macOS and Linux · Version 4 (
4.2.0). On Linux, PinDeck runs as a headless server that you use from your Mac's browser through an SSH tunnel (see Running on a Linux server). Windows is not supported. Coming from PinDeck 3: version 4 keeps its settings and chats in~/.pindeck-v4, apart from 3.x (~/.pindeck-v3) and 2.x (~/.pindeck) (see Models, providers and configuration).
Pin it. Say it. Done. PinDeck is a local editor for HTML slide decks (reveal.js): the slides on the left, the slide in the middle, and a chat with Claude Code or OpenAI Codex on the right. You click elements to pin them, write what to change, and the selected assistant edits the HTML and CSS. The slide updates in place.
The example deck in PinDeck. Claude has lined up the three numbers from the first request and checked the layout; the next request, still being typed, refers to the new pins 1 and 2.
- Point instead of describe. Pins name the exact element, word or table cell; "make 2 match 1" is enough. The assistant also gets the measured layout of the slide, so it sees overlaps and overflow without screenshots.
- Edit by hand, too. Move, resize and nudge elements with snapping, edit text in place (math stays TeX), write speaker notes, add, hide, move and delete slides. One undo history covers your edits and the assistant's.
- Stay on brand.
brand.cssis locked: the assistant edits the deck, its styles and other files of the deck folder, neverbrand.cssorvendor/, and checks its own work with PinDeck's layout command. - Bring material in. Attach figures, audio and PDFs to a message, or import slides from PowerPoint into the deck's own layouts.
- Get it out. Present from the browser, or export a handout or presentation PDF.
- Posters, too. A poster is a deck with one slide:
ocean-poster-example/has an A0 portrait and an A0 landscape poster to start from (see Posters). - Local and small. One Node process on 127.0.0.1, no npm dependencies, your existing Claude Code or Codex login.
Runs on macOS and Linux. The npm package declares "os": ["darwin", "linux"], so normal npm installation rejects other operating systems. Overriding that check does not make those platforms supported. Running the server from a cloned repository on another OS shows a local support notice instead of opening the deck or starting a backend.
Install from npm:
npx pindeck /path/to/deckOr run it from source, which includes the example decks:
git clone https://github.com/ehabets/PinDeck.git
cd PinDeck
node front.mjs ocean-examplePinDeck 3 and 2 stay available as npx pindeck@3 /path/to/deck and npx pindeck@2 /path/to/deck (source: the tags v3.4.0 and v2.11.0). Releases, with notes for each version, are on GitHub.
Then open the login link PinDeck prints (PinDeck: http://127.0.0.1:5180/login?code=...). It works once and logs this browser in; for a new one, run pindeck login (or node front.mjs login). On a Mac, pressing Enter in the terminal where PinDeck runs opens a new link in your default browser.
The deck is an .html file (pindeck path/to/talk.html) or a folder, which opens its index.html; without one, the current folder. Several decks can share a folder, each with its own chat and undo history; they share the folder's theme.css and brand.css, and the assistant edits only the deck that is open. PinDeck adds element ids to the deck file when it opens it (see How it works), so try it on a copy of a deck first. Options: --port 5180, --provider claude|codex, --model <name> (for this run only; otherwise the deck's own choice, see Models, providers and configuration), --asset-root <folder> (see Files outside the deck folder), --help. Runtime files (chat history, screenshots, backups) are kept in ~/.pindeck-v4/ (change with PINDECK_HOME), not in the deck. ocean-example/ is a complete example deck to start from.
- Runtime: Node.js 20 or later, plus a modern browser. The release workflow uses Node.js 24.
- Backends: install and sign in to Claude Code (
claude auth login) or OpenAI Codex (codex login). The corresponding executable must be onPATH;CLAUDE_BINandCODEX_BINcan override its path. Only the selected backend is required for editing. Model and effort availability comes from that backend and account, and may differ from the provider’s website or desktop app. - Platforms: macOS and Linux (see Running on a Linux server). Windows is not supported. The npm package declares
"os": ["darwin", "linux"], so normal npm installation rejects other operating systems. This check can be overridden; bypassing it does not make those platforms supported. Source launches on unsupported platforms show a local support page without opening the deck or starting a backend. Native Windows support is not part of version 4. - Screenshots and PDF export: require Chrome, Chromium, Edge or Brave where the server runs.
- PDF input through Codex: pages are rendered with macOS PDFKit, or Poppler on Linux. Page-text extraction uses
osascriptand is macOS-only; on Linux Codex reads the rendered page image. Claude uses its native PDF-reading capabilities. - PowerPoint import: basic
.pptxparsing uses Node.js; rendered slide pictures require PowerPoint or Keynote on macOS, or LibreOffice and Poppler on Linux. - Linux tools: Poppler, LibreOffice and ffmpeg, each optional; features that need a missing one are switched off with the reason shown in the editor.
The initial live editing checks used Codex CLI 0.144.1 and Claude Code 2.1.289. Further live checks on macOS passed with Codex CLI 0.162.1 and Claude Code 2.1.301: editing, Claude effort changes, Codex model changes, conversation handover, undo/redo, cancellation and recovery. These are tested versions, not guaranteed minimum requirements. Backends must support the discovery and session interfaces used by PinDeck. Older CLIs can expose fewer models or fail initialization.
Codex integration uses OpenAI’s experimental dynamicTools extension to the app-server. A future Codex update may require a PinDeck adapter update. Incompatible backends report startup errors; PinDeck does not fall back to broader permissions. Recheck backend compatibility when upgrading.
- Using PinDeck: several decks, every action in the editor, review comments.
- Preparing decks: getting a deck ready, posters, your own template, Quarto decks, PowerPoint import.
- Configuration: models and providers, backend permissions and attachments, keeping the ids out of git.
- Running on a Linux server: the headless server and the SSH tunnel.
- How it works: the architecture, the files, and the current limitations.
- Changelog: what each version brought.
Made your slides with PinDeck? Feel free to put the badge on a closing slide. Its QR code links to this repository. Use the light or dark SVG, or the light or dark PNG. To keep the code easy to scan, show it at least 300 px wide.
Bug reports, ideas, example decks and pull requests are welcome. CONTRIBUTING.md explains how to report a bug, set up PinDeck for development, test a change by hand, and what a pull request should contain. In short: no npm dependencies, deck files are edited only where they must change, both backends’ permissions stay narrow, and the README describes what users see.
MIT, see LICENSE.