pptx-mcp — Local PowerPoint MCP Server for Claude

A fully-auditable, locally-hosted MCP server that lets Claude create, edit, and export Microsoft PowerPoint presentations on your Windows machine — with full support for SAP corporate templates.

Built by Brijesh Shetty. Zero telemetry. No external network calls. All 24 tools visible in a single Python file.

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What It Does

Category	Tools
Presentation	create_presentation, open_presentation, save_presentation, close_presentation, list_open_presentations, get_presentation_info
SAP Template	create_sap_presentation, add_sap_cover_slide, add_sap_divider_slide, add_sap_content_slide
Slides	add_slide, delete_slide, list_slides, get_slide_info
Content	add_text_box, add_title_content, add_table, add_image, add_shape
Formatting	set_slide_background, set_text_style
COM (Windows)	launch_powerpoint, export_pdf, export_slide_images

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Prerequisites

Requirement	Notes
Windows 10/11	COM automation requires Windows
Python 3.10+	Tested on Python 3.14
Microsoft PowerPoint	Required for launch_powerpoint, export_pdf, export_slide_images
Claude Desktop	To use as an MCP server in conversation

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Quick Start

1. Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/brijeshshetty/pptx-mcp.git
cd pptx-mcp

2. Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

All four dependencies are pinned for reproducibility:

mcp==1.27.0
python-pptx==1.0.2
Pillow==12.3.0
pywin32==311

3. Verify the install

python -c "from pptx_mcp_server import mcp; print('Tools:', len(mcp._tool_manager._tools))"
# Expected: Tools: 24

4. Connect to Claude Desktop

Open (or create) your Claude Desktop config file:

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add the powerpoint entry:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "powerpoint": {
      "command": "C:\\Path\\To\\Python\\python.exe",
      "args": [
        "C:\\Path\\To\\pptx-mcp\\pptx_mcp_server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace both paths with your actual Python executable and clone location.

5. Restart Claude Desktop

Quit completely and reopen. You should see PowerPoint MCP in the tools panel (hammer icon).

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SAP Corporate Template Support

If you have an SAP .pptx file with the official slide master (e.g. a DRC setup guidance deck), place its path in the _SAP_TEMPLATE constant at the top of pptx_mcp_server.py:

# Line ~860 in pptx_mcp_server.py
_SAP_TEMPLATE = r"C:\Path\To\Your\SAP_Template.pptx"

This unlocks four extra tools that inherit all 40 SAP layouts including:

• Cover A — dark blue right panel with chevron graphic
• Divider Page C — white top / blue-chevron bottom
• Title and Text: 2 Columns — standard content
• Q & A, Thank You A, Agenda A/B, and more

Example prompt to Claude after connecting:

"Create an SAP-branded presentation at C:/Users/me/Documents/France_DRC.pptx. Add a cover slide titled 'France B2B E-Invoicing — Setup Guidance'. Add a divider slide 'Introduction and Latest Status'. Add a two-column content slide with the e-invoicing scope on the left and e-reporting scope on the right. Save it."

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Example Prompts

Basic deck

"Create a new presentation at C:/Users/me/Documents/MyDeck.pptx. Add a slide with a dark blue background. Add a white title 'Hello World'. Add a table with 3 columns and 4 rows of sample data. Save it."

Export to PDF

"Open C:/Users/me/Documents/MyDeck.pptx as 'deck'. Export it as a PDF to C:/Users/me/Documents/MyDeck.pdf."

Export slides as images

"Open MyDeck.pptx as 'deck'. Export all slides as 1920x1080 PNG images to C:/Users/me/Desktop/slides/."

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Security Model

This server is designed to be fully auditable:

• No external network calls — verified by source inspection (no requests, urllib, socket, subprocess, eval, or exec in the server code)
• Path traversal protection — all file paths are validated against an allowlist (home directory + temp dir)
• Pinned dependencies — four packages, all pinned to specific versions
• Single file — the entire server is pptx_mcp_server.py (~900 lines)

The COM tools (launch_powerpoint, export_pdf, export_slide_images) require Microsoft PowerPoint to be installed and run within your user session — they do not spawn processes with elevated privileges.

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Project Structure

pptx-mcp/
  pptx_mcp_server.py          # The complete MCP server (24 tools)
  requirements.txt            # 4 pinned dependencies
  claude_desktop_config_snippet.json   # Paste into Claude Desktop config
  build_test_deck.py          # Demo: builds a 5-slide test deck
  build_sap_branded.py        # Demo: builds a 10-slide SAP-branded deck
  gen_sap_pattern.py          # Utility: generates SAP chevron background PNGs
  SETUP.md                    # Detailed setup notes

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Running the Demos

# Build a plain 5-slide test deck (no template required)
python build_test_deck.py

# Build a 10-slide SAP-branded deck (requires _SAP_TEMPLATE to be set)
python build_sap_branded.py

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Shapes Supported by add_shape

rectangle, rounded_rectangle, oval, diamond, right_arrow, chevron, pentagon, hexagon, parallelogram, triangle

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
Tools: 20 instead of 24	The SAP template constant _SAP_TEMPLATE points to a missing file. Set it to a valid .pptx path.
COM automation requires Windows	Install Microsoft PowerPoint. COM tools only work on Windows with PPT installed.
Path is outside allowed directories	Move your target file to your home folder (C:\Users\<you>\) or Documents subfolder.
Claude Desktop doesn't show the server	Check the JSON syntax in claude_desktop_config.json, verify both paths, and fully restart Claude Desktop (not just close the window).
UserWarning: Duplicate name on save	Harmless warning from python-pptx 1.x when overwriting an existing file. Output is valid.

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Changelog

Version	Date	Notes
1.0.0	July 2026	Initial release — 20 core tools
1.1.0	July 2026	+4 SAP template tools; create_sap_presentation, add_sap_*

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License

MIT — see LICENSE.

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Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome. If you add support for a new corporate template (KSA, India, etc.), follow the same pattern as the SAP tools: extract the slide master from the reference .pptx and expose layout-aware add_*_slide helpers.