keynote creator

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---
name: Keynote Creator
description: Guide for creating and editing Keynote presentations using AppleScript via bash
---

# Keynote Creator Skill

This skill guides you on how to create and manipulate Keynote presentations on macOS using AppleScript.

## When to Use

Create a Keynote presentation when the user asks to:
- Create a presentation/slideshow/PPT
- Generate slides from documents, reports, or data
- Make a pitch deck, proposal, or summary presentation
- Convert content into visual presentation format

## Workflow

1. **Open Keynote** (for visual demo): Use `macos_show(app: "keynote")` if visual mode is enabled
2. **Create presentation**: Use bash with AppleScript
3. **Add slides**: Use AppleScript to add and configure slides
4. **Set content**: Add titles, body text, and images
5. **Export**: Save as .key or export to PDF

## CRITICAL: Stability Best Practices

**ALWAYS use a SINGLE AppleScript to create the entire presentation.** Do NOT run multiple separate scripts.

Why this matters:
- Each `osascript` invocation may restart Keynote's scripting bridge
- Multiple rapid scripts cause Keynote to crash or become unresponsive
- A single comprehensive script is much more stable

**Bad approach** (causes crashes):
```bash
# Script 1: Create document
osascript -e 'tell application "Keynote" to make new document'
# Script 2: Add slide 1
osascript -e 'tell application "Keynote" to tell front document to make new slide'
# Script 3: Set title
osascript -e 'tell application "Keynote" to tell front document to ...'
# This will likely crash!
```

**Good approach** (stable):
```bash
osascript << 'EOF'
tell application "Keynote"
    activate
    delay 1  -- Wait for Keynote to fully launch
    
    -- Do ALL operations in ONE script
    set newDoc to make new document with properties {document theme:theme "White"}
    delay 0.5  -- Brief pause after creating document
    
    tell newDoc
        -- All slides and content in one block
        ...
    end tell
end tell
EOF
```

**Required delays:**
- After `activate`: `delay 1` (let app fully launch)
- After `make new document`: `delay 0.5`
- After adding each slide: `delay 0.3` (optional but recommended for many slides)

## AppleScript Patterns

### Create New Presentation

```bash
osascript << 'EOF'
tell application "Keynote"
    activate
    set newDoc to make new document with properties {document theme:theme "White"}
    return name of newDoc
end tell
EOF
```

**Available themes**: "White", "Black", "Gradient", "Classic", "Modern Type", "Showcase", "Photo Essay", "Bold", "Industrial", "Blueprint"

### Add a Slide

```bash
osascript << 'EOF'
tell application "Keynote"
    tell front document
        -- Add slide with specific layout
        set newSlide to make new slide with properties {base slide:master slide "Title - Center"}
    end tell
end tell
EOF
```

**Common master slides (layouts)**:
- `"Title - Center"` - Title and subtitle centered
- `"Title - Top"` - Title at top with content area
- `"Title & Subtitle"` - Classic title slide
- `"Title & Bullets"` - Title with bullet points
- `"Title, Bullets & Photo"` - Title, bullets, and image
- `"Bullets"` - Full slide bullet points
- `"Photo"` - Full slide image
- `"Photo - Horizontal"` - Landscape photo layout
- `"Quote"` - Quote layout
- `"Blank"` - Empty slide

### Set Slide Title and Body

```bash
osascript << 'EOF'
tell application "Keynote"
    tell front document
        tell current slide
            -- Set title
            set object text of default title item to "Your Title Here"
            
            -- Set body text (for slides with body placeholder)
            set object text of default body item to "• Point 1
• Point 2
• Point 3"
        end tell
    end tell
end tell
EOF
```

### Add Text Box with Custom Position

```bash
osascript << 'EOF'
tell application "Keynote"
    tell front document
        tell current slide
            set newText to make new text item with properties {object text:"Custom text her