How to Use IronPPT with Claude Code

Install IronPPT from NuGet, version 2026.10.1, in TrainingHandouts.csproj.
Then turn Program.cs into a smoke test built from @course/module-03-async.json.

Program.cs runs these steps in order:

1. Applies the key, then prints the value of License.IsLicensed.
2. Adds the module's title value to the first slide with Slide.AddText.
3. Saves the deck as out/smoke.pptx, creating out/ if it's missing.
4. Loads out/smoke.pptx again and prints how many slides it has.
5. Lists every text box on each slide, with its text in quotes.

The key is in the IRONPPT_LICENSE_KEY environment variable, and these rules cover it:

- Program.cs reads the variable at startup and copies the value into License.LicenseKey.
- Never log the key, print it, or write it to a file.
- Don't run any command that lists environment variables.
- If you need to check the variable, tell me only whether it's set.

Run the program once and tell me what it printed.

Install IronPPT from NuGet, version 2026.10.1, in TrainingHandouts.csproj.
Then turn Program.cs into a smoke test built from @course/module-03-async.json.

Program.cs runs these steps in order:

1. Applies the key, then prints the value of License.IsLicensed.
2. Adds the module's title value to the first slide with Slide.AddText.
3. Saves the deck as out/smoke.pptx, creating out/ if it's missing.
4. Loads out/smoke.pptx again and prints how many slides it has.
5. Lists every text box on each slide, with its text in quotes.

The key is in the IRONPPT_LICENSE_KEY environment variable, and these rules cover it:

- Program.cs reads the variable at startup and copies the value into License.LicenseKey.
- Never log the key, print it, or write it to a file.
- Don't run any command that lists environment variables.
- If you need to check the variable, tell me only whether it's set.

Run the program once and tell me what it printed.

Write a CLAUDE.md for this repo.
Its Presentations section holds these rules for every later session:

- IronPPT is the only presentation library. Don't add the Open XML SDK or any other.
- Keep the IronPPT version that TrainingHandouts.csproj references now.
- Look up IronPPT member names in docs/IronPPT.xml before you use them.
- course/ holds the inputs. Leave every file in it as it is.
- Program.cs saves decks to out/, and each saved deck is opened again and checked.

Copy IronPPT.xml into docs/ now, from the ironppt 2026.10.1 package in the local NuGet cache.
It's under lib/netstandard2.0. If it's missing, tell me and keep going.

Next, add a subagent at .claude/agents/handout-layout-reviewer.md.
Its tools are Read, Grep and Glob, and no others.
It reviews Handouts/ and answers four questions:

- Which IronPPT types and members does the code use?
- Which of those are missing from docs/IronPPT.xml?
- Which text boxes reach a slide without a Position, Width and Height?
- Which style settings in the code does CLAUDE.md list as lost on save?

I'll add IronPPT's measured text rules to CLAUDE.md myself before the first review.
When you're done, tell me whether the XML copy worked.

Write a CLAUDE.md for this repo.
Its Presentations section holds these rules for every later session:

- IronPPT is the only presentation library. Don't add the Open XML SDK or any other.
- Keep the IronPPT version that TrainingHandouts.csproj references now.
- Look up IronPPT member names in docs/IronPPT.xml before you use them.
- course/ holds the inputs. Leave every file in it as it is.
- Program.cs saves decks to out/, and each saved deck is opened again and checked.

Copy IronPPT.xml into docs/ now, from the ironppt 2026.10.1 package in the local NuGet cache.
It's under lib/netstandard2.0. If it's missing, tell me and keep going.

Next, add a subagent at .claude/agents/handout-layout-reviewer.md.
Its tools are Read, Grep and Glob, and no others.
It reviews Handouts/ and answers four questions:

- Which IronPPT types and members does the code use?
- Which of those are missing from docs/IronPPT.xml?
- Which text boxes reach a slide without a Position, Width and Height?
- Which style settings in the code does CLAUDE.md list as lost on save?

I'll add IronPPT's measured text rules to CLAUDE.md myself before the first review.
When you're done, tell me whether the XML copy worked.

These text rules were measured on IronPPT 2026.10.1:

- IronPPT doesn't read IRONPPT_LICENSE_KEY. Assign License.LicenseKey before the first save.
- Without a key, decks build and load, but Save throws LicensingException and writes no file.
- LicensingException isn't public, so catch (LicensingException) fails with CS0122.
- Match that exception by its type name instead.
- new PresentationDocument() already has one slide, holding an empty title and subtitle.
- A slide is 720 by 540 points.
- Slide.AddText writes a 150 by 100 point box with no position. Two calls overlap.
- Give every TextBox a Position, Width and Height. All three are in points.
- Set the typeface with Font.LatinFont. Font.FontFamily is never written to the file.
- Font.FontSize is in points.
- Align with Paragraph.Style = new ParagraphStyle { Alignment = TextAlignmentTypeValues.Center }.
- Paragraph.Alignment and Paragraph.SetAlignment write left alignment, even for Center or Right.
- Leave TextStyle.Color unset. Each colored run fails Open XML validation.
- new Color(r, g, b) makes Save throw NullReferenceException.
- An Underline writes no u attribute, so nothing is underlined.
- A line break inside one AddText string stays inside one run. Use a Paragraph per line.
- After a reload, font sizes, positions and box sizes read back at 12700 times the XML value.
- It also reports every alignment as Left after a reload.
- So check fonts, sizes, positions and alignment in the slide XML, not through IronPPT's reader.

These text rules were measured on IronPPT 2026.10.1:

- IronPPT doesn't read IRONPPT_LICENSE_KEY. Assign License.LicenseKey before the first save.
- Without a key, decks build and load, but Save throws LicensingException and writes no file.
- LicensingException isn't public, so catch (LicensingException) fails with CS0122.
- Match that exception by its type name instead.
- new PresentationDocument() already has one slide, holding an empty title and subtitle.
- A slide is 720 by 540 points.
- Slide.AddText writes a 150 by 100 point box with no position. Two calls overlap.
- Give every TextBox a Position, Width and Height. All three are in points.
- Set the typeface with Font.LatinFont. Font.FontFamily is never written to the file.
- Font.FontSize is in points.
- Align with Paragraph.Style = new ParagraphStyle { Alignment = TextAlignmentTypeValues.Center }.
- Paragraph.Alignment and Paragraph.SetAlignment write left alignment, even for Center or Right.
- Leave TextStyle.Color unset. Each colored run fails Open XML validation.
- new Color(r, g, b) makes Save throw NullReferenceException.
- An Underline writes no u attribute, so nothing is underlined.
- A line break inside one AddText string stays inside one run. Use a Paragraph per line.
- After a reload, font sizes, positions and box sizes read back at 12700 times the XML value.
- It also reports every alignment as Left after a reload.
- So check fonts, sizes, positions and alignment in the slide XML, not through IronPPT's reader.

Build Handouts/HandoutBuilder.cs and its checker, Handouts/HandoutChecker.cs.
Have Program.cs run both.
Every JSON file in course/ except handout-style.json is a module.

HandoutBuilder follows these rules:

- Each module becomes out/<id>-handout.pptx.
- Another method builds a deck without saving it.
- Each box takes font, size, weight, alignment and box from the style role of the same name.
- Slide 1 is the document's own first slide, with course, title and trainer boxes.
- Each topic then gets a slide, in module file order.
- The title box reads "Module <module>: <title>".
- The trainer box reads "<trainer>, <date>", with the date unchanged.

Topic slides get these boxes:

- heading, the topic heading.
- point, one paragraph per point.
- code, if any, one paragraph per line, leading spaces kept.
- warning, if any.

HandoutChecker reads each saved deck's slide XML from the zip:

- It writes out/handout-check.csv, one row per paragraph, and skips empty shapes.
- It infers roles from the module file and box order.
- One method checks one deck file and returns its rows.
- Its columns are Module, Slide, Role, Text, Typeface, SizePt, Bold, Italic and Align.
- Then come X, Y, Width, Height and Match.
- Align is left, center or right. No algn attribute means left.
- Match is yes when text matches the module file and the rest matches the style file.

Run the program and tell me how many rows say no per module.
Then show me what the handout-layout-reviewer subagent finds.

Build Handouts/HandoutBuilder.cs and its checker, Handouts/HandoutChecker.cs.
Have Program.cs run both.
Every JSON file in course/ except handout-style.json is a module.

HandoutBuilder follows these rules:

- Each module becomes out/<id>-handout.pptx.
- Another method builds a deck without saving it.
- Each box takes font, size, weight, alignment and box from the style role of the same name.
- Slide 1 is the document's own first slide, with course, title and trainer boxes.
- Each topic then gets a slide, in module file order.
- The title box reads "Module <module>: <title>".
- The trainer box reads "<trainer>, <date>", with the date unchanged.

Topic slides get these boxes:

- heading, the topic heading.
- point, one paragraph per point.
- code, if any, one paragraph per line, leading spaces kept.
- warning, if any.

HandoutChecker reads each saved deck's slide XML from the zip:

- It writes out/handout-check.csv, one row per paragraph, and skips empty shapes.
- It infers roles from the module file and box order.
- One method checks one deck file and returns its rows.
- Its columns are Module, Slide, Role, Text, Typeface, SizePt, Bold, Italic and Align.
- Then come X, Y, Width, Height and Match.
- Align is left, center or right. No algn attribute means left.
- Match is yes when text matches the module file and the rest matches the style file.

Run the program and tell me how many rows say no per module.
Then show me what the handout-layout-reviewer subagent finds.

Add an xUnit project, TrainingHandouts.Tests, for net9.0 in a folder of its own.
Keep that folder out of the TrainingHandouts.csproj build, and don't add a solution file.
Copy course/ and out/module-03-handout.pptx into the test output folder as test data.

The tests cover these cases:

- HandoutBuilder makes 5 slides for module-03 and 4 for module-04, with no save.
- The second code line on the last module-04 slide keeps its 4 leading spaces.
- Saving any deck with no key applied throws an exception whose type name is LicensingException.
- That failed save leaves no file at the target path.
- HandoutChecker finds 0 rows marked no in the copied deck.
- A changed heading typeface in a copy of that deck's slide XML gives exactly 1 row marked no.

Run dotnet test on TrainingHandouts.Tests once.
Use a child process with IRONPPT_LICENSE_KEY removed.
Tell me how many tests passed.

Add an xUnit project, TrainingHandouts.Tests, for net9.0 in a folder of its own.
Keep that folder out of the TrainingHandouts.csproj build, and don't add a solution file.
Copy course/ and out/module-03-handout.pptx into the test output folder as test data.

The tests cover these cases:

- HandoutBuilder makes 5 slides for module-03 and 4 for module-04, with no save.
- The second code line on the last module-04 slide keeps its 4 leading spaces.
- Saving any deck with no key applied throws an exception whose type name is LicensingException.
- That failed save leaves no file at the target path.
- HandoutChecker finds 0 rows marked no in the copied deck.
- A changed heading typeface in a copy of that deck's slide XML gives exactly 1 row marked no.

Run dotnet test on TrainingHandouts.Tests once.
Use a child process with IRONPPT_LICENSE_KEY removed.
Tell me how many tests passed.