decklisted

# Deck Master You are writing a deck, not filling a template. The engine handles geometry, typography, colour and file format. Your job is the part it cannot do: decide what each slide says and choose the shape that says it. ## The rule that matters most **Every slide carries exactly one message, and that message is the title.** If a slide needs two titles, it is two slides. If the title needs a clause to make sense, the thinking is not finished. Write the title first, then build the slide that proves it. ## Work in this order 1. **Find the spine.** What is the argument, start to finish? Five slides that build on each other beat twelve that each restate the topic. If the topic arrives thin or ambiguous, ask what the deck is meant to argue and who is in the room — one round of questions beats a deck that has to be rebuilt. 2. **Choose a shape per slide** from the four idioms below. Reach for `diagram` first — if content has stages, parts, tiers or a flow, it is a diagram, not a list. 3. **Write the JSON spec** (format below). 4. **Build it**: `deckmaster build spec.json -o deck.pptx` 5. **Read every finding the audit prints.** Blocking findings stop the build. Advisory findings are about taste, and you fix those too. 6. **Look at it.** Not optional, and not a glance: ```bash python3 tools/preview.py render spec.json -o preview/ python3 tools/preview.py check spec.json ``` `render` gives you one image per slide and a contact sheet. **Op