powerpoint-mcp-live

Edit a PowerPoint presentation while it's open — the AI attaches to the window you already have, it doesn't start its own.

Live editing · Windows (COM) · 23 tools

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Most PowerPoint MCP servers (including this workspace's own mcp-server-powerpoint) work by starting a fresh, invisible PowerPoint process, opening your file in it, and closing it again when done. That's great for scripted deck generation, but it means the AI is never looking at the same window you are.

powerpoint-mcp-live does the opposite: it attaches to whatever PowerPoint window you already have open via COM, using the same "find the running application" approach as word-mcp-live and excel-mcp-live. It never launches PowerPoint and never closes it — it only touches presentations you opened yourself.

Requirements

• Windows (COM automation is Windows-only — there is no macOS/Linux mode for this project)
• Microsoft PowerPoint installed and already running with a presentation open
• Python 3.11+

Installation

git clone <this-repo-url>
cd powerpoint-mcp-live
pip install -e .

Or run straight from source with uv — no install step needed:

uv run powerpoint_mcp_server.py

Client setup (.mcp.json)

Point your MCP client at the project directory. For Claude Code, add this to .mcp.json in your project (or ~/.claude.json for a user-wide config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "powerpoint-live": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "G:/Ai/MCP/powerpoint-mcp-live",
        "run",
        "powerpoint_mcp_server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MCP_AUTHOR": "Your Name",
        "MCP_AUTHOR_INITIALS": "YN"
      }
    }
  }
}

If you installed it with pip install -e . instead, you can use the console script directly:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "powerpoint-live": {
      "command": "powerpoint-mcp-live",
      "env": {
        "MCP_AUTHOR": "Your Name",
        "MCP_AUTHOR_INITIALS": "YN"
      }
    }
  }
}

MCP_AUTHOR / MCP_AUTHOR_INITIALS set the author name/initials attached to new slide comments (default: "Author" / "").

Supported functions

Every tool operates on a presentation that's already open in PowerPoint. presentation is optional almost everywhere — omit it to target the active presentation.

Tool	Description
Presentation
list_open_presentations	List every presentation open in PowerPoint
get_presentation_info	Slide count, per-slide titles, active slide
save_presentation	Save in place (Ctrl+S)
Slides
list_slides	List slide indexes and titles
add_slide	Add a slide with a chosen layout
delete_slide	Delete a slide
duplicate_slide	Duplicate a slide, inserted right after the original
move_slide	Reorder a slide to a new position
activate_slide	Make a slide the visible one in the PowerPoint window
Shapes & text
list_shapes	List shapes on a slide (name, type, position, text)
get_slide_text	Read a slide's title and all body text
add_textbox	Add a text box at a given position
set_shape_text	Set the text of an existing shape/placeholder
delete_shape	Delete a shape
set_shape_position	Move and/or resize a shape
Formatting
format_shape_text	Bold/italic/underline, font, size, color
format_shape	Fill color, outline color, outline weight
Speaker notes
get_speaker_notes	Read a slide's speaker notes
set_speaker_notes	Replace a slide's speaker notes
Export
export_slide_to_image	Export a slide to PNG/JPG/BMP/GIF for visual verification
Comments
add_comment	Add a slide comment (PowerPoint 2016+)
get_comments	List comments on a slide
delete_comment	Remove a comment

Not yet covered: tables, charts, SmartArt, animations, transitions, templates/themes — for those, use mcp-server-powerpoint, which starts its own PowerPoint instance and has much broader operation coverage.

Example prompts

"I have this deck open — read the text on slide 3 and tell me if the bullets are too long."
"Add a new slide after slide 2 with a blank layout."
"Add a text box on slide 4 that says 'Draft — do not distribute' in red."
"Make the title on slide 1 bold and increase it to 44pt."
"Export slide 5 as an image so I can check whether anything overlaps."
"Add a comment on slide 3 asking if the chart numbers are up to date."

Known limitations

• Windows only. PowerPoint COM automation doesn't exist on macOS/Linux.
• The presentation must already be open in PowerPoint. This server doesn't create or open files — see mcp-server-powerpoint for that.
• No single-undo grouping. Word's COM API can wrap several edits into one Ctrl+Z; PowerPoint's cannot (neither can Excel's). A tool call that performs multiple writes may need several Ctrl+Z's to fully undo.
• Comments require PowerPoint 2016+ (modern threaded comments).

Development

See CLAUDE.md for architecture notes and design constraints — in particular, why this server must never launch or quit PowerPoint itself.