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Behavioral Rules for PowerPoint MCP Operations

These rules ensure efficient, reliable PowerPoint automation via a live PowerPoint desktop instance (COM). AI assistants should follow these guidelines when using the 32 PowerPoint MCP tools across 17 domains.

Core Execution Rules

  • Execute tasks immediately without asking for confirmation. Make reasonable assumptions (slide count, positions, colors) and proceed.
  • Never ask clarifying questions for standard operations. Use presentation(action: "list") to discover open sessions, slide(action: "get-count", presentation_session_id: ...) to discover slide range, shape(action: "get-count", presentation_session_id: ..., slide_index: ...) to discover shapes on a slide — do not ask the user for information you can look up yourself.
  • Always end with a text summary. Never end a turn with only a tool call. After finishing, state what was created/changed, the file path, and the slide count.

Session Model (CRITICAL)

Every editing workflow starts by establishing a session:

1. presentation(action: "create", filePath: ...) OR presentation(action: "open", filePath: ...) → returns presentation_session_id
2. ... all tools use presentation_session_id to identify the presentation ...
3. presentation(action: "close", presentation_session_id: ..., save: true) → persists changes and releases the session
  • presentation(action: "create", ...) creates a new file and leaves the session open. Do not follow it with a second open call on the same file unless you intentionally want another session.
  • presentation_session_id is opaque — do not try to construct or guess one. Always use the value returned by presentation(action: "create"/"open", ...).
  • Unknown/expired presentation_session_id values return success: false with errorMessage: "Unknown presentation_session_id: ..." — reopen the file to get a fresh session, do not retry the same id.
  • presentation(action: "list") shows every open session (presentation_session_id, presentationPath, isPowerPointProcessAlive) — use it to check state instead of asking the user which presentation is open.

Tool Conventions

  • All 32 MCP tools are action-dispatch tools. Every call includes an action parameter.
  • Use {domain}_read for read-only actions when available. These tools expose only explicitly reviewed inspection actions; the original domain tools remain available for compatibility.
  • presentation uses presentation_session_id plus camelCase lifecycle/property parameters — filePath, targetPath, format, overwrite, templatePath, propertyName, value.
  • The other 31 tools use presentation_session_id as well, with snake_case action parameters, e.g. shape(action: "add-rectangle", presentation_session_id: ..., slide_index: 1, left: 50, top: 80, width: 100, height: 60).

1-Based Indexing (CRITICAL — the #1 source of bugs)

Every index in the PowerPoint MCP surface is 1-based, matching PowerPoint's own object model (Slides(1) is the first slide, not Slides(0)):

  • slide_index — 1 is the first slide.
  • shape_index — 1 is the first shape added to a slide.
  • Table row / column — 1 is the first row/column.

This differs from most programming languages (0-based arrays) and from some other Office MCP servers. Passing 0 or a negative index returns success: false, never an exception — check the errorMessage and correct the index instead of blindly retrying.

Explicit Save-on-Close Is Required

Domain tool actions (slide(action: "add-blank", ...), textframe(action: "set-text", ...), chart(action: "add-chart", ...), etc.) modify the in-memory presentation only. Nothing is written to disk unless you close with save: true. Closing with the default save: false discards all changes since the last save.

1. slide(action: "add-blank", presentation_session_id: ...)                                      → slide added in memory
2. textframe(action: "set-text", presentation_session_id: ..., slide_index: ..., shape_index: ...) → text set in memory
3. presentation(action: "close", presentation_session_id: ..., save: true)                         → persisted and closed

save-as and save-copy-as are explicit delivery operations, not a generic save action:

  • save-as writes .pptx, .pptm, or .ppt, then changes the active session path only after PowerPoint succeeds.
  • save-copy-as requires the destination extension to match the active presentation and leaves the active session path unchanged.
  • Both reject an existing destination unless overwrite: true is supplied.

Mark as Final Is Advisory, Not Security

Use presentation(action: "get-final", presentation_session_id: ...) to read PowerPoint's Mark as Final state and presentation(action: "set-final", presentation_session_id: ..., isFinal: true/false) to set or clear it. This flag only communicates that editing is discouraged. It is not authentication, encryption, or access control, and anyone can clear it.

Setting the flag to true first saves all current changes, then PowerPoint persists the flag and makes the presentation read-only. Calling presentation(action: "close", presentation_session_id: ..., save: true) remains valid and closes the session without attempting a forbidden second save, so edits made before set-final are not lost. After clearing the flag with isFinal: false, close with save: true to persist the cleared state.

Close Is Asynchronous (Do NOT Wait For It)

presentation(action: "close", presentation_session_id: ...) returns as soon as the session is removed from the registry — it does not wait for the underlying PowerPoint process to fully exit. Office's own post-Quit cleanup can legitimately take up to a few minutes; this is normal COM/Office behavior, not a hung call or a leaked process.

  • Do not poll presentation(action: "list") waiting for the process to disappear — the session itself is already gone from the list immediately.
  • Do not treat a slow-to-exit POWERPNT.exe in Task Manager as a bug.
  • If you need to open the same file again immediately after closing it, a brief delay may be needed for the OS file lock to clear.

Verify Visually (Our Differentiator)

Text-only inspection cannot catch overlapping shapes, overflowing text, or bad chart layouts. After creating or changing visual content, export and look at the result:

1. shape(action: "add-rectangle", ...) / textframe(action: "set-text", ...) / chart(action: "add-chart", ...)  → make the change
2. export(action: "export-slide-to-image", presentation_session_id: ..., slide_index: ..., output_path: ...)                → render it
3. Look at the returned image → confirm it matches intent, fix if not

See export-and-verify.md for the full loop and when it is required.

Run the Deterministic Accessibility Audit

Before final delivery, call accessibility(action: "audit", presentation_session_id: ...). Fix missing alternative text and empty title placeholders, then rerun the audit. This is a deterministic PowerPoint structure check, not an AI review of writing quality.

Report Results

After completing operations, report:

  • What was created/modified (slide count, shapes added, text set).
  • The file path.
  • Whether the presentation was saved.

Bad: (tool call with no text) Good: "Added 3 slides with title + content layout to C:\Decks\q4.pptx, exported slide 1 for review, and saved the file."