Deckhand

Deckhand

Type a topic, get a designed slide deck, and export it as real, editable PowerPoint. Free and open source.

Open Deckhand · Deckhand on Publik · MIT licensed

_{The live app: open the example deck, restyle it through four themes, open Export. No model call in this clip.}

Start from a topic or pasted notes. Pick a kind of deck and a length.	Edit anything. Switch a slide's layout, reorder, or ask the AI to rewrite one slide.
Restyle in one click. Eight themes and five slide transitions.	Thirteen layouts. The same deck's slides, each shown in a different theme.
Export. PowerPoint, one-file animated HTML, PDF, or a share link.	Real PowerPoint. The exported .pptx, rendered by macOS Quick Look. Text and shapes are native objects.
Present full screen, straight from the browser.	Pick where the AI comes from. publik API, or your own OpenAI or Anthropic key.

_{Every screenshot is the live app at deckhand-dusky.vercel.app. The deck shown is the built-in example deck, which is hand-written and ships with the app; it was not generated by a model for these images. Dark mode is supported too (screenshot).}

What you get

• No credits, no watermark, no sign-up. Decks are saved in your browser.
• Real PowerPoint export. Titles, bullets, cards and charts are native, editable objects, not pictures of slides.
• Thirteen layouts, eight themes. Stats, timelines, comparisons, charts, quotes, big numbers. Restyle the whole deck in one click.
• It moves. Slides build in with staggered motion, numbers count up, bars grow, and you pick the transition between slides.
• Your deck as code. Export one self-contained, animated .html file that plays in any browser.
• Edit anything. Click any text to change it, switch a slide's layout, or ask the AI to rewrite one slide.
• Share by link. The whole deck is packed into the URL; nothing is uploaded.
• Bring any model. publik API (no key to paste), your own OpenAI or Anthropic key, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint such as OpenRouter or Ollama.

Compared with Gamma

Gamma is the polished, paid option and does more. Deckhand is for people who want a free, open deck maker with real PowerPoint export and their own choice of model. Gamma details are from gamma.app/pricing, checked November 10, 2026.

	Deckhand	Gamma
Price of the app	Free, MIT licensed	Free plan; Plus $12/mo ($9/mo billed yearly); Pro $25/mo ($18/mo yearly); Ultra $100/mo ($90/mo yearly)
What the AI costs	Pay per use from a publik balance (starts at $0.00; linking a publik account adds $0.05 once), or your own OpenAI or Anthropic key billed by them	400 credits at signup on Free; 1,500 to 20,000 monthly credits on paid plans
Account needed	No	Yes
Gamma or Deckhand branding	None	Removing Gamma branding is listed as a Plus feature
PowerPoint export	Yes, native editable text, shapes and charts	Yes, on every plan
Other exports	PDF, one-file animated HTML, JSON, share link	PDF, PNG, Google Slides
Choice of model	publik API, your own OpenAI or Anthropic key, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint (OpenRouter, Ollama)	Gamma's built-in models
AI images	No, artwork is generative and drawn from the theme	Yes
Collaboration, cloud workspace	No, decks live in your browser	Yes
Docs, websites, custom domains	No, slide decks only	Yes
Source code	Open	Closed

Run it

npm install
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000, click Set up AI, and paste an OpenAI or Anthropic API key. Own keys stay in your browser and go straight to the provider; they never touch the server.

To offer publik API to your visitors, copy .env.example to .env.local and set PUBLIK_APP_TOKEN.

npm run build && npm start            # production
npm run build && PUBLIK_SELF_TEST=1 npm start   # prove the publik wiring, then exit

How it works

1. Outline. The model plans the deck as one JSON object per line: a title and a one-sentence gist for each slide. You edit the plan before anything is built.
2. Slides. The model writes each slide as one line of JSON, choosing from thirteen layout shapes. A tolerant line parser renders every slide the moment its line completes, so cards appear while the rest is still being written.
3. Render. Slides are drawn on a fixed 1280×720 canvas from theme tokens, so restyling never touches content and print, present and export all match.

Slide JSON is normalised before it is drawn (lib/parse.ts), so a weaker model's sloppy output still produces a valid deck.

Limits, honestly

• No images yet: artwork is generative and drawn from the theme.
• No accounts or collaboration. Decks live in one browser unless you share a link or export.
• PowerPoint export uses system fonts, so type differs slightly from the web view.
• The model can be wrong. The prompts forbid invented statistics, but check any number before you present it.

Stack

Next.js (App Router), TypeScript, Tailwind, pptxgenjs. MIT licensed.