This skill should be used when the user needs to translate PowerPoint presentations (.pptx) between languages, preserving formatting and layout. Supports parallel slide-by-slide translation with per-slide validation and retry. Default languages are Portuguese and English but any language pair is supported.
Scanned 5/27/2026
Install via CLI
openskills install ericgandrade/claude-superskills---
name: pptx-translator
description: This skill should be used when the user needs to translate PowerPoint presentations (.pptx) between languages, preserving formatting and layout. Supports parallel slide-by-slide translation with per-slide validation and retry. Default languages are Portuguese and English but any language pair is supported.
license: MIT
---
# pptx-translator
## Purpose
This skill translates PowerPoint presentations (.pptx) between any two languages while preserving the original formatting, layout, fonts, and structure. It uses parallel sub-agent translation (one agent per slide), per-slide validation with automatic retry, recursive group-shape traversal, and a single fast write-back pass.
## When to Use This Skill
- User provides a .pptx file and wants it translated to another language
- User needs to translate a PowerPoint from Portuguese to English or vice versa
- User needs to translate slides between any language pair (Spanish, French, German, Japanese, etc.)
- User wants to translate speaker/presenter notes alongside slide content
- User asks to "translate", "traduzir", or "convert language" of a PowerPoint or .pptx file
## Step 0: Dependency Setup (Silent)
Check dependencies silently. Do NOT ask for confirmation — install automatically with `--user` and inform the user only of what was installed.
```bash
python3 -c "import pptx" 2>/dev/null || pip install --user python-pptx -q && echo "Installed python-pptx"
```
If installation fails (e.g. no pip, restricted environment), ask the user once: "python-pptx is required. Preferred install method: (a) pip install --user, (b) existing venv path, (c) manual?"
## Step 1: Single Consolidated Confirmation
Infer all parameters from the user's request. Ask only for what is truly ambiguous. Then display **one** confirmation box and proceed immediately after the user confirms. Do NOT ask again.
Parameters to infer or confirm:
1. **Source file path** — validate it exists and has `.pptx` extension
2. **Source language** — infer from user's request (e.g. "translate from Portuguese"); if not stated, the AI classifier sub-agent (Step 2) will determine it automatically
3. **Target language** — infer from request; ask if not specified
4. **Backup mode** — default Safe (output saved as new file); YOLO only if user explicitly says so
5. **Speaker notes** — default Yes (translate alongside slides)
6. **Output filename** — resolved interactively in Step 1.5 (after this confirmation box); default is `{stem}_{target_lang_code}.pptx`
```
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ PPTX TRANSLATOR — Configuration ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ File: ~/docs/proposta.pptx ║
║ Direction: Portuguese → English ║
║ Speaker notes: Yes (included) ║
║ Original: preserved (output saved as new file) ║
║ Output file: ~/docs/proposta_en.pptx ║
║ ⚠️ YOLO: original will be overwritten + backup created ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Proceed? [Y/n]
```
After this single confirmation, proceed to Step 1.5 without further interruptions.
## Step 1.5: Output Filename Choice
Immediately after the Step 1 confirmation, show this mini-prompt.
All variables are derived from the **target language** resolved in Step 1 — never hardcoded to English.
Variables:
- `{stem}` — original filename without extension (e.g. `proposta_comercial`)
- `{lang_code}` — ISO 639-1 code of the **target** language (e.g. `pt`, `fr`, `de`, `es`, `en`, `ja`)
- `{target_language}` — human-readable target language name (e.g. `Portuguese`, `French`, `German`)
```
How should the output file be named?
[1] {stem}_{lang_code}.pptx ← original name + target language suffix (default)
[2] {translated_stem}_{lang_code}.pptx ← filename translated to {target_language} (AI suggestion)
[3] Custom name ← I'll type it myself
Choice [1]:
```
**Option 1 (default):** If user presses Enter or types `1`, set `output_filename = {stem}_{lang_code}.pptx`.
**Option 2 — AI translates the filename stem to the target language:**
- Run an inline AI call with this exact prompt:
`"Translate only this filename stem to {target_language}: '{stem}'. Return ONLY the translated stem, lowercase, spaces replaced with underscores, no punctuation, no explanation."`
- Show the suggestion before proceeding:
`Suggested: {translated_stem}_{lang_code}.pptx — use this? [Y/n]`
- If confirmed → `output_filename = {translated_stem}_{lang_code}.pptx`
- If rejected → fall back silently to Option 1
**Option 3 — Custom name:**
- Prompt: `Enter filename (with or without .pptx):`
- Normalize: strip any leading path separators, ensure `.pptx` extension, replace spaces with `_`
- Confirm: `Output will be saved as: {custom_name} — confirm? [Y/n]`
- If confirmed → `output_filename = {custom_name}`
- If rejected → re-show the 3-option menu
**Examples by language pair:**
| Original file | Direction | Option 1 | Option 2 (AI) |
|---------------|-----------|----------|----------------|
| `proposta_comercial.pptx` | PT→EN | `proposta_comercial_en.pptx` | `commercial_proposal_en.pptx` |
| `proposta_comercial.pptx` | PT→FR | `proposta_comercial_fr.pptx` | `proposition_commerciale_fr.pptx` |
| `proposta_comercial.pptx` | PT→DE | `proposta_comercial_de.pptx` | `geschaeftsvorschlag_de.pptx` |
| `quarterly_review.pptx` | EN→PT | `quarterly_review_pt.pptx` | `revisao_trimestral_pt.pptx` |
| `marketing_plan.pptx` | EN→ES | `marketing_plan_es.pptx` | `plan_de_marketing_es.pptx` |
Store the resolved name as `output_filename`. Use it in Steps 4 and 5 as the output path.
## Step 2: Extract & Analyze Slide Content
```
[████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 20% — Step 2/5: Extracting slide content
```
Use `python-pptx` to extract all translatable content. **CRITICAL: Use a recursive `iter_shapes()` function that descends into GROUP shapes** — do not use `slide.shapes` directly, as it misses text nested inside groups.
### Extraction Script
```python
from pptx import Presentation
from pptx.enum.shapes import MSO_SHAPE_TYPE
import json, sys
def iter_shapes(shapes, parent_id=None):
"""Recursively yield all leaf shapes, descending into GROUP shapes."""
for shape in shapes:
if shape.shape_type == MSO_SHAPE_TYPE.GROUP:
yield from iter_shapes(shape.shapes, parent_id=shape.shape_id)
else:
yield shape, parent_id
def extract_text(pptx_path):
prs = Presentation(pptx_path)
manifest = []
for slide_num, slide in enumerate(prs.slides, start=1):
text_blocks = []
for shape, parent_id in iter_shapes(slide.shapes):
# Text frames in regular shapes (including children of groups)
if shape.has_text_frame:
for para_idx, para in enumerate(shape.text_frame.paragraphs):
for run_idx, run in enumerate(para.runs):
if run.text.strip():
text_blocks.append({
"shape_id": shape.shape_id,
"parent_id": parent_id, # None if top-level
"shape_name": shape.name,
"para_idx": para_idx,
"run_idx": run_idx,
"original_text": run.text
})
# Tables
if shape.has_table:
for row_idx, row in enumerate(shape.table.rows):
for col_idx, cell in enumerate(row.cells):
if cell.text.strip():
text_blocks.append({
"shape_id": shape.shape_id,
"parent_id": parent_id,
"shape_name": f"table_{shape.name}",
"row_idx": row_idx,
"col_idx": col_idx,
"original_text": cell.text
})
# Speaker notes
notes_text = ""
if slide.has_notes_slide:
notes_tf = slide.notes_slide.notes_text_frame
notes_text = notes_tf.text.strip() if notes_tf else ""
# SmartArt detection — flag slides with embedded diagrams
smartart_found = []
for shape in slide.shapes:
if shape.shape_type is None: # graphicFrame (SmartArt/Chart)
smartart_found.append(shape.name)
manifest.append({
"slide_num": slide_num,
"text_blocks": text_blocks,
"notes": notes_text,
"smartart_shapes": smartart_found # non-empty = has SmartArt
})
return manifest
manifest = extract_text(sys.argv[1])
print(json.dumps(manifest, ensure_ascii=False, indent=2))
```
Save manifest to `/tmp/pptx_manifest_{timestamp}.json`. **Serialize with `json.dumps(..., ensure_ascii=False)` — no `indent` parameter** to minimize payload size sent to sub-agents.
After extraction, report SmartArt slides and translate their content via zip:
```python
import zipfile, os, json
from lxml import etree
smartart_slides = [s for s in manifest if s.get("smartart_shapes")]
if smartart_slides:
print(f"\n⚠️ {len(smartart_slides)} slide(s) contain SmartArt — text stored in separate XML files:")
for s in smartart_slides:
print(f" Slide {s['slide_num']}: {s['smartart_shapes']}")
print(" SmartArt text will be translated via direct XML editing after write-back.")
DRAWING_NS = 'http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/drawingml/2006/main'
with zipfile.ZipFile(output_path, 'r') as zin:
diagram_files = [f for f in zin.namelist()
if f.startswith('ppt/diagrams/data') and f.endswith('.xml')]
file_roots = {}
smartart_items = []
for df in diagram_files:
root = etree.fromstring(zin.read(df))
file_roots[df] = root
for i, t in enumerate(root.findall(f'.//{{{DRAWING_NS}}}t')):
if t.text and t.text.strip():
smartart_items.append({"file": df, "node_idx": i, "text": t.text})
if smartart_items:
smartart_input = json.dumps(
[{"i": idx, "t": item["text"]} for idx, item in enumerate(smartart_items)],
ensure_ascii=False
)
with open("/tmp/smartart_input.json", "w") as f:
f.write(smartart_input)
print(f" {len(smartart_items)} SmartArt text nodes — launching SmartArtTranslator agent…")
# Launch SmartArtTranslator sub-agent (same prompt pattern as SlideTranslator):
# Input: /tmp/smartart_input.json — list of {"i": idx, "t": "source text"}
# Output: /tmp/smartart_output.json — list of {"i": idx, "t": "translated text"}
# Apply same STRICT RULES (preserve proper nouns, whitespace, completeness)
with open("/tmp/smartart_output.json") as f:
smartart_translations = {item["i"]: item["t"] for item in json.load(f)}
for df, root in file_roots.items():
nodes = root.findall(f'.//{{{DRAWING_NS}}}t')
for idx, item in enumerate(smartart_items):
if item["file"] == df and idx in smartart_translations:
nodes[item["node_idx"]].text = smartart_translations[idx]
tmp_smartart = output_path + ".sa.tmp"
with zipfile.ZipFile(output_path, 'r') as zin:
with zipfile.ZipFile(tmp_smartart, 'w', zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED) as zout:
for zi in zin.infolist():
if zi.filename in file_roots:
data = etree.tostring(file_roots[zi.filename],
xml_declaration=True, encoding='UTF-8', standalone=True)
else:
data = zin.read(zi.filename)
zout.writestr(zi, data)
os.replace(tmp_smartart, output_path)
print(f" ✅ SmartArt translations applied to {len(diagram_files)} diagram file(s)")
```
### After Extraction: AI-Powered Language Classification
**Do NOT use regex or `langdetect` to decide which slides to translate.** Both approaches require hardcoded rules and fail silently on valid words with no accents (e.g. "nossa jornada", "cenário", "nosso time"). Regex lists are never complete; `langdetect` misclassifies short or mixed-language text.
**The model itself already understands language natively** — use it. After extraction, launch a **single classification sub-agent** that receives all slide texts and returns a JSON decision for each slide. No libraries. No hardcoded words. No false negatives.
### Classification Sub-Agent Prompt
> **Note on large presentations:** If the presentation has more than 50 slides, split the input into batches of 50 and launch one classifier agent per batch — large payloads can exceed model context limits. Merge all results before proceeding.
```
# SlideClassifier — Language Detection Agent
You are a language classifier. For each slide below, determine whether its text is written (fully or partially) in {SOURCE_LANGUAGE}.
Rules:
- A slide needs translation if ANY text block contains {SOURCE_LANGUAGE} content — even a single sentence or title
- A slide does NOT need translation only if ALL its text is already in {TARGET_LANGUAGE} or is language-neutral (numbers, dates, proper nouns, acronyms, code)
- Proper nouns, brand names, product names, and technical terms are language-neutral — do not use them as evidence of either language
- When in doubt, mark needs_translation: true — it is safer to translate an already-English slide than to skip a source-language one
Slides to classify:
{SLIDE_TEXTS_JSON}
Save your result to /tmp/pptx_classify_output.json as a JSON array (no explanation, no markdown fences):
[
{"slide_num": 1, "needs_translation": true, "language": "pt", "reason": "Title contains Portuguese: 'A nova era das empresas'"},
{"slide_num": 2, "needs_translation": false, "language": "en", "reason": "All text is in English"},
...
]
After saving, print: "✅ Classification complete: {N} slides need translation, {M} already in target language"
```
Where `{SLIDE_TEXTS_JSON}` is built from the manifest:
```python
import json
slide_texts = []
for slide in manifest:
combined = " | ".join(
b["original_text"] for b in slide["text_blocks"] if b["original_text"].strip()
)
if combined.strip():
slide_texts.append({"slide_num": slide["slide_num"], "text": combined})
else:
# No text content — images/charts only, skip
slide["needs_translation"] = False
# Save for the classifier agent
with open("/tmp/pptx_classify_input.json", "w") as f:
json.dump(slide_texts, f, ensure_ascii=False, indent=2)
```
The classifier agent saves its result to `/tmp/pptx_classify_output.json`. The classifier prompt must explicitly instruct the agent to save output there — do NOT rely on the agent inferring it. After it completes, apply the decisions with a fallback for parse failures:
```python
import json, os
try:
with open("/tmp/pptx_classify_output.json") as f:
decisions = {d["slide_num"]: d for d in json.load(f)}
except (FileNotFoundError, json.JSONDecodeError, KeyError):
# Fallback: if classifier failed or returned invalid JSON, translate all slides with text
print("⚠️ Classifier output invalid — falling back to translate-all-with-text strategy")
decisions = {}
for slide in manifest:
if slide["text_blocks"]:
slide["needs_translation"] = True
slide["detected_language"] = "unknown"
else:
slide["needs_translation"] = False
for slide in manifest:
decision = decisions.get(slide["slide_num"])
if decision:
slide["needs_translation"] = decision["needs_translation"]
slide["detected_language"] = decision.get("language", "unknown")
slide["detection_reason"] = decision.get("reason", "")
# slides with no text content were already set to False above
```
This approach requires **zero hardcoded patterns**, works for any language pair, and handles edge cases (mixed slides, proper nouns, short titles, accented-free Portuguese) correctly.
```
✅ Extraction complete
Slides found: 35
Text blocks: 1911
Slides to skip: 12 (AI classifier determined already in target language)
Slides to translate: 23
Speaker notes: 2 slides with notes
Group shapes found: 4 slides with grouped content (will be recursed)
```
## Step 3: Parallel Translation with Per-Slide Validation
```
[████████░░░░░░░░░░░░] 40% — Step 3/5: Translating slides in parallel
```
### Batched Parallel Strategy (3 slides per batch, universal)
Group slides that need translation into **batches of 3**. Launch each batch as 3 simultaneous Agent tool calls. Wait for the batch to complete, then launch the next batch. This is the default for all platforms.
**Why batches of 3:** single-agent-per-slide can exceed the internal turn budget of platforms like Gemini CLI, causing session aborts. Batches of 3 keep total turns manageable regardless of platform while still providing parallelism.
```
Slides to translate: 18
Batches: 6 (slides 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, 16-18)
Agents per batch: 3 (parallel)
Total rounds: 6
```
Each agent in a batch:
1. Receives its slide's JSON text blocks
2. Translates the content
3. Self-validates using language understanding (no libraries)
4. Retries once automatically if validation fails
5. Saves result to `/tmp/trans_slide_{N}.json`
6. Reports `✅ Slide N/TOTAL translated — validation: {status}` or `⚠️ Slide N: warning — {reason}`
### Launching SlideTranslator Agents
Each sub-agent must be launched with the identity **SlideTranslator**:
- **Claude Code (Agent tool):** set `description="SlideTranslator — slides X-Y/TOTAL"` and `model="sonnet"`. Translation quality matters — Sonnet handles complex, legal, and technical content reliably. Do NOT use Haiku; it produces partial translations on dense or legal text.
- **All other platforms:** the agent prompt begins with `# SlideTranslator` so the identity is visible in platform logs. Use the best available model in the session for quality output.
### Sub-Agent Prompt
```
# SlideTranslator — Professional Slide Translation Agent
You are a professional translator. Translate the following PowerPoint slide content from {SOURCE_LANGUAGE} to {TARGET_LANGUAGE}.
STRICT RULES:
- Preserve the meaning and tone of the original
- NEVER translate: proper nouns, personal names (people's names), company names, brand names, product names, technology names, organizational acronyms, or code snippets
Examples of what NOT to translate: "Accenture", "Microsoft", "Bradesco", "João Silva", "Azure", "BLT", "YTD", "KPI", "CCI"
- ALWAYS translate generic role/concept words even if they look like titles: "Agente/Agentes" → "Agent/Agents", "Usuário" → "User", "Reunião" → "Meeting", etc.
- PRESERVE any leading or trailing whitespace in each run exactly. If the original run is " text ", your translation must also start and end with a space. Spaces are part of the formatting.
- COMPLETENESS CHECK: count the number of items in the input JSON. Your translated_blocks array MUST contain exactly the same number of items. If counts differ, you have missed blocks — find and translate them before saving.
- Return JSON with the same structure as input (shape_id, parent_id, para_idx, run_idx preserved — these are required for write-back)
- Translate speaker notes naturally, maintaining the presenter's voice
Slide {N}/{TOTAL}:
{JSON_TEXT_BLOCKS}
Speaker notes:
{NOTES_TEXT}
AFTER translating, self-validate using your own language understanding (no libraries needed):
- Read back all your translated_text values
- Confirm they are in {TARGET_LANGUAGE} and not in {SOURCE_LANGUAGE}
- If you find any block still in {SOURCE_LANGUAGE}, fix it before saving
- Set validation.status to "ok" if all blocks are correctly translated, or "warning" with a description if any issue remains
Save your result to /tmp/trans_slide_{N}.json in this format:
{
"slide_num": N,
"translated_blocks": [
{"shape_id": X, "parent_id": Y_or_null, "para_idx": Z, "run_idx": W, "translated_text": "..."},
{"shape_id": X, "parent_id": Y_or_null, "row_idx": R, "col_idx": C, "translated_text": "..."}
],
"translated_notes": "...",
"validation": {"status": "ok|warning", "detected_lang": "{TARGET_LANG_CODE}", "message": ""}
}
After saving, print: "✅ Slide {N}/{TOTAL} translated — validation: {status} ({detected_lang})"
```
### Progress Display
Display a running gauge before each batch and print results as agents complete:
```
[████████░░░░░░░░░░░░] 40% — Batch 1/6: translating slides 1-3…
✅ Slide 1/18 translated — validation: ok (en)
✅ Slide 2/18 translated — validation: ok (en)
✅ Slide 3/18 translated — validation: ok (en)
[█████████████░░░░░░░] 55% — Batch 2/6: translating slides 4-6…
✅ Slide 4/18 translated — validation: ok (en)
⚠️ Slide 5/18 — warning (pt detected) — retried OK
✅ Slide 6/18 translated — validation: ok (en)
…
[████████████████████] Step 3/5 complete — all 18 slides translated
Batches: 6 | Warnings: 1 (auto-retried OK) | Failures: 0
```
**IMPORTANT:** If any agent output contains `"status": "warning"` after retry, flag those slides in the final summary as needing manual review — do NOT silently ignore them.
## Step 4: Write-Back in a Single Pass
```
[████████████░░░░░░░░] 60% — Step 4/5: Writing translations to PPTX
```
### Safe Mode (default): Original is preserved automatically
In Safe mode the output is always saved as a **new file** using the `output_filename` resolved in Step 1.5 (default: `{stem}_{lang_code}.pptx`). The original is never touched — it is already the backup. No redundant `_backup_{timestamp}.pptx` is created.
**YOLO mode only:** when the user explicitly chose YOLO, the output overwrites the original. In this case, create a backup first:
```python
# YOLO mode only — Safe mode does NOT run this block
import shutil
from datetime import datetime
timestamp = datetime.now().strftime("%Y%m%d_%H%M%S")
backup_path = pptx_path.replace(".pptx", f"_backup_{timestamp}.pptx")
shutil.copy2(pptx_path, backup_path)
print(f"✅ Backup created: {backup_path}")
```
### Write-Back Script
Collect all `/tmp/trans_slide_{N}.json` files, then write in a single pass. **CRITICAL: Use the same recursive `iter_shapes()` function** — the write-back must descend into GROUP shapes exactly as the extractor did.
```python
from pptx import Presentation
from pptx.enum.shapes import MSO_SHAPE_TYPE
import json, glob, os
def iter_shapes(shapes, parent_id=None):
for shape in shapes:
if shape.shape_type == MSO_SHAPE_TYPE.GROUP:
yield from iter_shapes(shape.shapes, parent_id=shape.shape_id)
else:
yield shape, parent_id
def write_translations(pptx_path, output_path, trans_dir):
# Load all translation files
translations_by_slide = {}
for f in glob.glob(f"{trans_dir}/trans_slide_*.json"):
with open(f) as fp:
data = json.load(fp)
translations_by_slide[data["slide_num"]] = data
prs = Presentation(pptx_path)
runs_updated = 0
cells_updated = 0
for slide_num, slide in enumerate(prs.slides, start=1):
slide_data = translations_by_slide.get(slide_num)
if not slide_data:
continue # Slide was skipped (already in target language)
# Build lookup keyed by (parent_id, shape_id, para_idx, run_idx) for runs
# and (parent_id, shape_id, row_idx, col_idx) for table cells
run_map = {}
cell_map = {}
for b in slide_data["translated_blocks"]:
parent_id = b.get("parent_id")
shape_id = b["shape_id"]
if "run_idx" in b:
run_map[(parent_id, shape_id, b["para_idx"], b["run_idx"])] = b["translated_text"]
elif "col_idx" in b:
cell_map[(parent_id, shape_id, b["row_idx"], b["col_idx"])] = b["translated_text"]
for shape, parent_id in iter_shapes(slide.shapes):
if shape.has_text_frame:
for para_idx, para in enumerate(shape.text_frame.paragraphs):
for run_idx, run in enumerate(para.runs):
key = (parent_id, shape.shape_id, para_idx, run_idx)
if key in run_map:
run.text = run_map[key] # Only change text — preserve all font properties
runs_updated += 1
if shape.has_table:
for row_idx, row in enumerate(shape.table.rows):
for col_idx, cell in enumerate(row.cells):
key = (parent_id, shape.shape_id, row_idx, col_idx)
if key in cell_map:
translated_cell_text = cell_map[key]
tf = cell.text_frame
if tf.paragraphs:
# Split by newline to preserve multi-paragraph cells
cell_lines = translated_cell_text.split("\n")
for para_idx, para in enumerate(tf.paragraphs):
for run in para.runs:
run.text = ""
if para_idx < len(cell_lines):
if para.runs:
para.runs[0].text = cell_lines[para_idx]
else:
para.add_run().text = cell_lines[para_idx]
cells_updated += 1
# Write speaker notes — preserve paragraph structure for multiline notes
if slide_data.get("translated_notes") and slide.has_notes_slide:
notes_tf = slide.notes_slide.notes_text_frame
if notes_tf:
# Split translated notes by newline to restore paragraph structure
translated_lines = slide_data["translated_notes"].split("\n")
existing_paras = notes_tf.paragraphs
for para_idx, para in enumerate(existing_paras):
# Clear all runs in this paragraph
for run in para.runs:
run.text = ""
# Write corresponding translated line if available
if para_idx < len(translated_lines):
if para.runs:
para.runs[0].text = translated_lines[para_idx]
else:
para.add_run().text = translated_lines[para_idx]
# If translated text has MORE lines than existing paragraphs, append extras
from copy import deepcopy
if len(translated_lines) > len(existing_paras):
# Use the last paragraph as a template for new ones
last_para_xml = existing_paras[-1]._p
parent_elem = last_para_xml.getparent()
for extra_line in translated_lines[len(existing_paras):]:
new_para = deepcopy(last_para_xml)
# Clear runs in cloned paragraph and set text
for r in new_para.findall(".//{http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/drawingml/2006/main}r"):
t = r.find("{http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/drawingml/2006/main}t")
if t is not None:
t.text = extra_line
break
parent_elem.append(new_para)
prs.save(output_path)
return runs_updated, cells_updated
```
### Write-Back Post-Processing: Restore Edge Whitespace
After saving, run a second pass to restore any leading/trailing spaces that agents may have stripped. Compare each translated run against the original:
```python
orig_prs = Presentation(pptx_path)
trans_prs = Presentation(output_path)
restored = 0
orig_runs_map = {}
for slide_idx, slide in enumerate(orig_prs.slides):
for shape, parent_id in iter_shapes(slide.shapes):
if shape.has_text_frame:
for para_idx, para in enumerate(shape.text_frame.paragraphs):
for run_idx, run in enumerate(para.runs):
orig_runs_map[(slide_idx, shape.shape_id, parent_id, para_idx, run_idx)] = run.text
for slide_idx, slide in enumerate(trans_prs.slides):
for shape, parent_id in iter_shapes(slide.shapes):
if shape.has_text_frame:
for para_idx, para in enumerate(shape.text_frame.paragraphs):
for run_idx, run in enumerate(para.runs):
key = (slide_idx, shape.shape_id, parent_id, para_idx, run_idx)
orig_text = orig_runs_map.get(key, '')
trans_text = run.text
if not orig_text or not trans_text:
continue
modified = trans_text
if orig_text[0] == ' ' and trans_text[0] != ' ':
modified = ' ' + modified
if orig_text[-1] == ' ' and trans_text[-1] != ' ':
modified = modified + ' '
if modified != trans_text:
run.text = modified
restored += 1
trans_prs.save(output_path)
print(f"✅ Edge whitespace restored: {restored} runs fixed")
```
**Formatting preservation rules:**
- Only `run.text` is changed — font size, bold, italic, color, and hyperlinks are untouched
- Table cell content: clear existing runs, add single new run with translated text
- Shape positions, sizes, backgrounds, and images are never touched
- Image shapes are skipped entirely (report in summary)
## Step 5: Integrity Check, Cleanup & Summary (single script)
```
[████████████████░░░░] 80% — Step 5/5: Finalizing
```
Run a **single Python script** that performs integrity check, cleanup, and prints the final summary. This must be one tool call — do not split into separate steps.
```python
from pptx import Presentation
from pptx.enum.shapes import MSO_SHAPE_TYPE
import glob, os, re
def iter_shapes_check(shapes, parent_id=None):
for shape in shapes:
if shape.shape_type == MSO_SHAPE_TYPE.GROUP:
yield from iter_shapes_check(shape.shapes, parent_id=shape.shape_id)
else:
yield shape, parent_id
# Integrity check
try:
prs_check = Presentation(output_path)
integrity_ok = True
except Exception as e:
integrity_ok = False
print(f"⚠️ Integrity check failed: {e}")
# Quality check — detect slides with residual source-language content
# Uses unambiguous source-language words unlikely to appear in target language
SOURCE_LANG_MARKERS = re.compile(
r'\b(não|são|também|já|após|antes|pela|pelo|nosso|nossa|nossos|nossas'
r'|temos|têm|será|serão|tinha|tinham|foram|deve|devem|pode|podem'
r'|cliente|empresa|serviços|solução|equipe|reunião|processo|gestão'
r'|fábrica|ágil|implementação|desenvolvimento|entrega|todos|todas'
r'|quando|porque|assim|muito|entre|cada)\b',
re.IGNORECASE
)
residual_slides = []
if integrity_ok:
for slide_num, slide in enumerate(prs_check.slides, start=1):
texts = []
for shape, _ in iter_shapes_check(slide.shapes):
if shape.has_text_frame:
for para in shape.text_frame.paragraphs:
for run in para.runs:
if run.text.strip():
texts.append(run.text)
if shape.has_table:
for row in shape.table.rows:
for cell in row.cells:
if cell.text.strip():
texts.append(cell.text)
combined = ' '.join(texts)
matches = SOURCE_LANG_MARKERS.findall(combined)
total_words = len(combined.split())
if total_words > 0 and len(matches) >= 2 and len(matches) / total_words > 0.04:
residual_slides.append(slide_num)
quality_ok = len(residual_slides) == 0
# Cleanup all temp files
for f in (glob.glob("/tmp/pptx_manifest_*.json") +
glob.glob("/tmp/trans_slide_*.json") +
glob.glob("/tmp/pptx_classify_*.json") +
glob.glob("/tmp/smartart_*.json")):
os.remove(f)
# Final summary
residual_note = f"None ✅" if quality_ok else f"{len(residual_slides)} slides ⚠️ → {residual_slides[:10]}"
print(f"""
[████████████████████] 100% — Done!
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ TRANSLATION COMPLETE {'✅' if integrity_ok and quality_ok else '⚠️ REVIEW NEEDED'}
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ Original file: {pptx_path}
║ Translated file: {output_path}
║ Slides translated: {slides_translated}/{slides_total} ({slides_skipped} already in target language)
║ Text runs updated: {runs_updated}
║ Table cells: {cells_updated}
║ Language pair: {source_lang} → {target_lang}
║ File integrity: {'OK' if integrity_ok else 'FAILED — check file manually'}
║ Residual source: {residual_note}
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
""")
if residual_slides:
print(f"⚠️ {len(residual_slides)} slide(s) may still contain source-language text.")
print(f" Slides: {residual_slides}")
print(f" Recommendation: open the file and verify these slides manually.")
```
## Error Handling
| Error | Cause | Action |
|-------|-------|--------|
| `python-pptx` install fails | Restricted environment / no pip | Ask user once for preferred install method |
| File not found | Wrong path | Ask user to verify the path |
| Invalid .pptx | Corrupted file | Inform user; suggest repairing in PowerPoint |
| Empty slide | Images/charts only | Skip silently; report as "no text content" in summary |
| Classifier agent fails or returns invalid JSON | Model/network error | Fall back to translate-all-with-text strategy; warn user |
| Sub-agent translation fails | Model/network error | Retry once automatically; if still failing, skip slide and report |
| Backup creation fails | Disk full / read-only | Abort before any modification; inform user |
| GROUP shape ID collision | Two groups with same child shape_id | Use `(parent_id, shape_id)` composite key — always, never shape_id alone |
## Critical Rules
- NEVER modify the original file unless the user explicitly chose YOLO mode
- In Safe mode the original is preserved automatically (output is a new file) — NEVER create a redundant `_backup_{timestamp}.pptx` in Safe mode; only create backup in YOLO mode before overwriting
- ALWAYS use recursive `iter_shapes()` for both extraction AND write-back — never `slide.shapes` directly
- ALWAYS key the write-back lookup by `(parent_id, shape_id, ...)` — never by `shape_id` alone
- ALWAYS use batched parallel: group slides into batches of 3, launch each batch as 3 simultaneous agents, wait for completion, then launch next batch — NEVER launch all slides at once (exhausts platform turn budgets) and NEVER process one slide at a time (too slow)
- ALWAYS launch SlideTranslator agents with `model="sonnet"` on Claude Code — quality is critical; Haiku produces partial translations on dense, legal, or technical content and must NOT be used
- ALWAYS serialize JSON payloads without indentation (`json.dumps(..., ensure_ascii=False)`) — minified JSON reduces input tokens by ~30% on large presentations
- NEVER create pass-through translations for slides already in the target language — skip them entirely
- NEVER use regex patterns or `langdetect` to decide which slides to translate — use the AI classifier sub-agent; regex lists are always incomplete and `langdetect` misclassifies short or mixed-language text
- ALWAYS use the AI classification sub-agent (Step 2) to determine `needs_translation` per slide — the model understands language natively, requires no hardcoded patterns, and handles any language pair
- ALWAYS treat a slide as needing translation when the classifier is uncertain — it is safer to translate an already-English slide (no harm) than to miss a source-language one
- NEVER translate proper nouns: personal names, company names, brand names, product names, technology names, organizational acronyms (e.g. "Accenture", "Microsoft", "João Silva", "Azure", "BLT", "YTD")
- ALWAYS do per-slide self-validation inside each translation agent (translate → read back → fix → save) — agents use their own language understanding, no libraries
- ALWAYS run Step 5 as a single script: integrity check + cleanup + final summary in one tool call — never split into separate steps
- ALWAYS preserve text formatting — only change `run.text`, never font/size/color properties
- NEVER ask the user for confirmation more than once (the initial config confirmation)
- NEVER add improvised "preview", "debug", or "check" shell commands not specified in this workflow
## Example Usage
### Example 1: Standard PT→EN Translation
```
User: Translate this presentation from Portuguese to English: ~/docs/proposta_q4.pptx
Skill: [Installs deps silently if needed]
[One config confirmation: PT→EN, Safe mode, speaker notes]
How should the output file be named?
[1] proposta_q4_en.pptx ← original name + target suffix (default)
[2] q4_proposal_en.pptx ← filename translated to English (AI)
[3] Custom name ← I'll type it myself
Choice [1]: 2
Suggested: q4_proposal_en.pptx — use this? [Y/n]: Y
[Extracts 35 slides, 1911 blocks — 12 already in English, skipping]
[Launches 23 parallel agents simultaneously]
✅ Slide 3/35 traduzido e validado
✅ Slide 7/35 traduzido e validado
✅ Slide 13/35 traduzido e validado (group shapes traversed)
...
[Single write-back pass: 736 runs + 1175 table cells]
✅ Saved: ~/docs/q4_proposal_en.pptx
```
### Example 2: EN→PT with YOLO Mode
```
User: Translate presentation.pptx to Portuguese, YOLO mode
Skill: [Config confirmation shows ⚠️ YOLO — original will be overwritten]
[User confirms once]
How should the output file be named?
[1] presentation_pt.pptx ← original name + target suffix (default)
[2] apresentacao_pt.pptx ← filename translated to Portuguese (AI)
[3] Custom name ← I'll type it myself
Choice [1]: 3
Enter filename (with or without .pptx): Q1_Apresentacao_Final
Output will be saved as: Q1_Apresentacao_Final.pptx — confirm? [Y/n]: Y
[Translates in place, saves as Q1_Apresentacao_Final.pptx]
```
### Example 3: Custom Language Pair
```
User: Translate ~/projects/pitch_es.pptx from Spanish to French
Skill: [AI classifier determines which slides are in Spanish]
[Launches parallel agents for all non-French slides]
✅ Saved: ~/projects/pitch_es_fr.pptx
```
### Example 4: Presentation with Group Shapes
```
User: Translate keynote.pptx to English
Skill: [Extraction finds 3 slides with GROUP shapes]
[iter_shapes() recursively extracts all nested text boxes]
[All group content included in translation agents]
✅ Slide 13/20 traduzido e validado (group shapes incluídos)
✅ All grouped text boxes translated correctly
```
### Example 5: Large Deck with Mixed Languages
```
User: Can you generate this PPT in English? deck.pptx
Skill: [Detects 15/40 slides already in English — skipped]
[Launches 25 parallel agents for Portuguese slides]
[Skip slides: 1, 5, 8, 12, 21-35 (already EN)]
✅ 25/40 slides translated, 15 skipped (already English)
```
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!