open-presentation

Open an existing PowerPoint presentation and create a backup copy. Specify the presentation name and optional save path to ensure data preservation during editing.

Instructions

Opens an existing presentation and saves a copy to a new file for backup. Use this tool when the user requests to open a presentation that has already been created.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`output_path`	No	Path where to save the presentation (optional)
`presentation_name`	Yes	Name of the presentation to open

Implementation Reference

src/powerpoint/server.py:324-342 (registration)

Registers the 'open-presentation' tool with MCP server, including description and input schema.

types.Tool(
    name="open-presentation",
    description="Opens an existing presentation and saves a copy to a new file for backup. Use this tool when "
                "the user requests to open a presentation that has already been created.",
    inputSchema={
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
            "presentation_name": {
                "type": "string",
                "description": "Name of the presentation to open",
            },
            "output_path": {
                "type": "string",
                "description": "Path where to save the presentation (optional)",
            },
        },
        "required": ["presentation_name"],
    },
),

src/powerpoint/server.py:372-408 (handler)

Handler function that loads the specified presentation file, sanitizes the path, creates a backup as 'backup.pptx', loads it into python-pptx Presentation object, and stores it in PresentationManager for further editing.

if name == "open-presentation":
    presentation_name = arguments.get("presentation_name")
    if not presentation_name:
        raise ValueError("Missing presentation name")
    file_name = f"{presentation_name}.pptx"

    try:
        safe_file_path = sanitize_path(folder_path, file_name)
    except ValueError as e:
        raise ValueError(f"Invalid file path: {str(e)}")

    # attempt to load presentation
    try:
        prs = Presentation(safe_file_path)
    except Exception as e:
        raise ValueError(f"Unable to load {safe_file_path}. Error: {str(e)}")

    # Create a backup of the original file
    file_name = BACKUP_FILE_NAME
    try:
        safe_file_path = sanitize_path(folder_path, file_name)
    except ValueError as e:
        raise ValueError(f"Invalid file path: {str(e)}")
    # attempt to save a backup of presentation
    try:
        prs.save(safe_file_path)
    except Exception as e:
        raise ValueError(f"Unable to save {safe_file_path}. Error: {str(e)}")

    presentation_manager.presentations[presentation_name] = prs

    return [
        types.TextContent(
            type="text",
            text=f"Opened presentation: {presentation_name}"
        )
    ]

src/powerpoint/server.py:18-30 (helper)

Helper function used by open-presentation to sanitize file paths and prevent directory traversal.

def sanitize_path(base_path: str, file_name: str) -> str:
    """
    Ensure that the resulting path doesn't escape outside the base directory
    Returns a safe, normalized path
    """

    joined_path = os.path.join(base_path, file_name)
    normalized_path = os.path.normpath(joined_path)

    if not normalized_path.startswith(base_path):
        raise ValueError(f"Invalid path. Attempted to access location outside allowed directory.")

    return normalized_path

PowerPoint MCP Server