| Hey HN. I built TypeDeck (https://typedeck.io) because I work in Markdown and hated copy-pasting to make presentations in Google Slides, Powerpoint, etc. The format is intentionally simple: minimal GUI and if you're keyboard-first, standard markdown and HTML comments do it all. Github sync, export to PDF/PPTX. Technical details for the curious:
- React 19 + Vite, Firebase backend
- CodeMirror 6 for the editor
- pptxgenjs for PowerPoint export (this was painful - PPTX is a wild format)
- Mermaid rendering for diagrams
- Design token system with 8px baseline grid, WCAG AA color contrast
- I designed it around how LLMs output text. Ask ChatGPT/Claude for slides, paste the markdown, done. No reformatting step. What's missing:
- No speaker notes (most requested feature, haven't built it)
- No animations or transitions
- Limited to 9 layouts - if you need pixel-perfect custom positioning, this isn't the tool
- No collaboration yet I'd appreciate feedback. First, are these "write markdown, get slides" apps actually useful, or do people want more control than this allows? What layouts am I missing? What would make you use this over just opening Google Slides? Happy to answer questions about the implementation. Thanks for taking a look! |