# Codex Slides: an image-native AI slide studio that runs inside your coding agent

> Codex Slides turns a prompt, a repository or a folder of files into a PPTX or PDF deck from inside Codex, with no separate API keys. It is image-native, so exported slides are full-canvas images rather than editable PowerPoint shapes.

**nexu-io/codex-slides** — 🎨 Open-source AI slide studio inside Codex: image-native decks, every slide a full visual canvas. ⚡ 10+ high-quality slides in ~4–5 minutes — Fast mode renders every page in parallel. 🔍 Watch the whole chain live: research → outline → style → render → edit → present → export PDF/PPTX. 🖥️ Browser-first · zero API keys · durable projects.

- Repository: https://github.com/nexu-io/codex-slides
- Website: https://github.com/nexu-io/codex-slides#readme
- Stars: 921 · Forks: 79
- Language: TypeScript
- License: MIT
- Published: 2026-09-10 · Updated: 2026-09-10 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/nexu-io-codex-slides

## The problem: slide generators that hide the process and hand back a file

Most AI slide tools take one request and return one artifact. You cannot see the outline before it becomes slides, you cannot correct the visual direction without starting over, and context has to be re-uploaded on the next run. Codex Slides is built for people who already drive a coding agent and want the deck treated as a persistent project instead of a download.

The README frames the contrast directly: a typical one-shot generator makes you "wait for a hidden end-to-end task" and "restart when the result is wrong", while Codex Slides lets you "confirm requirements, outline, and style first" and "continue editing the same saved project". That is the whole pitch. The intended user is a developer or technical author producing market decks, training material or data stories from material that already lives in a repository or a folder.

The repository is public under MIT, the default branch is master, and the last push was on 2026-07-21. Releases v0.1.0, v0.2.0 and v0.2.1 all landed on 2026-07-13, with v0.2.1 the most recent. It is not archived.

## How the pipeline works: research, outline, style, render, edit, present, export

The README's architecture diagram shows a linear chain with checkpoints. A Codex conversation opens the Codex Slides home in the Codex Browser, which creates a durable project. From there the flow is: clarify the brief, optionally run source-backed research, review and revise the outline, choose a visual direction, watch slides render progressively, then review the finished canvas. Editing happens after the canvas exists: chat edits and queued follow-ups, add, duplicate, move, delete and transition operations, mark-based slide edits, Design Files and @ references, saving a project as a reusable template, brand and design system settings, play mode, and finally PDF or PPTX export.

Two mechanisms matter. First, projects are written to disk throughout the workflow, and opening the same project from Codex and another browser is described as operating one shared project. Second, the decks are image-native: each slide is composed as a full visual canvas. The README states the consequence plainly, that exported PPTX files contain full-slide images rather than individually editable PowerPoint shapes. That single sentence decides most adoption questions.

Fast mode is the other named mechanism. It renders every page in parallel rather than one by one, and the README claims 10+ slides in roughly 4 to 5 minutes. That is a vendor figure from the README, not an independent measurement, and the repository does not publish the hardware or model configuration behind it.

## Installing the Codex Slides plugin and building a first deck

Installation goes through the Codex plugin marketplace. The README gives two commands, run in a shell:

```bash
codex plugin marketplace add nexu-io/codex-slides
codex plugin add codex-slides@codex-slides
```

The first registers the marketplace entry for the nexu-io/codex-slides repository, the second adds the plugin itself. After that, the README says to start a new Codex task and ask for a deck. Its own example prompt is:

```text
Open Codex Slides in the Codex Browser and keep it visible.
Create a 12-slide market deck about 2026 humanoid robotics.
Let me confirm the questions, outline, and visual direction before rendering.
```

Expect the agent to open the Codex Browser view first, ask clarifying questions, then produce an outline and a visual direction for confirmation before any rendering starts. Nothing is charged to a separate API key: the README states the plugin runs on your existing codex login and keeps every project on your own disk.

For local development rather than plugin use, package.json requires Node >=20 and exposes scripts such as `dev`, `dev:web`, `dev:desktop`, `build`, `typecheck` and `check:i18n`, with `start` binding Next.js to port 4311. The package is marked private and named codex-slides-web, so it is not published as a standalone npm package.

## The image-native trade-off: beautiful output, uneditable PPTX

The README is unusually honest about the main limitation: because each slide is a full visual canvas, an exported PPTX contains full-slide images rather than individually editable PowerPoint shapes. If your workflow ends with a colleague opening the file to rewrite a bullet or swap a chart label, Codex Slides is the wrong tool for that step. You would be handing over a picture of a slide inside a .pptx container.

The same design choice is also the source of the visual fidelity the project advertises, so this is a trade-off rather than a defect. It does mean the deck stays a Codex Slides project for as long as it needs to change, and the PPTX is a delivery format at the end.

There are softer limits. The README does not document rollback or version history for a project, so the recovery path for a bad edit is not described. There is also no stated offline mode: the workflow depends on Codex and the Codex Browser being available. And the parallel Fast mode figure is a README claim, not a benchmark published with methodology.

## Codex Slides compared with Gamma and Tome

The README positions Codex Slides as "the open-source, agent-native alternative to Gamma and Tome", and the difference is structural rather than cosmetic. Gamma and Tome are hosted products: you work in their interface, your deck lives on their infrastructure, and the editing model is theirs. Codex Slides runs inside the coding agent you already use, keeps projects on your own disk, and is operated through a Codex conversation plus a browser view.

The second difference is the export model. Hosted generators generally produce editable slide structures; Codex Slides produces image-native slides, which buys visual consistency at the cost of downstream text editing. The third is cost and access: Codex Slides uses your existing codex login rather than a separate subscription and API key, and the source is MIT-licensed.

For a team that wants a polished deck with no local setup and no agent workflow, a hosted generator is simpler. For a team already living in Codex that wants the deck to stay inspectable and local, the plugin route is shorter.

## Templates, styles and the community licensing question

Out of the box the README lists 118 ready-made visual systems: 45 curated deck templates across 15 professional categories and 73 community styles across 12 groups covering reports, infographics, diagrams, data and maps, dashboards, posters, product, brand, architecture, photography, editorial and illustration. There are also 24 guided scenarios in 6 groups, including zero-to-one decks, source-to-slides, data stories, deep research, redesign, localization, training and keynotes.

The README has a dedicated section titled "Community style library and licenses", which is the right place to look before shipping anything built on a community style. The project itself is MIT, and package.json carries `"license": "MIT"` with author "Nexu and Codex Slides contributors". That covers the code. It does not automatically settle the provenance of every contributed visual style, and the README does not spell out per-style terms in the section reproduced here. Check the licenses of the specific styles you use; this is a diligence step, not a legal conclusion.

The maintenance cost is the usual one for a young plugin: three releases in a single day on 2026-07-13, then v0.2.1, and a last push on 2026-07-21. Expect the plugin surface and the skills directory to move.

## What to check before you commit a real deck

Verify the export path first. The README advertises 1K, 2K and 4K render quality and five aspect ratios (16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 9:16, 3:4), and states that speaker notes are preserved in PPTX and PDF. Open one exported file in PowerPoint and confirm the quality and notes survive on your machine, because image-native slides scale differently from vector shapes.

Second, confirm the plugin commands resolve against the marketplace entry for nexu-io/codex-slides before you build a template library on top of them. Third, decide whether the durable-project model fits your team: projects are written to disk, and the README describes Codex and the Browser operating one shared project, but it does not document multi-user collaboration or conflict resolution. If two people need to edit the same deck at once, that behaviour is undocumented.

## Conclusion

Adopt Codex Slides if you already work in Codex and want a deck you can steer mid-flight rather than a file that appears at the end; the two plugin commands are cheap to try. Skip it if anyone downstream must edit text inside PowerPoint, because exports are full-slide images. Before committing, verify that the render quality and aspect ratio you need are available in your installed version, and that the image-native export is acceptable to the people who will receive the file.

## FAQ

### Can Codex make slides?

Yes, with the Codex Slides plugin installed. The README shows a Codex task that opens Codex Slides in the Codex Browser and produces a deck, with the outline and visual direction confirmed before rendering.

### Is there a Codex plugin for PowerPoint?

Codex Slides is a Codex plugin that exports production-ready PPTX and PDF, so the plugin route to PowerPoint output exists. Note that exported PPTX files contain full-slide images rather than individually editable PowerPoint shapes.

### What is the Codex Slides plugin and how does it work?

It is an MIT-licensed slide studio that runs inside Codex and keeps each deck as a durable project on disk. The chain is research, outline, style, render, edit, present and export, and it uses your existing codex login instead of separate API keys.

### Do I need my own API keys to use Codex Slides?

No. The README states the plugin runs on your existing codex login with zero extra keys, and that every project stays on your own disk.

### How long does a Codex Slides deck take to render?

The README claims 10+ high-quality slides in roughly 4 to 5 minutes, because Fast mode renders every page in parallel rather than one by one. That is a project figure, and no benchmark methodology is published in the repository.

## Sources

- [License: MIT](https://github.com/nexu-io/codex-slides/blob/master/LICENSE)
- [nexu-io/codex-slides on GitHub](https://github.com/nexu-io/codex-slides)
- [Project website](https://github.com/nexu-io/codex-slides#readme)
- [README](https://github.com/nexu-io/codex-slides/blob/master/README.md)
- [Releases](https://github.com/nexu-io/codex-slides/releases)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/nexu-io-codex-slides