Concepts

pptwise follows one causal chain:

intent -> narrative -> theme -> spec -> fill -> render

Intent states who the deck is for, what outcome it should produce, whether it will be presented or read, and how much time it has. Narrative chooses the argument, pacing, and tone. Theme is bound before the spec. The spec orders semantic page moves from that theme's menu. Components fill those moves. Rendering turns the bound inputs into editable PowerPoint.

The four public nouns

Theme

A theme is one self-contained version 2 file. It owns the full visual system: style tokens, optional brand tokens, occasion metadata, identity strength, and a menu. There is no base theme, partial theme, or load-time inheritance. Reuse happens by copying.

Twenty-four factory presets are starting points. A workspace theme becomes independent the moment it is copied.

Spec

deck.spec.json is the locked semantic contract for one intent. It binds one theme by name and owns narrative, page order, page type, content kind, heading, and optional summary. Page files cannot override those fields.

The spec is shaped by the bound theme menu. Changing to a theme with another menu means revisiting the spec. It is not a visual repaint.

Component

A component is one typed content unit such as bullets, chart, blockquote, image, or sankey. Components fill pages after the spec has chosen their semantic move. The current IR exposes 39 component types.

The component is named blockquote. quote is reserved for the page kind.

Kind

A kind is the semantic move made by one content page. It is the only load-bearing interface between spec authors and theme authors:

kind	move
points	Advance an argument whose order matters.
list	Present peer items that can be reordered.
comparison	Put alternatives or dimensions in direct contrast.
process	Show directed steps, time, or a cycle.
data	Make a numeric set, chart, or table the subject.
photo	Make the image itself the content.
statement	Give the author's own proposition a full page.
quote	Center words attributed to another source.
fact	Build the page around one number.
evidence	Pair one assertion with one supporting exhibit.
hierarchy	Express containment, levels, or composition.

Every content page requires exactly one kind, including content pages in a bare IR file. cover, chapter, and ending are boundary page types and carry no kind.

The menu model

A theme menu is a pure table. It maps cover, chapter, each offered content kind, and ending to exactly one face. A theme may offer only a subset of the eleven content kinds. Omission is a design decision, not an incomplete theme.

The selected face owns geometry, slots, physical capacity, self-adaptation, and the truth source for its configurable parameters. A menu entry supplies parameter values and may control motif or brand visibility. Authors never write face identifiers.

If a spec asks for a kind outside the bound menu, validation fails and lists the offered kinds. Validation, capacity checks, and rendering consume the same lookup result. See Menu lookup.

Capacity has two owners

Narrative pacing owns the editorial budget and body-text baseline. The face selected by the menu owns physical capacity. The effective page limit is the smaller value. Pacing never selects a face.

pacing	body baseline	components	bullet items	bullet width units
dense	24px	5	6	27
balanced	24px	4	5	25
spacious	32px	3	4	22

Settled rules

1. Face code declares configurable parameters and their bounds. Menu entries supply valid values.
2. Menu lookup is one-to-one. It has no rotation or conditional branch.
3. Pacing controls editorial capacity and the body baseline, never face choice.
4. A kind outside the bound menu is a hard validation error.
5. Boundary-page component support comes from the bound face and is validated there.
6. Deck branding keeps full, cover-only, and minimal. Page silence belongs to the face or menu entry.
7. Page arrangement belongs to face self-adaptation, not IR.
8. Visual comparison uses theme try with a fixed sample. Render has no theme override.
9. heading and summary remain semantic spec fields.
10. Narrative recommendations guide theme choice and writing, not menu lookup.
11. Reusable facts, claims, numbers, images, and copy are working material, not a persisted selection format.
12. The component rename to blockquote affects only component type space. The page kind remains quote.

Decoration follows the same ownership discipline. A face may structurally suppress motifs. Otherwise a menu entry may silence or replace the motif. With no menu override, the theme's ordinary motif paints. Branding is independent. A face or menu entry can suppress the shared brand fragment even when the deck posture is full.

Changing colors always creates a fork and rederives the full token system. A same-menu fork can replace the binding inside the workflow. A different menu requires a return to the theme step, followed by spec and fill revision. The original theme remains unchanged.