Slidewright

Roadmap

This document records the direction of the project and the order we plan to build things in. It changes as we learn; pull requests that update it are welcome.

Principles

  • Markdown is the source of truth. A deck is a plain .md file that reads well on its own and degrades gracefully in any Markdown viewer.
  • Our own format. We take inspiration from existing tools (Slidev, Marp, reveal.js) but define our own syntax and don't aim for compatibility with any of them. We build on the same open ecosystem (unified/remark, YAML, Shiki).
  • Embeddable and reactive. <Deck markdown={md} /> works in any React app and re-renders as md changes, keeping the current slide and step.
  • Plain CSS. Styling ships as CSS files themed with CSS custom properties. Nothing to configure in the consumer's bundler, and slide content can be styled with ordinary selectors.
  • No AI in the libraries. The playground may demo AI-assisted editing, but the packages stay provider-free. Instead we publish agent "skills" that teach any AI tool the deck format.
  • Small, deliberate public API. Internals are not exported. Every export is documented.

Packages

PackagePurpose
coreDeck parser and slide model: frontmatter, notes, directives, steps. No React. Runs in Node and the browser.
react<Deck>, layouts, navigation, presenter view, printing, themes.
viteVite plugin: deck file loading, the page around the deck, HMR, the print view.
clidev, build and export commands.
createThe npm create @slidewright project template.
editorEmbeddable editor with live preview. Planned for v0.3.

Milestones

0 — Foundation

  • Monorepo, CI, licence and contributor docs
  • core: one parser for browser and Node, a written syntax spec, tests
  • react: reactive <Deck>, layouts, step reveals, code highlighting, CSS-variable themes
  • Playground switched to the new packages

1 — Presenting (v0.1)

  • Navigation: keyboard (scoped when embedded), touch, URL sync, overview grid, go-to-slide, fullscreen, aspect ratios
  • Presenter mode: notes, next-slide preview, timer, synced windows
  • Complete layout set and custom layouts
  • Code: line numbers, highlight stages, diffs, titles
  • Vite plugin and CLI (dev, build), project template
  • Export to PDF and PNG
  • Documentation site and examples
  • First release on npm, under the @slidewright scope

2 — Components and polish (v0.2)

  • Components in Markdown through a registry (directive syntax): in a React app, with the components prop of <Deck>. Not planned for decks of the CLI and the Vite plugin.
  • MDX support through the Vite plugin, if it fits cleanly Not planned: it doesn't fit. See ADR 0001.
  • Maths (KaTeX)
  • Diagrams (Mermaid)
  • Icons (Iconify sets)
  • Transitions
  • Multi-file decks
  • Agent skills describing the deck format

3 — Editor (v0.3)

  • Redesigned editor package and playground: new UX, not a port of the prototype
  • Drawing and annotations, animated code transitions, PPTX export

@slidewright/create

Start a Markdown deck: npm create @slidewright

On this page

PrinciplesPackagesMilestones0 — Foundation1 — Presenting (v0.1)2 — Components and polish (v0.2)3 — Editor (v0.3)