mdeckGuide
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Help and reference

Command guide

Type these commands in a terminal. Replace my-talk.md with your own slide filename. If a folder or filename contains spaces, put the path in quotation marks.

Everyday commands#

Command Use it to…
mdeck new Make a presentation with guided questions
mdeck dev my-talk.md Open a preview that reloads when you save
mdeck edit my-talk.md Edit slides, colors and designs in the browser; saves to the file
mdeck present my-talk.md Open your slides with presenter notes and controls
mdeck check my-talk.md Check settings and look for missing local files
mdeck build my-talk.md Make a shareable presentation in the dist folder
mdeck preview Open the last build from the current folder
mdeck docs Open this documentation
mdeck --help Show a short list of commands

Open a particular guide#

In your terminal
mdeck docs getting-started
mdeck docs sharing

Use the page name from its address, without .html. The welcome page is index.

mdeck docs --no-open starts the documentation server without opening a browser. mdeck docs --port 4200 chooses a port number. If the usual port is busy, mdeck tries another one.

To make a static copy of the documentation site, use mdeck docs --build. This saves it in docs/site/dist inside the mdeck project, separately from your presentation builds.

Edit in the browser#

In your terminal
mdeck edit my-talk.md
mdeck edit my-talk.md --no-open
mdeck edit my-talk.md --port 4300

The editor opens in your browser and writes every change into the slide file. --no-open starts it without opening a browser window; --port chooses the port. See Edit slides in your browser.

Sharing options#

Command Result
mdeck build my-talk.md -o talk.html Choose the output filename; local media stays alongside it
mdeck build my-talk.md --inline-images Embed supported local image references in the HTML
mdeck build my-talk.md --self-contained -o talk.html Embed local images and media in one HTML file
mdeck build my-talk.md --presenter-launchers Include presenter launchers in the folder build
mdeck build my-talk.md --share Open in the reader view, remove speaker notes, add a PDF (--with-notes, --no-pdf)
mdeck build my-talk.md --pdf Also render deck.pdf next to the HTML
mdeck pdf my-talk.md -o talk.pdf Render the slides to a PDF file

-I is a short form of --inline-images. -S is a short form of --self-contained. See Share or print your slides for help choosing an option.

Check more strictly#

In your terminal
mdeck check my-talk.md --strict

The ordinary check fails when it finds an error. The strict check also fails when it finds a warning, such as a layout name it does not recognize.

The check does not measure whether text fits on the slide. Always look through the preview too.

Reusable slide designs#

In your terminal
mdeck templates my-talk.md
mdeck templates my-talk.md --starter comparison

The first lists the designs available to your talk. The second prints starting text for one design. --json prints the design descriptions in a structured form intended for other tools.

In your terminal
mdeck extensions my-talk.md

This lists every design, theme and color palette your talk can use, including any kept in an extensions folder beside it. --json prints the same information for other tools.

Slides from an AI assistant#

In your terminal
mdeck skill
mdeck skill --install claude codex
mdeck skill --print

Installs the slide-writing skill for the assistants you use, or prints it for any other tool. See Write slides with an AI assistant.

Why do some examples use Node directly?#

mdeck is the normal command. After the one-time npm link setup, you can use it from any folder.

node bin/mdeck.js runs the same program directly from its project folder. It is useful when working on mdeck itself, but it is not a replacement you need to learn for everyday use.

From the project folder, npm run dev -- my-talk.md and npm run build -- my-talk.md are also available. These use the same program.