PowerPoint MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that creates and manages PowerPoint presentations locally on your computer.

Purpose

This MCP server provides a secure interface for AI assistants to create, modify, and manage PowerPoint (.pptx) files in your local /tmp/PowerPoints directory.

Features

Current Implementation

• create_presentation - Create a new PowerPoint presentation with optional title slide
• add_slide - Add new slides with title and content to existing presentations
• list_presentations - List all PowerPoint files in the /tmp/PowerPoints directory
• get_presentation_info - Get detailed information about a specific presentation

Prerequisites

• Docker Desktop with MCP Toolkit enabled
• Docker MCP CLI plugin (docker mcp command)

Installation

For Docker MCP CLI (Recommended)

1. Build the Docker image:

   docker build -t powerpoint-mcp .

2. Configure Claude Desktop with volume mounting:

   Add this to your Claude Desktop MCP configuration:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "powerpoint": {
         "command": "docker",
         "args": [
           "run",
           "--rm",
           "-i",
           "-v",
           "/tmp/PowerPoints:/home/mcpuser/PowerPoints",
           "--user",
           "1000:1000",
           "powerpoint-mcp"
         ]
       }
     }
   }

Alternative: Persistent Container Setup

1. Run the setup script:

   ./setup.sh

2. Configure Claude Desktop to use the persistent container

Manual Setup

1. Create PowerPoint directory:

   mkdir -p /tmp/PowerPoints

2. Build Docker image:

   docker build -t powerpoint-mcp .

3. Run with volume mount:

   docker run -d \
     --name powerpoint-mcp-server \
     -v /tmp/PowerPoints:/home/mcpuser/PowerPoints \
     -e PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1 \
     --user 1000:1000 \
     powerpoint-mcp

Docker Compose (Alternative)

docker-compose up -d

VS Code Integration

To use this MCP server with VS Code:

1. Install MCP Toolkit extension in VS Code
2. Add server configuration to your VS Code settings (mcp.json):

{
  "mcp.servers": {
    "powerpoint": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--rm",
        "-i",
        "-v",
        "/tmp/PowerPoints:/home/mcpuser/PowerPoints",
        "--user",
        "1000:1000",
        "powerpoint-mcp"
      ],
      "type": "stdio"
    }
  }
}

3. Restart VS Code to load the MCP server
4. Use the PowerPoint tools through the MCP Toolkit interface

Usage Examples

In Claude Desktop, you can ask:

• "Create a new PowerPoint presentation called 'My Demo' with the title 'Introduction to MCP'"
• "Add a slide to 'My Demo' with title 'What is MCP?' and content 'MCP stands for Model Context Protocol...'"
• "List all my PowerPoint presentations"
• "Show me information about the 'My Demo' presentation"

Architecture

Claude Desktop → MCP Gateway → PowerPoint MCP Server → Local File System
↓
/tmp/PowerPoints Directory

Development

Local Testing

# Build Docker image (only needed the first time)
docker build -t powerpoint-mcp .

# Test with volume mount
docker run --rm -i -v /tmp/PowerPoints:/home/mcpuser/PowerPoints --user 1000:1000 powerpoint-mcp

# Test volume mount
docker run --rm -v /tmp/PowerPoints:/home/mcpuser/PowerPoints --user 1000:1000 powerpoint-mcp ls -la /home/mcpuser/PowerPoints

# Test MCP tools directly (requires Python)
./test_docker.sh

Adding New Tools

1. Add the function to powerpoint_server.py
2. Decorate with @mcp.tool()
3. Update the catalog entry with the new tool name
4. Rebuild the Docker image

Troubleshooting

Presentations Not Persisting

Problem: Presentations are created but disappear when trying to add slides.

Solution: This is caused by missing volume mounts. Ensure you're running with:

docker run -v /tmp/PowerPoints:/home/mcpuser/PowerPoints ...

Or use the provided setup script: ./setup.sh

Tools Not Appearing

• Verify Docker image built successfully
• Check catalog and registry files
• Ensure Claude Desktop config includes custom catalog
• Restart Claude Desktop

File Permission Errors

• Ensure ~/PowerPoints directory is writable
• Check Docker volume permissions
• Verify container is running as user 1000:1000

Container Issues

• Check container logs: docker logs powerpoint-mcp-server
• Verify container is running: docker ps --filter name=powerpoint-mcp-server
• Restart container: docker restart powerpoint-mcp-server

Security Considerations

• All files created in user's home directory
• No external API calls or network access
• Running as non-root user in Docker
• Safe filename handling prevents path traversal

License

MIT License