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Template Forge — Create a New Slide Template (Master)

Important

• The Slides API cannot create or rename masters/layouts (references/api-notes.md §1). This skill therefore derives: it copies a base and restyles the base's existing layout pages. Unused base layouts remain in the file — unregistered and harmless. Role names live only in templates/<id>.json's alias table.
• The base's colorScheme is immutable — every color is written as explicit RGB. The Slides UI color picker will still show the base's theme palette; that is expected (same as templates/corporate.json).
• Run every command from the slide-forge root as cwd — ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT} when running from an installed plugin, /path/to/slide-forge on a local clone. Auth and the venv are shared at the repo root (config/, .venv).
• Never hand the template over without visual verification. Role assignment is deterministic, but band/placeholder overlap, font rendering, and contrast are judged only by eye: always run the layout catalog + the slide-qa skill (Phase 5) before reporting done.
• Fixes happen in the design spec. On any defect, edit the spec and rebuild with --replace (deletes the superseded master from Drive after a successful rebuild). Never patch the generated master in the Slides UI — that forks it from the spec.
• Fonts must exist in the Slides font menu (Google Fonts). Unknown names fall back silently. Known-safe: Noto Sans JP, Noto Serif JP, M PLUS 1p, Zen Maru Gothic, BIZ UDPGothic (Japanese); Montserrat, Roboto, Open Sans, Lato, Source Sans Pro (Latin). Anything else: verify in the catalog deck.

Quick Reference

Design-spec format

{
  "name": "acme-2026",                    // [a-z0-9-], becomes templates/<name>.json
  "displayName": "ACME Master Template",
  "base": "blank",                        // "blank" (Google default) | template id | Slides URL/ID
  "brand": {
    "colors": {                           // all #RRGGBB, all 9 required
      "primary": "#0B3D91", "primaryDark": "#062A66", "accent": "#F59E0B",
      "background": "#FFFFFF", "backgroundAlt": "#F5F7FA",
      "textTitle": "#0B1F3A", "textBody": "#1F2937",
      "textMuted": "#666666", "textOnDark": "#FFFFFF"
    },
    "fonts": { "heading": "Montserrat", "body": "Noto Sans JP" },
    "logo": { "source": "assets/acme.png", "onDark": "assets/acme-white.png" },  // optional
    "footer": { "text": "© 2026 ACME Inc.", "fontSize": 7 }                      // optional
  },
  "style": {
    "coverStyle": "band-bottom",          // band-bottom | band-left | minimal
    "sectionStyle": "dark",               // dark (primary bg) | rule (light bg + accent rule)
    "pageNumbers": true
  },
  "derive": {                             // only when base is a registered template
    "colorMap": { "#1E3A5F": "primary" }, // base's explicit RGB -> semantic token
    "deleteObjects": ["<objectId>"]       // brand elements to remove from the base
  }
}

Standard 6 roles are always produced: COVER / SECTION / CONTENT / TITLE_ONLY / BLANK / CLOSING (on a blank base, CLOSING restyles the MAIN_POINT layout).

Workflow

Phase 1: Intake (AskUserQuestion, interactive-intake.md manners)

Batch into one round; skip anything already specified:

Template name ([a-z0-9-]) is derived from the brand/company name; confirm it in the outline, not as a separate question.

Phase 2: Author the design spec

• Interactive: put the answers into the schema above. Check contrast as you go: textBody on background and textOnDark on primary must be ≥ 4.5:1 (colors.py has helpers; eyeball via the catalog otherwise).
• Extraction is agent judgment, not code: for a site URL, WebFetch it and read the brand colors from CSS variables / the logo; for a logo file, Read the image and pick the dominant color (primary) plus a supporting accent; for an existing deck, run inspect_template.py <URL> and lift its color report. Merge onto the closest preset skeleton.
• Preset: copy templates/presets/<preset>.json, fill name / displayName / logo / footer.text.
• Present the palette (hex + role), fonts, and style choices in one summary block and get approval before building.

Phase 3: Offline validation

.venv/bin/python scripts/build_template.py --spec out/<name>-design.json --dry-run

Fix any errors (missing colors, bad hex, missing logo file, unknown enums).

Phase 4: Build and register

.venv/bin/python scripts/drive_folder.py create "<displayName>"   # Drive folder rule
.venv/bin/python scripts/build_template.py --spec out/<name>-design.json --folder <FOLDER_ID>

This creates the styled master, registers templates/<name>.json with deterministic roles + provenance (derivedFrom, dated notes), injects page-number geometry, and prints the next steps. Upload the design spec to the same folder (drive_folder.py upload <FOLDER> out/<name>-design.json).

Phase 5: Catalog and visual QA (not optional)

.venv/bin/python scripts/layout_sample.py --template templates/<name>.json --folder <FOLDER_ID>

Then run the slide-qa skill on the catalog deck. Template-specific checklist on top of the standard one:

• Bands/bars do not overlap any placeholder text
• Cover: title/subtitle legible, logo not stretched (aspect preserved)
• Section: title contrast on its background ≥ 4.5:1; accent rule sits under the title
• Content: body text is the body font (a silent font fallback means the name was wrong)
• Footer + page number both visible, not doubled, not clipped
• Closing: text and onDark logo legible on the dark background

Phase 6: Fix loop

Edit the design spec → --dry-run → rebuild with --replace (the old master is deleted from Drive after success; templates/<name>.json is overwritten in place) → re-run Phase 5 on the affected layouts. Delete superseded catalog decks from Drive.

Phase 7: Report and hand off

Report: master URL, catalog deck URL, Drive folder URL, templates/<name>.json path, and the palette summary. State that decks are generated with the google-slides-template skill: the new id now appears in list_templates.py and works with build_deck.py --template templates/<name>.json. Run cleanup_qa.py for local thumbnails. If the logo could not be inserted (org sharing policy), say so and point at the Slides UI for manual placement.

Limitations (state them when relevant)

• Layout set is fixed to the base's — no adding, deleting, or renaming layouts. Need more layout variety? Derive from a richer registered template instead of blank.
• The theme color picker in the Slides UI keeps the base's palette (colorScheme is API-immutable); all styling is explicit RGB.
• SLIDE_NUMBER placeholders cannot be created — page numbers are drawn by build_deck.py at generation time using the geometry this skill injects.
• Logo insertion needs the image to be anonymously fetchable for a moment (AssetStore uploads/shares/cleans up); org policies may block it — the build then warns and continues without the logo.