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PublishedMay 19, 2026 at 04:40 PM

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version: "1.0.1" name: Keynote Creator description: Guide for creating and editing Keynote presentations using AppleScript via bash

Keynote Creator Skill

This skill guides you on how to create and manipulate Keynote presentations on macOS using AppleScript.

When to Use

Create a Keynote presentation when the user asks to:

Create a presentation/slideshow/PPT
Generate slides from documents, reports, or data
Make a pitch deck, proposal, or summary presentation
Convert content into visual presentation format

Workflow

Open Keynote (for visual demo): Use macos_show(app: "keynote") if visual mode is enabled
Create presentation: Use bash with AppleScript
Add slides: Use AppleScript to add and configure slides
Set content: Add titles, body text, and images
Export: Save as .key or export to PDF

CRITICAL: Stability Best Practices

ALWAYS use a SINGLE AppleScript to create the entire presentation. Do NOT run multiple separate scripts.

Why this matters:

Each osascript invocation may restart Keynote's scripting bridge
Multiple rapid scripts cause Keynote to crash or become unresponsive
A single comprehensive script is much more stable

Bad approach (causes crashes):

bash

# Script 1: Create document
osascript -e 'tell application "Keynote" to make new document'
# Script 2: Add slide 1
osascript -e 'tell application "Keynote" to tell front document to make new slide'
# Script 3: Set title
osascript -e 'tell application "Keynote" to tell front document to ...'
# This will likely crash!

Good approach (stable):

bash

osascript << 'EOF'
tell application "Keynote"
    activate
    delay 1  -- Wait for Keynote to fully launch
    
    -- Do ALL operations in ONE script
    set newDoc to make new document with properties {document theme:theme "White"}
    delay 0.5  -- Brief pause after creating document
    
    tell newDoc
        -- All slides and content in one block
        ...
    end tell
end tell
EOF

Required delays:

After activate: delay 1 (let app fully launch)
After make new document: delay 0.5
After adding each slide: delay 0.3 (optional but recommended for many slides)

AppleScript Patterns

Create New Presentation

bash

osascript << 'EOF'
tell application "Keynote"
    activate
    set newDoc to make new document with properties {document theme:theme "White"}
    return name of newDoc
end tell
EOF

Available themes: "White", "Black", "Gradient", "Classic", "Modern Type", "Showcase", "Photo Essay", "Bold", "Industrial", "Blueprint"

Add a Slide

bash

osascript << 'EOF'
tell application "Keynote"
    tell front document
        -- Add slide with specific layout
        set newSlide to make new slide with properties {base slide:master slide "Title - Center"}
    end tell
end tell
EOF

Common master slides (layouts):

"Title - Center" - Title and subtitle centered
"Title - Top" - Title at top with content area
"Title & Subtitle" - Classic title slide
"Title & Bullets" - Title with bullet points
"Title, Bullets & Photo" - Title, bullets, and image
"Bullets" - Full slide bullet points
"Photo" - Full slide image
"Photo - Horizontal" - Landscape photo layout
"Quote" - Quote layout
"Blank" - Empty slide

Set Slide Title and Body

bash

osascript << 'EOF'
tell application "Keynote"
    tell front document
        tell current slide
            -- Set title
            set object text of default title item to "Your Title Here"
            
            -- Set body text (for slides with body placeholder)
            set object text of default body item to "• Point 1
• Point 2
• Point 3"
        end tell
    end tell
end tell
EOF

Add Text Box with Custom Position

bash

osascript << 'EOF'
tell application "Keynote"
    tell front document
        tell current slide
            set newText to make new text item with properties {object text:"Custom text here"}
            set position of newText to {100, 200}
            set width of newText to 400
            set height of newText to 100
        end tell
    end tell
end tell
EOF

Add Image to Slide

bash

osascript << 'EOF'
tell application "Keynote"
    tell front document
        tell current slide
            set imgFile to POSIX file "/path/to/image.jpg"
            set newImage to make new image with properties {file:imgFile}
            set position of newImage to {300, 200}
            set width of newImage to 400
        end tell
    end tell
end tell
EOF

Navigate to Specific Slide

bash

osascript << 'EOF'
tell application "Keynote"
    tell front document
        set current slide to slide 3
    end tell
end tell
EOF

Get Slide Count

bash

osascript -e 'tell application "Keynote" to count slides of front document'

Export to PDF

bash

osascript << 'EOF'
tell application "Keynote"
    tell front document
        set exportPath to POSIX file "/Users/username/Desktop/presentation.pdf"
        export to exportPath as PDF
    end tell
end tell
EOF

Save Presentation

bash

osascript << 'EOF'
tell application "Keynote"
    tell front document
        set savePath to POSIX file "/Users/username/Desktop/my_presentation.key"
        save in savePath
    end tell
end tell
EOF

Complete Example: Multi-Slide Presentation

This is the recommended pattern - ALL operations in ONE script with proper delays:

bash

osascript << 'EOF'
tell application "Keynote"
    activate
    delay 1  -- IMPORTANT: Wait for Keynote to fully launch
    
    -- Create new document
    set newDoc to make new document with properties {document theme:theme "White"}
    delay 0.5  -- Wait for document to initialize
    
    tell newDoc
        -- First slide is created automatically, set it as title slide
        tell slide 1
            set base slide to master slide "Title - Center"
            set object text of default title item to "Q1 2026 Business Review"
            set object text of default body item to "Financial Services Division"
        end tell
        delay 0.3
        
        -- Add Overview slide
        set slide2 to make new slide with properties {base slide:master slide "Title & Bullets"}
        delay 0.3
        tell slide2
            set object text of default title item to "Executive Summary"
            set object text of default body item to "• Revenue increased 15% YoY
• New client acquisition: $15M AUM
• Client satisfaction: 4.8/5.0
• All portfolios outperforming benchmarks"
        end tell
        
        -- Add Performance slide
        set slide3 to make new slide with properties {base slide:master slide "Title & Bullets"}
        delay 0.3
        tell slide3
            set object text of default title item to "Investment Performance"
            set object text of default body item to "• Growth Portfolio: +3.2% (Benchmark +2.8%)
• Balanced Portfolio: +2.1% (Benchmark +1.9%)
• Income Portfolio: +0.9% (Benchmark +0.7%)
• Average Alpha: +0.3%"
        end tell
        
        -- Add Next Steps slide
        set slide4 to make new slide with properties {base slide:master slide "Title & Bullets"}
        delay 0.3
        tell slide4
            set object text of default title item to "Q2 Priorities"
            set object text of default body item to "• Complete endowment fund implementation
• Expand alternative investment offerings
• Launch client education seminar series
• Target: $25M total new AUM"
        end tell
        
        delay 0.5  -- Wait before saving
        -- Save the presentation
        set savePath to POSIX file "~/Desktop/Q1_Review.key"
        save in savePath
    end tell
    
    return "Presentation created with 4 slides"
end tell
EOF

Key points about this example:

Single osascript command containing everything
delay 1 after activate to let Keynote fully launch
delay 0.5 after creating document
delay 0.3 after each make new slide
delay 0.5 before save operation

Tips for Better Presentations

Structure: Always start with a title slide, then overview, details, and conclusion
Bullet Points: Keep to 4-6 points per slide for readability
Titles: Use clear, action-oriented titles
Consistency: Use the same master slide for similar content types
Images: Position images consistently across slides

Error Handling

When Keynote operations fail, common issues are:

Crashes/Freezes: Almost always caused by running multiple separate scripts. Solution: Combine into ONE script.
App not running: Use macos_show(app: "keynote") first, then wait 1-2 seconds before running the creation script.
Invalid master slide name: Check available layouts with document's master slides
File path issues: Always use POSIX file syntax and expand ~ to full path (e.g., /Users/username/Desktop/)
"Keynote got an error": Add more delay statements, especially after make new slide

If the script times out or crashes:

First, check if Keynote is still open - it may have created partial content
Try adding longer delays (e.g., delay 1 instead of delay 0.3)
For very long presentations (10+ slides), consider splitting into two separate runs

Recommended Workflow for Generating from Reports

Read the source (reports, documents)
Plan slide structure (identify key sections)
Create presentation with appropriate theme
Add slides iteratively - one at a time with content
Save and Export - save as .key AND export to PDF
Close Keynote - always close the app after finishing (see below)
Send BOTH files to user via messaging platform (.key for editing, PDF for viewing)

Closing Keynote After Creation

IMPORTANT: Always close Keynote after you finish creating and saving the presentation.

If you have macos_close tool available (Visual Demo Mode), use:

macos_close(target: "keynote", delay_ms: 500)

Alternatively, use AppleScript:

bash

osascript -e 'tell application "Keynote" to quit'

This keeps the user's desktop clean and shows a complete workflow.

File Handling

Save .key files to ~/Desktop/ or user's preferred location
Export PDF to the same location with same base name
Use descriptive filenames with dates (e.g., Q1_2026_Review.key and Q1_2026_Review.pdf)
IMPORTANT: Always send both .key and .pdf files to the user

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