Scientific Slides

Scientific Slides is an independent open-source skill from davila7's official repository. The verified path is cli-tool/components/skills/scientific/scientific-slides, and it contains the SKILL.md file, detailed references, three LaTeX Beamer templates, and executable Python scripts. According to the provider, it targets scientific conference talks, seminars, research presentations, journal clubs, teaching talks, grant pitches, and dissertation or thesis defenses. It is not a presentation editor and not a hosting service. Its product boundary is a reusable set of instructions with templates and local review tools that a compatible coding agent can apply to explicitly selected project files.

Structure and planning

The source starts with deck planning: each slide should have a title, a central message, visual elements, and appropriate citations. It recommends a clear narrative rather than a sequence of data dumps and asks the author to consider figures, references, and research context visibly. Its guidance distinguishes talk types and time budgets. It names roughly one slide per minute as a general rule, longer treatment for complex result slides, separate phases for introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion, and timed rehearsals. These are provider-authored editorial aids, not a replacement for conference instructions or subject-matter review.

PowerPoint, PDF, and Beamer

For PowerPoint, the skill describes a separate PPTX workflow: the included generator can create visual assets first, after which text and images are placed into an editable deck through the PPTX skill or template editing. The component includes a PowerPoint design guide, but it does not contain a PowerPoint library or guarantee that an external PPTX skill directory is installed. The PDF workflow creates individual image slides and combines them with slides_to_pdf.py. For LaTeX Beamer, the component provides templates for an approximately fifteen-minute conference talk, a longer seminar, and a defense. These Beamer files are editable starting points for equations, code, algorithms, references, and institutional adaptation; they are not finished claims about any research topic.

Rendering and validation

The pdf_to_images.py and validate_presentation.py scripts support repeatable technical checks. Depending on the input, validation analyses PDF, PPTX, or LaTeX files and checks items such as slide count, dimensions, file size, text size, and possible LaTeX compilation with pdflatex. The visual_review_workflow.md reference then requires conversion to images and human inspection for overflow, overlaps, readability, contrast, figure size, and narrative logic. Pillow, PyMuPDF, PyPDF2, python-pptx, and in some paths NumPy are expected Python dependencies; their versions are not pinned in this repository component. Beamer validation requires a local TeX installation.

Data, files, and external models

Image generation is optional and not locally autonomous: generate_slide_image.py calls the OpenRouter image and review model chain configured by the source and requires an OPENROUTER_API_KEY. Prompts and attached figures can therefore reach an external model provider. Use only approved, minimized, non-confidential inputs. Before every run, verify input paths, output paths, image rights, fonts, quotations, research data, and generated PDFs. Tokens, passwords, private keys, and raw personal data must not be placed in prompts or decks. Generated slides are drafts: facts, sources, statistical interpretation, accessibility, rights, rehearsal timing, and final presentation require responsible human approval.

Boundary against other presentation and diagram skills

Scientific Slides overlaps with general presentation and diagram tools but does not replace them. Frontend Slides in the catalog targets animated HTML presentations and their web or PPTX conversion. Mermaid Diagrams and Excalidraw Diagram Generator focus on text or drawing-oriented diagrams, not scientific deck structure, Beamer templates, timing, or presentation validation. This skill is consequently bounded as a scientific planning, template, and review workflow, while actual PowerPoint authoring, TeX compilation, and subject-matter approval remain responsibilities of the installed tools and accountable people.