Morph

Generate visually compelling PPTs with smooth Morph animations.

Philosophy: Trust yourself to learn through practice. This skill provides workflow and references — you bring creativity and judgment.

Use when

• - User wants to generate a INLINECODE0

What is Morph?

PowerPoint's Morph transition creates smooth animations by matching shapes with identical names across adjacent slides.

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Three core concepts:

• - Scene Actors: Persistent shapes with !! prefix that evolve across slides
• Ghosting: Move shapes to x=36cm (off-screen) instead of deleting
• Content: Text/data added fresh per slide, previous content ghosted first

For details: reference/pptx-design.md

Workflow

Phase 1: Understand the Topic

Ask only when topic is unclear, otherwise proceed directly.

Phase 2: Plan the Story

FIRST: Read the thinking framework

→ Open and read reference/decision-rules.md — it provides the structured approach for planning compelling presentations (Pyramid Principle, SCQA, page types).

Then create brief.md with:

• - Context: Topic, audience, purpose, narrative structure (SCQA or Problem-Solution)
• Outline: Conclusion first + slide-by-slide summary
• Page briefs: For each slide:

Phase 3: Design and Generate

Before generation starts, always remind the user:

• - The PPT file may be rewritten multiple times during build.
• Once the PPT file appears in the workspace, the user can preview the live generation progress directly in AionUi.
• Do not click "Open with system app" during generation, to avoid file lock / write conflicts.
• Use clear, direct language and make this a concrete warning, not an optional suggestion.

FIRST: Ensure latest officecli version

Follow the installation check in reference/officecli-pptx-min.md section 0 (checks version and upgrades only if needed).

IMPORTANT: Use morph-helpers for reliable workflow

Generate a Python script that uses reference/morph-helpers.py — this provides helper functions with built-in verification. Python works cross-platform (Mac / Windows / Linux).

Shape naming rules (for best results):

Use these naming patterns for clear code and reliable verification:

1. 1. Scene actors (persistent across slides):

1. 2. Content shapes (unique per slide):

Why this naming matters:

• - ✅ Better detection: Primary method (#sN- pattern matching) is fastest and most accurate
• ✅ Readable code: Anyone can tell #s1-title is slide 1's title
• ✅ Easy debugging: grep "#s1-" finds all slide 1 content quickly
• ⚠️ Backup detection exists: Even without # prefix, duplicate text detection will catch most issues (but has edge cases)

Bottom line: Follow these patterns in your code examples, and verification will work smoothly.

Then proceed with pattern:

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Key advantages of using helpers:

• - ✅ Fewer steps: morph_clone_slide = clone + transition + list + verify (4 steps → 1 function)
• ✅ Instant feedback: Each helper shows ✅ or ❌ immediately
• ✅ Can't forget: Transition and verification are automatic
• ✅ Clear errors: If something is wrong, you'll know exactly what and where
• ✅ Dual detection: Catches unghosted content by both naming pattern AND duplicate text detection

Essential rules:

• - Naming: Scene actors use !! prefix, content uses #sN- prefix (best practice for verification and readability)
• Transition: Every slide after the first MUST have transition=morph (without this, no animation!)
• Ghosting: Before adding new slide content, ghost ALL previous content shapes to x=36cm (don't delete)
• Motion: Adjust scene actor (!!-*) positions between slides for animation
• Variety: Create spatial variety between adjacent slides
• Text Width: Use generous widths to prevent text wrapping:

Design resources:

• - reference/pptx-design.md — Design principles (Canvas, Fonts, Colors, Scene Actors, Page Types, Style References)
• INLINECODE32 — Command syntax
• INLINECODE33 — Visual style examples (optional inspiration, browse by use case in styles/INDEX.md)

Phase 4: Deliver

Outputs (3 files):

1. 1. INLINECODE35
2. Build script (complete, re-runnable — bash/python/powershell/etc.)
3. INLINECODE36

Verification (your build script already includes this):

If you used morph-helpers.py, verification is already done! The build script calls helper("verify", ...) and helper("final-check", ...) automatically.

Just validate the final structure:

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If verification fails, see Troubleshooting section below.

Final delivery message requirements:

• - Tell the user the deck with polished Morph animations is ready.
• Explicitly recommend opening the generated PPT now to preview the motion effects.
• Use affirmative wording (e.g., "ready now", "open it now to preview the animation quality").

Troubleshooting

If morph_verify_slide or morph_final_check reports issues:

1. 1. Missing transition:

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1. 2. Unghosted content:

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1. 3. Visual issues:

Note: Scene actors (!!-prefixed) should appear on all slides — that's normal. Only content shapes (#sN- prefix) need ghosting.

Phase 5: Iterate

Ask user for feedback, support quick adjustments.

References

• - reference/decision-rules.md — Planning logic, Pyramid Principle
• INLINECODE45 — Design principles (Canvas, Fonts, Colors, Scene Actors, Page Types)
• INLINECODE46 — Tool syntax
• INLINECODE47 — Visual style examples organized by use case

Trust yourself. You have vision, design sense, and the ability to iterate. These tools enable you — your creativity makes it excellent.