# ppt-master v4.0.0

- Product: ppt-master (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/ppt-master)
- Vendor: hugohe3
- Date: 2026-07-20
- Version: v4.0.0
- Original notes: https://github.com/hugohe3/ppt-master/releases/tag/v4.0.0
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/ppt-master/releases/v4.0.0

What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog.

Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'.

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- **added** — New canonical charter defining PPT Master as an open-source, chat-driven workflow that produces real, editable PowerPoint with native depth in PowerPoint's object model and structure
- **added** — PowerPoint ↔ SVG Mapping Guide documenting the boundary between PowerPoint and SVG capabilities feature by feature
- **added** — Real slide masters and layouts using PowerPoint-native p:sldMaster and p:sldLayout inheritance for repeated page chrome and shared backgrounds
- **added** — Live slide-number fields replacing literal page numbers in exported decks
- **added** — Exported decks inherit project theme colors and fonts
- **added** — Solid and gradient full-page backgrounds export as PowerPoint-native slide backgrounds
- **added** — Reusable chart SVG template library with compacted rendering
- **added** — Prompt budget and governance lint (prompt-audit) with token-safe export postflight receipts
- **added** — Create Template route turns finished PPTX, images, PDFs, documents, websites, or brand assets into reusable template workspaces with three classes: Brand, Layout, and Deck
- **added** — Deterministic mirror import materializes validated authoring IR into structured template workspace
- **added** — template_preview_pptx.py tool for reviewing decks
- **added** — Fill Native PPTX route patches slide shells directly from raw PPTX templates without SVG regeneration
- **added** — SmartArt semantic structure reading during PPTX intake
- **added** — All DrawingML preset geometries round-trip through import and export
- **added** — Native table and chart reconstruction with improved XY chart axis semantics and fidelity
- **added** — CSS color alpha and group opacity compile into native alpha in exported presentations
- **added** — All native line-end arrow shapes enabled
- **added** — Narration exports receive _narrated filename suffix
- **added** — Confirm UI presents AI-authored custom design candidates alongside catalog options with staged confirmation
- **added** — Reference image single-image edit mode on the OpenAI backend for out-of-pipeline restyle and iteration
- **changed** — Per-page execution context reuses unchanged references instead of re-projecting them
- **changed** — Animation and transition behavior unified across export routes
- **fixed** — URL-encode page_name for non-ASCII slide names in live preview
- **fixed** — Unordered gradient stops, oversized tile image fills, and malformed source constructs now recover locally

##### Project positioning — now explicit

- New canonical charter: [Project Positioning and Capability Boundary](https://github.com/hugohe3/ppt-master/blob/main/docs/project-positioning.md) (English canonical, synchronized Chinese). The one-line thesis: **PPT Master is an open-source, chat-driven workflow that lets AI reason the argument into shape first, then design and produce a real, editable PowerPoint — not slide images or a thin editable skin. Its defining axis is native depth: author or preserve more of PowerPoint's own object model, behavior, and reusable structure, release after release.**
- Editable is table stakes; the direction of travel is **converging with PowerPoint itself** — the [PowerPoint ↔ SVG Mapping Guide](https://github.com/hugohe3/ppt-master/blob/main/docs/powerpoint-svg-mapping.md) records the current boundary honestly, feature by feature
- README and the doc set are aligned to this framing throughout, with doc indexes added

##### Native slide masters & layouts

- Repeated page chrome and shared backgrounds are promoted to **real slide masters** (`p:sldMaster` / `p:sldLayout` inheritance); explicit per-deck layout contracts are compiled on export
- Exported decks inherit project theme colors and fonts; literal page numbers become live slide-number fields
- Solid/gradient full-page backgrounds export as PowerPoint-native slide backgrounds (#226, @Kaimar666)
- Structured template routes write locked master text styles and enforce master/layout structure

##### Token efficiency

- Reusable chart SVG template library compacted end to end, with rendering fidelity preserved
- Per-page execution context reuses unchanged references instead of re-projecting them; the execution lock contract is compacted
- New prompt budget and governance lint (`prompt-audit`); export postflight receipts are token-safe

##### Template system — Brand / Layout / Deck

- New **Create Template** route turns a finished PPTX, images/PDFs, documents/websites, or brand assets into a reusable template workspace — three classes: **Brand** (identity), **Layout** (structure), **Deck** (application + identity + structure)
- Deterministic mirror import: validated authoring IR materializes into a structured template workspace; review decks via `template_preview_pptx.py`
- New **Fill Native PPTX** route: a raw PPTX template plus new material patches slide shells directly — no SVG regeneration
- Adaptive vs. strict template use is now an explicit confirmed decision

##### PPTX import depth

- SmartArt semantic structure is read during intake; all DrawingML preset geometries round-trip
- Native table/chart reconstruction: XY chart axis semantics, imported table/chart fidelity improvements
- Robustness: unordered gradient stops, oversized tile image fills, and malformed source constructs recover locally

##### Converter

- CSS color alpha and group opacity compile into native alpha; picture opacity preserved through round-trip
- All native line-end arrow shapes enabled; animation and transition behavior unified across export routes; narration exports get a `_narrated` filename suffix

##### Planning & Confirm UI

- Confirm UI presents AI-authored custom design candidates alongside catalog options; staged confirmation covers reading mode and communication outcomes
- Mode + visual-style dual catalogs (18 styles) with per-style composition geometry vocabulary
- Versioned spec scaffolds; confirmed decisions are preserved end-to-end through spec projection; mandatory first-page checker gate

##### Image generation

- `--reference-image` single-image edit mode on the OpenAI backend (#233, @WodenJay) — out-of-pipeline restyle/iterate tool

##### Community

- URL-encode `page_name` for non-ASCII slide names in live preview (#224, @championeer)