sn-ppt-workbench

Start or reuse the AI PPT editing WebUI for an existing HTML slide deck. The helper prefers Hermes/canvas/port-forward URLs when available. Without a forwarded URL, native hosts bind to localhost by default, while Docker/WSL bind to 0.0.0.0 so remote users can reach the WebUI through the host network.

Use Cases

• The user already generated a deck and asks to open the WebUI/editor/workbench.
• The user provides a deckdir containing pages/pageNNN.html or root-level .html slides.
• The user says to inspect or edit previously generated slides without regenerating them.

Hard Rules

1. Do not run sn-ppt-entry, sn-ppt-standard, page-html, batch-page-html, or export.
2. Do not edit slide files directly. The WebUI handles user-visible editing.
3. If deck_dir is missing, auto-detect the newest usable deck under:

- $(pwd)/pptdecks - ~/Downloads/pptdecks - ~/Repository/ppt_decks

1. If no usable deck is found, ask the user for the absolute deck_dir.
2. Workbench startup is best-effort. If it skips or fails, report the reason and do not attempt generation as a fallback.
3. Prefer a forwarded/canvas URL over localhost when the user may be on SSH, IM, or another remote device.

Invocation

Use the helper directly:

python3 $SKILL_DIR/scripts/open_workbench.py --deck-dir "<deck_dir>" --agent-session-id "${HERMES_SESSION_KEY:-}"

On native Windows where python3 is unavailable:

python $SKILL_DIR/scripts/open_workbench.py --deck-dir "<deck_dir>" --agent-session-id "%HERMES_SESSION_KEY%"

If the user did not provide a deck path, let the helper auto-detect:

python3 $SKILL_DIR/scripts/open_workbench.py --agent-session-id "${HERMES_SESSION_KEY:-}"

Pass same-session bridge details when available:

python3 $SKILL_DIR/scripts/open_workbench.py \
  --deck-dir "<deck_dir>" \
  --agent-session-id "${HERMES_SESSION_KEY:-}" \
  --agent-managed 1 \
  --agent-provider hermes \
  --agent-transport gateway \
  --webui-base-url "${HERMES_WEBUI_BASE_URL:-}" \
  --gateway-base-url "${HERMES_GATEWAY_BASE_URL:-}"

For non-Hermes interactive providers, pass structured bridge details instead of scraping CLI/TUI output:

python3 $SKILL_DIR/scripts/open_workbench.py \
  --deck-dir "<deck_dir>" \
  --agent-managed 1 \
  --agent-provider openclaw \
  --agent-transport rest \
  --agent-base-url "${WORKBENCH_AGENT_BASE_URL:-}" \
  --agent-api-key "${WORKBENCH_AGENT_API_KEY:-}"

python3 $SKILL_DIR/scripts/open_workbench.py \
  --deck-dir "<deck_dir>" \
  --agent-managed 1 \
  --agent-provider codex \
  --agent-transport acp \
  --acp-command "${WORKBENCH_ACP_COMMAND:-codex-acp}"

For WorkBuddy, pass --agent-provider workbuddy only as provider identity. Tell the user clearly that WorkBuddy currently has no supported API or ACP interface for the interactive workbench bridge, so the WebUI can show WorkBuddy status but cannot send bottom-chat modification turns back to WorkBuddy.

CLI Subcommands (direct launch fallback)

When bypassing open_workbench.py and invoking the workbench launcher directly, use subcommands:

node <launcher> start   --deck-dir "<path>" [--port 0] [--agent-managed]
node <launcher> status  --deck-dir "<path>"
node <launcher> stop    --deck-dir "<path>"

The old argument-only form (no subcommand) is deprecated — it will print a usage error.

Restart pitfall: start silently reuses an existing server instance for the same deck-dir (response contains "reused": true). If you updated the workbench code, you MUST run stop first, then start — otherwise the old process keeps serving stale code:

node <launcher> stop  --deck-dir "<path>"
node <launcher> start --deck-dir "<path>" --port 0

Bind Host

The workbench resolves its bind address from --host CLI flag → WORKBENCHHOST env var → default 127.0.0.1. When the user needs remote/LAN access, set WORKBENCHHOST=0.0.0.0:

export WORKBENCH_HOST=0.0.0.0
node <launcher> start --deck-dir "<path>" --port 0

The response url field will then show the LAN IP instead of 127.0.0.1.

Output Handling

Parse the single JSON line from stdout.

When status == "ok", echo the returned editorurl, publicurl, or workbench.editorUrl for existing-deck editing requests. The helper may also return generation_url; that URL is the generation progress page at /progress, while the editor is /editor.

PPT 编辑工作台已启动：<editor_url>

If workbench.reused == true, say it reused the existing server.

If bind_host is 0.0.0.0, the URL is a Docker/WSL LAN fallback. Tell the user it must be reachable from their device/network; if not, ask them to provide a Hermes/canvas/port-forward URL and rerun with --public-url, or an explicit bind host with --host.

When status == "skipped" or status == "failed", echo the reason field. If reason == "nodejsmissing", ask whether the user wants NodeJS/dependencies installed; if they decline, do not open the WebUI. Ask for a valid deckdir only if the reason says no deck was found.

Environment

The helper locates the editor launcher in this order:

1. SENSENOVAPPTWORKBENCH_CLI
2. PPTWORKBENCHCLI
3. ~/Repository/ppt-editor/src/ppt-editor/bin/sensenova-ppt-workbench.mjs
4. ~/Repository/ppt-editor/tools/ppt-editor/bin/sensenova-ppt-workbench.mjs
5. Legacy ~/Repository/ppt-editor/bin/sensenova-ppt-workbench.mjs
6. Common sibling repo layouts

If the editor is not built, the helper runs npm run build in the ppt-editor repo unless --no-build is provided.

Remote URL discovery order:

1. Explicit --public-url
2. WORKBENCHPUBLICURL, HERMESWORKBENCHPUBLIC_URL
3. Hermes/canvas/forwarding env vars such as HERMESCANVASURL, HERMESPORTFORWARDURL, CANVASURL, PORTFORWARDURL, TUNNEL_URL
4. Codespaces/Gitpod URL patterns
5. Localhost on native hosts, or LAN fallback from the machine's non-loopback IPv4 address on Docker/WSL

Gateway Auth Setup

For writable interactive agent bridging (chat panel in workbench), Hermes keeps using the existing WebUI/Gateway protocol. OpenClaw should be exposed through a Gateway/REST-compatible HTTP endpoint. Codex and Claude Code should use ACP JSON-RPC adapters, configured with --acp-command or WORKBENCHACPCOMMAND. Never parse provider CLI/TUI output for chat synchronization.

For writable Hermes Gateway bridging, the Gateway API server and workbench must authenticate with matching API keys.

Key env vars:

Quick steps:

• Gateway: set APISERVERKEY in .env, restart gateway
• Workbench: set WORKBENCHGATEWAYAPIKEY to same value, set HERMESGATEWAYBASEURL=http://127.0.0.1:8642
• If no explicit bridge key is set, the Node relay falls back to APISERVERKEY, HERMESGATEWAYAPIKEY, then backend-only AIGATEWAYAPIKEY (ppt-editor-dev by default). Prefer the explicit bridge key for custom/shared gateways.

Progress Echo

Always send a short progress message before and after the helper: