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The fill builder

The fill builder is the editing surface for a created build, reached at /builds/{id}. It is structured into three tabs: Assistant, Slides, and Values.

Slide thumbnails and field locator

The Slides tab shows a thumbnail for each slide. When a PDF export was uploaded with the template, each thumbnail is the real slide image with filled values overlaid. If no PDF was uploaded, the fallback is a server-rendered SVG mock (see below).

Click any shape on a slide thumbnail to jump to the corresponding field in the fill form and create a binding between the shape and that field. This click-to-edit shape→field binding lets you orient the fill spatially rather than hunting through a flat field list.

Drag-and-resize geometry overrides (moving or resizing shapes from the browser) are planned for a future release.

Live SVG mock

When no slide image is available, the fill builder renders a live SVG preview of each slide using the catalog’s captured geometry — shape positions, sizes, and the template’s color palette. The preview updates in a debounced pass as you edit field values, so you can see the layout with your text in place before building.

The SVG mock is an honest preview of basic geometry and colors. It is not a rendering of the finished PowerPoint — font rendering, image placement, and complex shape effects will differ in the final output.

Ref search and asset picker

Every @ref field shows a search picker. Type to filter across your media library — images, charts, tables, icons, diagrams, code blocks, and procedural arts. Items scoped to the current build or template appear ranked above library-wide results. Select an item to insert its @ref string into the field.

The same search is available over the API (GET /api/v1/refs) and MCP (search_refs).

Typed fill widgets

Fields and head variables carry type metadata set during annotation. The fill builder renders the appropriate widget:

  • Choice dropdowns for fields with a choices list (strict or suggestion mode).
  • Default values pre-populated from the template’s published default fill.
  • Asset pickers for fields typed as image, chart, table, or other media kinds.
  • Free-text for plain string fields, with an optional character-count hint.

Autosave

The fill is debounce-saved as you type — you do not need to click Save explicitly. The tab title shows “saved” confirmation. You can also submit the Values form manually to force an immediate save.

Building

When the fill is ready, click Build deck. The build moves to started, one credit is reserved, and the job is enqueued. The page switches to the build info view where you can monitor progress and download the result when done.