Lab 08D · 10 min

Lab for presentations

Turn steering committee notes into a six-slide presentation with speaker notes.

By the end

You can ask Codex to turn meeting notes into a slide deck, and you can check that the deck is right.

You can have Codex build a six-slide PowerPoint deck from meeting notes, with short slides and detail in the speaker notes, and check it against the notes.

You can have an agent generate a .pptx from structured notes under layout constraints, and verify its content and structure against the source.

Reading level

Workplace terms for professionals.

Codex facts checked on 12 October 2026

What you will make

You will turn a page of meeting notes into a slide deck. The deck is a PowerPoint file with six slides.

Each slide has at most five short points. The longer detail goes in the speaker notes, which only the speaker sees.

Codex builds the deck. You check it.

Codex reads the notes from a project steering committee and builds a six-slide PowerPoint deck. Each slide has a fixed title and at most five bullets. The detail goes into the speaker notes.

If your workspace has a Presentations plugin, Codex can use it. If it does not, Codex writes a short Python script that builds the file. Codex must ask before it installs anything.

The lab follows the usual routine: brief, plan, act, check.

The task is a constrained transform from structured notes to a .pptx file: fixed slide titles, a bullet cap per slide and speaker notes for the detail. The constraints make the output checkable by a script as well as by eye.

There are two routes. A Presentations plugin, if your workspace has one, is a bundled tool path. Otherwise the agent writes a python-pptx script, and the install is a network action that needs your approval.

Whether a given workspace has the plugin is not guaranteed, so the brief names both routes.

Files you will use
FileWhat it holds
presentation/steering-committee-notes.mdNotes from a project steering committee

Build the deck

  1. 01

    Send the brief and read the plan

    Open Codex with the CodexWork folder. Check that the mode says Ask for approval. Start a new thread.

    Copy the brief below and send it. Read the plan. Check that it lists the six slide titles.

    Open Codex with CodexWork as the project folder, check the mode says Ask for approval and start a new thread. Send the brief below.

    Read the plan. It should list the six slide titles, say which route Codex will use to make the file, and say that detail goes in the speaker notes.

    Start a new thread with Ask for approval and send the brief. In the plan, check the slide titles, the bullet cap, the route (plugin or script) and whether any install is needed. Correct the route before you approve.

  2. 02

    Approve, and decline what you do not need

    Reply: Approved. Go ahead. Codex may ask to install a tool. Codex cannot use the internet unless you approve it. Codex must ask you first.

    Read the request. If you are not sure, say no and ask Codex for another way.

    Reply: Approved. Go ahead. If Codex asks to install python-pptx, read the request. Network access is off by default, so an install needs your approval. Your employer's policy decides whether you may approve it.

    Reply: Approved. Go ahead. An install request for python-pptx is a network action. Approve it only if your employer's policy allows it. If you decline, ask whether the Presentations plugin can do the job.

    Codex asks before it installs a package. You decide.Illustration. Your screen may differ.
  3. 03

    Open the deck and check it

    Open outputs\steering-committee.pptx in PowerPoint. Count the slides. Count the points on each slide.

    Open the notes pane. Check that the speaker notes hold the longer detail.

    Open outputs\steering-committee.pptx in PowerPoint. Count the slides and the bullets on each slide, then open the notes pane for each slide. Compare every figure and date with the notes.

    Open outputs\steering-committee.pptx. Check the slide count, the title of each slide, the bullet count and the notes. Compare every figure and date with the source: models change numbers quietly when they shorten text.

Brief for the deck

Goal: Turn the steering committee notes into a six-slide presentation.
Inputs: presentation/steering-committee-notes.md
Output: outputs/steering-committee.pptx with six slides.
Constraints: Use these slide titles in this order: Project Bluegum steering committee; Status; Budget; Risks; Decisions needed; Next steps. Put at most five bullets on each slide. Put the detail in the speaker notes. Use only facts from the notes. Use a Presentations plugin if one is available. If not, write a python-pptx script in outputs/ and ask before you install anything. Do not change any source file.
Done when: all six slides exist with the titles above, and each slide has speaker notes.
How to check: List each slide title with its bullet count. List any figure that is not in the notes.
Make a plan first. Do not create any file until I approve the plan.

Answer key

Open each question below. Compare the answer with your own result.

Open each question below and compare the answer with your own result. A match is evidence. A mismatch is a reason to ask Codex to show its working.

Compare each answer with your deck. The key states the structure the brief demands, so a mismatch points to a defect in the output.

Check yourself

What should the six slide titles be, in order?

1. Project Bluegum steering committee 2. Status 3. Budget 4. Risks 5. Decisions needed 6. Next steps

1. Project Bluegum steering committee 2. Status 3. Budget 4. Risks 5. Decisions needed 6. Next steps

1. Project Bluegum steering committee 2. Status 3. Budget 4. Risks 5. Decisions needed 6. Next steps The brief fixes the titles, so any other title means Codex ignored a constraint.

How many bullets may a slide have, and where does the rest of the detail go?

At most five bullets. The rest goes in the speaker notes.

At most five bullets on each slide. The detail goes in the speaker notes, so the slide stays easy to read.

At most five bullets per slide, with detail in the speaker notes. You can test this with a script that counts bullets and checks that every slide has a notes page.

What must you check before you show the deck to anyone?

Check every number and date against the notes. A shorter slide can change a number by mistake.

Check every figure, date and name against the notes. Shortening text is where a model most often changes a number without saying so.

Reconcile every figure, date and name with the source. Compression is where a model introduces silent edits, so ask Codex to list any figure that does not appear in the notes, then check that list yourself.

Go further

Ask Codex to make the deck again with a new set of notes. The same brief works for any meeting.

You can also ask Codex for a one-page summary of the deck that you can send in an email.

Turn the brief into a reusable skill. Ask Codex to use $skill-creator to make a notes-to-deck skill with fixed rules for titles, bullets and notes, so each meeting uses the same format.

Package the script as a skill with $skill-creator, with a checker that opens the .pptx and fails if a slide has more than five bullets or no notes. For scripted runs, codex exec can build the deck non-interactively from new notes.

Syllabus

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