Marp Presentation Skill

Create and edit Marp slide decks via the marp-mcp CLI.

Installation Check

First, verify the CLI is available:

marp-mcp --version

If not installed, use npx:

npx @masaki39/marp-mcp@latest --version

Available Themes and Styles

• Theme (-t): Base CSS that defines the slide foundation. Each theme is a standalone CSS file in the repository.
• Style (-s): Additional CSS layouts and components layered on top of a theme. Styles are designed for the default theme, so -s implies -t default unless explicitly overridden.

Themes

default, gaia, uncover

Styles

CLI Command Reference

Global Options

• -t, --theme <name> — Select theme (default: default)
• -s, --style <name> — Select style (default: default)
• -V, --version — Show version
• -h, --help — Show help

Commands

list-layouts

List all available slide layouts (JSON output).

marp-mcp list-layouts
marp-mcp -t gaia list-layouts
marp-mcp -s rich list-layouts

set-frontmatter <file>

Add or update Marp frontmatter fields.

marp-mcp set-frontmatter slides.md --header "My Presentation" --paginate
marp-mcp -s rich set-frontmatter slides.md --header "Research Talk"

Options:

• --header <text> — Header text
• --paginate / --no-paginate — Enable or disable pagination

create <file>

Create a new Marp presentation with frontmatter and a title slide in one step.

marp-mcp create slides.md --title "My Talk"
marp-mcp -s tech create slides.md --title "Product Demo" --subtitle "Q3 2025" --slides 5

Options:

• --title <text> — Presentation title (required)
• --subtitle <text> — Optional subtitle for the title slide
• --no-paginate — Disable slide page numbers
• --slides <n> — Number of blank content placeholder slides to add (default: 0)

manage <file>

Insert, replace, or delete slides using slide IDs.

marp-mcp manage slides.md -l title -p '{"heading":"Hello","content":"World"}'
marp-mcp manage slides.md -l content -p '{"heading":"Agenda","body":"- Item 1\n- Item 2"}' --position after --slide-id <id>
marp-mcp manage slides.md -l content --mode replace --slide-id <id> -p '{"heading":"Updated","body":"New content"}'
marp-mcp manage slides.md --mode delete --slide-id <id>

Options:

• -l, --layout <type> — Layout type (required for insert/replace)
• -p, --params <json> — Parameters as JSON string (default: {})
• -m, --mode <mode> — Operation mode: insert | replace | delete (default: insert)
• --position <pos> — Position: end | start | after | before (default: end)
• --slide-id <id> — Target slide ID (required for after, before, replace, delete)
• --note <text> — Speaker notes

read <file>

Read slide content from a Marp file.

marp-mcp read slides.md
marp-mcp read slides.md --slide-id <id>

Options:

• --slide-id <id> — Read a specific slide by ID (omit to list all slides with their IDs)

generate-ids <file>

Generate slide IDs for every slide in a Marp markdown file. Safe to run multiple times — existing IDs are never changed.

marp-mcp generate-ids slides.md

export <file>

Export a Marp presentation to HTML or PDF.

marp-mcp export slides.md -f html
marp-mcp export slides.md -f pdf -o /tmp/presentation.pdf

Options:

• -f, --format <format> — Output format: html | pdf (required)
• -o, --output <path> — Output file path (default: same directory as input)
• --allow-local-files — Allow local image file access in HTML export
• --theme-set <path> — Path to a custom theme CSS file

generate-agenda <file>

Auto-generate an agenda slide from section slides. Inserts the agenda before the first section slide and adds view-transition CSS to frontmatter. HTML export only.

marp-mcp generate-agenda slides.md
marp-mcp generate-agenda slides.md --section-class acad-section --heading "Today's Agenda"

Options:

• --section-class <class> — CSS class of section slides (default: acad-section)
• --heading <text> — Agenda slide heading (default: Agenda)

add-image-transition <file>

Insert a full-screen background image slide before a target slide for zoom-in transition effect. HTML export only.

marp-mcp add-image-transition slides.md --slide-id <id> --image-url https://example.com/image.png

Options:

• --slide-id <id> — Target slide ID (required; use read to discover IDs)
• --image-url <url> — Image URL or path for the background slide (required)

Workflow

Quick Start (Recommended)

Use create to initialize a new presentation in one step, then add slides:

marp-mcp -s rich create slides.md --title "My Talk" --subtitle "Author · Event" --slides 3
marp-mcp -s rich list-layouts
marp-mcp -s rich manage slides.md -l content --mode replace --slide-id <id> -p '{"heading":"Intro","body":"Hello world"}'
marp-mcp export slides.md -f html

Manual Workflow

Follow this order when building a presentation from scratch:

1. Set frontmatter — Initialize the file with theme, header, and pagination

   marp-mcp -s rich set-frontmatter slides.md --header "Title" --paginate

2. Manage slides — Add slides one by one using layouts

   marp-mcp -s rich manage slides.md -l title -p '{"heading":"My Talk","content":"Subtitle"}'
   marp-mcp -s rich manage slides.md -l content -p '{"heading":"Intro","body":"Hello world"}'

3. Generate IDs — Assign IDs for future editing

   marp-mcp generate-ids slides.md

4. Edit slides — Use replace/delete modes with slide IDs

   marp-mcp -s rich manage slides.md -l content --mode replace --slide-id <id> -p '{"heading":"Updated","body":"New content"}'

5. Export — Export to HTML or PDF

   marp-mcp export slides.md -f html

Layout Information

To get available layouts and their parameters, run:

marp-mcp list-layouts

Or with a specific theme/style:

marp-mcp -t <theme> -s <style> list-layouts

!marp-mcp list-layouts``

Tips

Adjusting font size

Add an inline style to any slide to override the font size for the whole presentation:

<style>section { font-size: 1em; }</style>

The academic style sets font-size: 0.95em by default.

Image morphing transitions (HTML only)

Use these tools to add CSS View Transition morphing effects:

1. Agenda morphing — call generate-agenda to insert an agenda slide and add numbered icons to section slides. The icon morphs between slides in HTML export.

   marp-mcp generate-agenda slides.md

2. Image morphing — call add-image-transition with the target slide ID and image URL. A full-screen image slide is inserted before the target; both share a view-transition-name so the image morphs (zooms in) when advancing.

   marp-mcp read slides.md                        # get slide IDs
   marp-mcp add-image-transition slides.md --slide-id <id> --image-url https://example.com/img.png

Export as HTML to see transitions:

marp-mcp export slides.md -f html

Best Practices

• Use create for new presentations — it handles frontmatter, title slide, and IDs in one call
• Use list-layouts before manage to check available layouts and required parameters
• Run generate-ids after adding all initial slides, then use IDs for subsequent edits
• When replacing slides, always specify the correct --slide-id (use read to discover IDs)
• Use --note to add speaker notes to any slide
• Prefer --position after --slide-id <id> for precise slide placement
• Use export -f html to preview the presentation in a browser