ai-ppt-generator: Turn Any Topic Into a Downloadable PPT in Minutes

With 16,700+ downloads and 28 stars, ai-ppt-generator is one of the top productivity skills on ClawHub. Built by @ide-rea, it connects to Baidu AI's PPT generation API to produce full, downloadable presentations from a single query — no slide-by-slide prompting, no template hunting, just one command and a URL.

The Problem It Solves

Creating presentations is time-consuming even when you know what you want to say. Outline the structure, pick a template, write each slide, format the text, adjust layouts. For repetitive report formats — weekly summaries, market analyses, project updates — this is pure overhead.

ai-ppt-generator eliminates the overhead. Give it a topic, wait a couple of minutes, get a PPT download link.

Core Concept

The skill wraps Baidu AI's streaming PPT generation API in a Python script. The key architectural detail: this is a streaming HTTP request, not an instant response. The server streams back status messages as it generates the presentation, and only signals completion with "is_end": true. The final slide deck URL arrives at that moment.

Query → Streaming HTTP → Status stream → is_end: true → ppt_url

This means your agent must wait for the full stream — typically 2+ minutes — before the URL appears. Cutting the connection early abandons the generation.

Deep Dive

Basic Usage

python3 scripts/generate_ppt.py --query "经济总结报告ppt"

That's it. Swap in any topic in Chinese or English, and the script handles the rest.

What the Stream Looks Like

During generation, you'll see a sequence of interim status messages:

{"status": "正在生成大纲..."}
{"status": "正在生成内容..."}
{"status": "正在导出PPT..."}

And the final completion signal:

{
  "status": "PPT导出结束",
  "show_msg": "PPT导出成功",
  "is_end": true,
  "data": {
    "ppt_url": "https://aippt.bj.bcebos.com/..."
  }
}

The ppt_url in data is the download link for the generated file.

Agent Instructions for Reliability

The skill's SKILL.md includes explicit guidance for agents using it — because the streaming pattern trips up LLMs that expect instant responses:

- Set timeout to 180+ seconds in your session config
- Monitor streaming output continuously; don't assume failure on status-only messages
- Wait for is_end: true before reporting the URL
- If interrupted, inform the user that generation may continue server-side

Common Query Patterns

# Business reports
python3 scripts/generate_ppt.py --query "2026年Q1销售业绩分析报告"
 
# Technical presentations
python3 scripts/generate_ppt.py --query "microservices architecture overview for engineering team"
 
# Educational content
python3 scripts/generate_ppt.py --query "introduction to machine learning for beginners"
 
# Market analysis
python3 scripts/generate_ppt.py --query "中国新能源汽车市场分析2026"

Setup

clawhub install ai-ppt-generator

Add your Baidu API key:

export BAIDU_API_KEY="your_baidu_api_key"

Verify Python is available:

python3 --version  # Required

To get a BAIDU_API_KEY, you'll need a Baidu AI account with access to the PPT generation service (千帆大模型平台 or Baidu AI Cloud).

Comparison: AI PPT Tools

The skill's biggest competitive advantage is being fully agent-native: your OpenClaw agent can generate presentations without opening a browser or clicking through a UI.

Practical Tips

1. Be specific in your query — "Q1 sales report for SaaS company with 3 product lines" yields better structure than "sales report"
2. Chinese queries excel — the underlying Baidu AI is Chinese-first; Chinese language queries tend to produce better-structured output
3. Don't poll, wait — the script is designed to block until completion; running multiple instances in parallel may exhaust API quota
4. Save the URL immediately — Baidu's generated file URLs may have expiry; download the file as soon as you receive the link
5. Set your session timeout — if your OpenClaw session has a default 60s timeout, override it to 180s+ before invoking this skill

Considerations

• 2+ minute wait: This is by design, not a bug. Baidu AI generates real slide content, not a template with placeholder text. The wait is the tradeoff for quality output.
• Baidu API dependency: Requires a Baidu AI account. Access to the PPT API specifically may require approval or credits beyond a free tier.
• Chinese-optimized: Performs best with Chinese-language topics aligned with Baidu's training data. English works, but results may vary.
• No post-generation editing: The skill outputs a download URL. Editing the slides requires opening them in PowerPoint or WPS Office.
• Timeout risk: If your agent environment enforces a strict timeout under 120 seconds, the stream will be cut before the URL arrives. Always configure 180s+ for this skill.

The Bigger Picture

ai-ppt-generator represents an emerging category of "slow AI" tools — operations that take minutes, not milliseconds, but produce artifacts that would take humans hours. For agents managing recurring reports, client-facing materials, or educational content, offloading PPT creation to Baidu AI turns a 45-minute task into a command the agent fires and forgets while moving on to the next task.

View the skill on ClawHub: ai-ppt-generator