect 7990 (docs/mcp.md:1-26).

For a headless MCP client:

{"mcpServers":{"deckcraft":{"command":"deckcraft-cli",
  "args":["mcp","--automation-read-root","/work/deck","--automation-write-root","/work/deck/out"]}}}

Paths outside the roots are refused with ordinary tool errors; --connect and roots cannot be combined (docs/mcp.md:28-78).

Environment and logs

• Settings/logs: ~/Library/Application Support/DeckCraft/ (ui.json, prefs.json, logs/deckcraft.log); recovery: ~/Library/Application Support/DeckCraft/Recovery/ (apps/deckcraft/src/main.rs:56-68; crates/engine/src/recovery.rs:25-35).
• DECKCRAFT_CONTROL_PORT sets the control port; DECKCRAFT_NO_AUDIO=1 plays silently; DECKCRAFT_NO_PREFS=1 skips loading/saving preferences; DECKCRAFT_NO_RECOVERY=1 skips AutoRecover; RUST_LOG sets log levels (apps/deckcraft/src/main.rs:70-90, 119-122, 174, 241; README.md:128-144).

Working with an AI agent

Choose the surface

1. Headless CLI (deckcraft-cli run, render, convert, info, mcp) — best for generating decks, batch exports and verification. It needs no window and no GUI state.
2. MCP stdio (deckcraft-cli mcp) — best when the agent has an MCP client; use run_command/batch for anything the 25 tools do not wrap, and inspect_document/inspect_slide before editing. batch stops at the first error unless keepGoing is true, and tools reject unknown argument names rather than silently using defaults (crates/mcp/src/tools.rs:334-337, 359-374).
3. Control channel (deckcraft --control) — only when a human and agent must share a live window, or when UI-only state (dialogs, selection, screenshots) matters. Always ui.inspect/ui.screenshot before pointer work; never click blind.

Prepare inputs

• Pictures: PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, BMP, TIFF (not SVG, not HEIC). Pre-render logos and icons to PNG with transparency.
• Audio/video: MP3, AAC/M4A, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, CAF, FLAC, Ogg, Opus; H.264/HEVC/VP9/AV1 in MP4/MOV/WebM/MKV (crates/media/src/lib.rs). Transcode WMA/WMV first.
• Outlines: a .md file with # headings (one slide per heading, list items as bullets) or a tab-indented .txt outline imports directly (crates/format/src/lib.rs:412-523).
• Themes: .thmx or a .pptx/.potx whose first master holds the theme (crates/pptx/src/lib.rs:66-69).

Inspect, repair and convert

• .deckcraft is a zip: inspect presentation.json and media/<id> with unzip -l/unzip -p. Repair missing media by restoring the member; do not rewrite the JSON unless the schema is understood (crates/format/src/lib.rs:1-24). If media is damaged, DeckCraft opens a repaired copy and refuses to overwrite the original path (crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:199-256).
• Do not hand-edit a .pptx zip to “fix” it: use DeckCraft commands and re-export. Unknown PPTX parts are preserved by the writer, but hand-edited XML can break content types or relationships (docs/architecture.md:64-69).
• Convert between .deckcraft, .pptx, .pdf, .txt/.md and images with convert, but remember convert writes only the first slide for PNG/JPEG and uses default PDF options (apps/deckcraft-cli/src/main.rs:404-423).

Verify exports

• Read the command result: exports return {path, bytes} or {files}; check the file exists and its size is plausible (crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs:481-545). A zero-byte or missing file is a failure even if the process exited 0.
• Re-open the result: deckcraft-cli info out.pptx and compare slide count/titles/layouts with the source; deckcraft-cli render out.pptx --all and look at the PNGs.
• For PDF, inspect page count and extracted text (e.g. pdfinfo, pdftotext, Preview); the text layer should be selectable but the artwork is raster (crates/pdf/README.md:3-6).
• For .pptx, the strongest test is opening it in PowerPoint/Keynote and checking for a repair prompt, animations, media and theme fonts. The project has not tested a real-deck corpus (docs/gaps.md:67-92).
• For GIF, verify the GIF89a header, dimensions, frame count and delay; transitions/builds are intentionally absent (crates/engine/src/gif_export.rs:1-8).

Do not

• Do not insert SVG, HEIC, EMF/WMF (via insert.picture) and expect them to draw.
• Do not promise .ppt, .odp, .pptm, macros, password protection or MP4 export.
• Do not call file.close or app.quit on unsaved work; use app.quit {"save": true} or save explicitly.
• Do not use file.save/--save for .png/.jpg; use file.export/--export (otherwise native zip bytes get an image extension).
• Do not assume PDF is vector or that a .pptx round-trip is lossless.
• Do not rely on font metrics matching PowerPoint exactly; substitute faces change line breaks. Verify visually.
• Do not expose the control channel beyond loopback; it has no authentication.

Verification protocol

Alpha software with active auto-updates: verify every deliverable, keep a native master, and never trust a silent export.

1. Pin the version. Record deckcraft --version and the bundle build commit before work. Update only between projects, not mid-deck; file formats and command sets move between releases (apps/deckcraft/src/main.rs:179-181; /Applications/DeckCraft.app/Contents/Info.plist).
2. Work in a throwaway directory. Copy sources in; never run destructive tests on the only copy of a deck. Keep a .deckcraft master plus dated backups.
3. Round-trip a small test first. New deck → add one slide, shape, table, chart, picture, transition and note → save .deckcraft → export .pptx → reopen the .pptx → inspect counts and render PNGs. Fix workflow problems before touching the real deck.
4. Save before every export. A failed export must not be the only copy of your changes. file.save is atomic via a .saving sibling, but exports are ordinary writes (crates/engine/src/io.rs:20-50).
5. Check every export explicitly. Assert file existence and non-zero size; for images check dimensions; for PDF check page count and selectable text; for PPTX reopen and render; for GIF check header, dimensions and frame count.
6. Look at the pixels. deckcraft-cli render … --all (or MCP render_slide) and inspect the PNGs. Text overflow, missing fonts, blank SVG/EMF pictures and chart scaling are visual failures that a successful exit code will not catch.
7. Open in the target app. If PowerPoint is available, open the exported .pptx and check for repair prompts and lost animations/media. If not, state that fidelity is unverified rather than claiming parity.
8. Keep the native file. PowerPoint export is an exchange copy; the .deckcraft master preserves DeckCraft-only constructs and is the safest thing to reopen after a failure.
9. Record what changed. Note version, command lines/JSON params, export options and any manual GUI steps, so a failed export can be reproduced.

Sources & evidence

• Repo: https://github.com/storytold/deckcraft — tag v0.8.0, commit 22db9261f9d1a214c296fd390173130c45d76d66 (git rev-parse HEAD), inspected 2026-10-18.
• Installed bundle: /Applications/DeckCraft.app, CFBundleIdentifier ai.storyteller.deckcraft, version 0.8.0, DeckCraftBuildCommit equal to the commit above. --version prints deckcraft 0.8.0.
• Key files read: README.md; ROADMAP.md; Cargo.toml; docs/architecture.md; docs/gaps.md; docs/file-format-parity.md; docs/animation-parity.md; docs/ui-parity.md; docs/mcp.md; docs/control-protocol.md; apps/deckcraft/src/main.rs; apps/deckcraft-cli/src/main.rs; apps/deckcraft-cli/src/help.rs; crates/engine/src/lib.rs; crates/engine/src/cmd/{mod,file,slide,insert,shape,text,format,design,table,smartart,animation,transition,review}.rs; crates/engine/src/{io,recovery,gif_export,icons,templates}.rs; crates/format/src/lib.rs; crates/pptx/src/lib.rs and crates/pptx/tests/roundtrip.rs; crates/pdf/src/lib.rs and crates/pdf/README.md; crates/model/src/{lib,theme,chart,anim}.rs; crates/geom/src/preset.rs; crates/render/src/images.rs; crates/media/src/lib.rs; crates/mcp/src/{tools,server}.rs; crates/ui-egui/src/{lib,show,menus,ribbon,backstage,dialogs,control,doc_window}.rs; apps/deckcraft-web/src/{main,web}.rs; packaging/macos/package.sh.
• Shared library: craft-pdf is pinned to storytold/craft-libs rev c3487320b2d1de657b860b3c8abb44e1f2b32bd8 (Cargo.toml:60); its writer uses write only (crates/pdf/README.md:3-12).
• Docs that are stale: docs/file-format-parity.md says .potx/.ppsx are written with the .pptx content type and .thmx is unreadable; v0.8.0 code writes the correct content types and imports .thmx (crates/pptx/src/lib.rs:76-84; crates/engine/src/cmd/design.rs:23, 148-174). Much of docs/gaps.md was last reviewed 2026-10-14, before this release; code wins where they disagree.
• Not independently verified: PowerPoint’s acceptance of exported .pptx without repair, render fidelity against PowerPoint, and behaviour on real-world decks of unknown provenance. Treat those as claims until you test them.