v2.0 · AGPL-3.0 · Open source

Technical spec.
Built in the open.

MCP configuration, syntax reference, and the architecture under the hood — all the technical detail engineers need to integrate, extend, or self-host deckhost.

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        npm i -g deckhost

Jump to: MCP setup Reference matrix Architecture stack vs. Slidev / Marp Spec facts

🤖 Advanced AI Orchestration

Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Connect deckhost as an MCP server to Claude Desktop or Claude Code so the AI can read, edit, animate, and deploy presentation files directly inside the chat conversation.

Recommended

Automated setup route

One command. Auto-detects Claude Desktop & Claude Code, writes the config, and registers the server.

bash

deckhost install-mcp

Or configure manually

macOS ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "deckhost": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/Users/you/deckhost/mcp-server/index.js"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Windows %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "deckhost": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "C:\Users\you\deckhost\mcp-server\index.js"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after writing the file. Run deckhost mcp --status to verify the connection.

🛠️ Reference Matrix Sheets

The full grammar at a glance

Tool surface, syntax dictionary, and import-compat map — everything you can call, write, or migrate.

Available MCP Tools Directory

Structural execution endpoints exposed to MCP clients.

Tool	Category	Purpose
`create_presentation`	Author	Create a new presentation from a prompt or template.
`read_markdown`	Author	Read an existing presentation file.
`write_markdown`	Author	Create or update a presentation file.
`serve`	Runtime	Start the dev server with live preview & hot reload.
`build`	Runtime	Build static HTML for production deployment.
`publish`	Runtime	Publish a presentation to deckhost.com cloud spaces.
`get_syntax_help`	Meta	Return the full deckhost syntax reference inline.

Extended Syntax Spec Sheets

Dynamic movement fragments, canvas overrides, and inline emphasis primitives.

Dynamic movement fragments (prefix list items)

^^^ Fade up

vvv Fade down

---> Fade right

<--- Fade left

+++ Grow

... Shrink

~~~ Strikethrough

>> Basic fade-in

>>red Highlight (red)

>>green Highlight (green)

>>blue Highlight (blue)

**>>red**…**>>** Inline bold-style highlight

Canvas style overrides (top of slide)

::: #hex Solid color background

::: linear-gradient(...) CSS gradient (any direction/stops)

::: https://image.png Image URL background

::: /path/local.png Local image path

::: opacity:0.3 Image opacity overlay

Technical markdown

$x$ / $$x$$ Inline / block LaTeX (KaTeX)

text[^1] Footnotes (slide-scoped)

Term\n: Def Definition lists

*[ABBR]: def Slide-scoped abbreviation tooltips

The preprocessor treats ... as a text-shrink animation. Use the single-character … (U+2026) for ellipsis text.

Marp Compatibility Layer

Automatic conversion of legacy Marp directives on import.

Already have presentations built with Marp? deckhost detects marp: true in the YAML frontmatter and maps common Marp directives to deckhost equivalents on import. No rewriting — just drop your file in and it renders with the full deckhost engine: animations, themes, hosted publishing, AI integration.

Marp directive	deckhost equivalent
`marp: true (frontmatter)`	`Triggers compatibility mode`
`backgroundColor / _backgroundColor`	`::: #hex`
`backgroundImage / _backgroundImage`	`::: https://... + ::: opacity:N`
`theme: default / gaia`	`Mapped to closest deckhost preset`
`paginate: true`	`Built-in slide counter (always on)`
`--- (slide separator)`	`Same separator semantics preserved`

📐 Architecture Stack

What's under the hood

Three layers, each independently swappable: the renderer, the local CLI, and the canonical language spec.

Presentation Core

Custom virtual renderer. Browser-side, zero-build for end users.

•
React 19 Custom slide renderer
•
Framer Motion Slide transitions & fragment dynamics
•
KaTeX Scientific math execution
•
Highlight.js Syntax color wrappers
•
Tailwind CSS v4 Styling pipeline
•
Vite 7 Bundler & HMR dev server

CLI Backend Environment

Local-first. Asynchronous task workflows with file watching.

•
Node.js ≥ 18 Runtime baseline
•
chokidar Cross-platform file watching
•
MCP server Bidirectional Claude integration
•
Marp preprocessor Legacy frontmatter conversion
•
Static HTML output Self-host on any CDN

Language API Endpoint

Active JSON system definition. Canonical source of truth for the grammar.

GET /api/v1/spec.json

•Versioned schema (semver)
•Every fragment, directive, & flag enumerated
•Consumed by IDE plugins & AI integrations

How deckhost compares

Head-to-head with the leading markdown-based slide tools.

	Slidev	Marp	🚀 deckhost
Framework	Vue 3	Vanilla	React 19
Hosted publishing	❌	❌	deckhost.com
AI integration (MCP)	❌	❌	Built-in
Fragment animations	Basic	❌	12+ types
LaTeX math	Plugin	Plugin	Built-in (KaTeX)
One-command publish	❌	❌	deckhost publish
Marp import	❌	N/A	Auto-detected
Cross-slide editing API	Limited	❌	MCP read/write

Spec facts

The numbers and footprint detail engineers usually need before adopting.

Bundle size

~454 kB

gzipped JS, viewer bundle

License

AGPL-3.0

Source-available, copyleft

Node baseline

≥ 18

ESM-only CLI

Render frame

60 fps

Framer Motion w/ GPU compositor

Animation styles

12+

Fragments + inline emphasis

Math/code

KaTeX + HLJS

20+ syntax languages

Browser support

Evergreen

Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge

Self-host output

Static HTML

Drop on any CDN or S3 bucket

Want to skip deckhost.com entirely?

The hosted service is a convenience — not a requirement. deckhost build generates self-contained static HTML you can deploy anywhere. Netlify, GitHub Pages, S3, your own nginx box, an intranet share — the output works offline and has zero runtime dependencies.