Get the most out of Cuppa Studio's AI features — in Studio, CLI, and MCP.
Cuppa Studio's AI generates presentations in Cuppa Studio markdown — the same format you'd write by hand. Behind the scenes, your prompt is combined with a detailed system prompt that teaches the AI about all 17 element types, 14 layouts, 8 themes, and presentation templates. The better your prompt describes what you want, the better the output.
AI is available in three places:
| Where | How |
|---|---|
| Cuppa Studio | AI drawer in the toolbar — generate or refine |
| CLI | mycuppa ai "your prompt" |
| MCP | generate_presentation / refine_presentation tools in Claude Desktop or any MCP client |
A strong prompt has three parts: topic, structure hints, and element requests.
| Part | What It Does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Topic | What the presentation is about | "Explain WebSockets" |
| Structure | How many slides, target audience, depth | "in 8 slides for a senior engineering audience" |
| Elements | What rich elements to include | "with architecture diagram, code examples, and terminal demo" |
Compare these prompts and the difference in output quality:
Make a presentation about Docker Gets you: 5 generic text-heavy slides with bullet points. No visuals, no interactivity.
A tech talk about Docker containerization for backend engineers. Include a mermaid architecture diagram showing container orchestration, terminal demos of common Docker commands, a comparison table of Docker vs VMs, and stats on container adoption. Use the dark theme. 8 slides. Gets you: a polished deck with diagrams, interactive terminal, data table, animated stats counters, and proper flow.
A code walkthrough of our authentication system refactor.
Include a file tree showing the project structure, code blocks
with the key modules (auth middleware, token service, session store),
a diff showing the before/after of the token validation change,
and a mermaid sequence diagram of the auth flow.
Add speaker notes on the complex slides. Use the dark theme.Product demo for our new API gateway. Include cards highlighting
4 key features (rate limiting, auth, caching, monitoring) with
different accent colors. Show a terminal demo of setting it up,
an API element for the main endpoint, a bar chart comparing
latency before and after, and stats showing key metrics.
Use the bold theme. 10 slides.Incident postmortem for the March 5 database outage.
Include a timeline element showing the incident progression
(detection, investigation, mitigation, resolution), a diff
showing the config change that caused it, a callout box with
the key lesson learned, and a table of action items with owners
and deadlines. Use the dark theme.Sprint 42 demo for the Platform team. Show cards for the 3
features we shipped, stats with sprint velocity and bug count,
a terminal demo of the new CLI command, and a mermaid chart
of the updated architecture. Keep it to 7 slides.
Use the ocean theme.A hands-on workshop on building REST APIs with Express.js.
Include step-by-step code examples progressing from basic
to advanced, terminal demos showing each step, a file tree
of the final project structure, and a callout with common
pitfalls. Target beginners. 12 slides. Use the ocean theme.Cuppa Studio supports 17 element types. Mentioning them in your prompt tells the AI exactly what to render. Here's what you can ask for:
| Element | How to Request It | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Code blocks | "code examples", "syntax-highlighted code" | Implementation examples, API usage |
| Terminal | "terminal demo", "CLI commands" | Setup steps, command workflows |
| Mermaid diagrams | "architecture diagram", "flow diagram", "sequence diagram" | System design, data flows, processes |
| Cards | "feature cards", "cards with icons" | Feature highlights, team members, key points |
| Stats | "stats counters", "key metrics" | KPIs, performance numbers, traction data |
| Charts | "bar chart", "line chart", "pie chart" | Data visualization, comparisons, trends |
| Tables | "comparison table", "data table" | Feature comparisons, structured data |
| File tree | "file tree", "project structure" | Codebase structure, directory layout |
| Diff | "diff", "before/after code change" | Code reviews, migrations, refactors |
| Callout | "callout box", "tip box", "warning box" | Important notes, tips, warnings, gotchas |
| API endpoint | "API endpoint", "REST API docs" | API documentation, endpoint reference |
| Timeline | "timeline", "chronological milestones" | Roadmaps, incident timelines, project phases |
| Images | "include images", "hero image" | Visual emphasis, product screenshots |
| Blockquotes | "quote", "pull quote" | Key statements, testimonials |
| Lists | "bullet points", "numbered steps" | Features, processes, agendas |
| Dividers | Auto-added by AI | Visual separation between content |
| Text | Always included | Headings, body text, captions |
Specify a theme in your prompt to match the tone. The AI will auto-select if you don't specify one.
| Theme | When to Request |
|---|---|
dark | Technical talks, developer content, code-heavy |
light | General purpose, client-facing, business |
minimal | Startup pitches, product demos, clean aesthetic |
corporate | Business presentations, proposals, formal |
elegant | Creative talks, storytelling, design content |
bold | Keynotes, marketing, announcements |
forest | Nature, sustainability, green topics |
ocean | Technology, data, research |
For common presentation types, mention a template to get a professionally designed structure with consistent slide compositions:
| Template | Prompt Hint | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
tech-talk | "a tech talk about..." | Designed intro with badge, styled section dividers, code-focused layouts |
pitch-deck | "a pitch deck for..." | Hero, problem/solution, metrics, CTA slides with designed compositions |
workshop | "a workshop on..." | Duration intro, numbered steps, exercise boxes, checkpoints |
changelog | "release notes for..." | Version cover, NEW/BREAKING/FIXES badges, credits |
If you're using Cuppa Studio through an MCP client (Claude Desktop, etc.), the MCP server provides 10 pre-built prompt templates that automatically structure your request with the right elements and theme:
| Template | Input | Auto-Includes |
|---|---|---|
tech-talk | Topic | Mermaid diagrams, code, terminal, Q&A |
team-update | Team name | Stats, highlights, blockers, action items |
product-demo | Product | Cards, terminal, code, pricing table |
workshop | Topic | Step-by-step code, exercises, resources |
pitch-deck | Company | Stats, charts, pricing, team cards |
architecture-review | System | Mermaid, file tree, code paths, stats |
sprint-demo | Sprint | Cards, terminal, diffs, stats |
code-walkthrough | Topic | File tree, code, diffs, mermaid, callouts |
incident-postmortem | Incident | Timeline, diffs, callouts, action table |
api-docs | API name | API elements, code, error table, callouts |
These templates save you from writing detailed prompts — just pick one and provide the topic. Example in Claude Desktop:
# Use a prompt template
Use the tech-talk template with topic "WebSockets"
# Or the AI will use generate_presentation tool directly
Generate a presentation about WebSocketsAfter generating, you can refine your presentation with targeted instructions. The AI modifies only what you ask — it preserves everything else.
| What You Want | Prompt |
|---|---|
| Add a slide | "Add a pricing comparison table after the features slide" |
| Improve a slide | "Replace the bullet list on slide 3 with feature cards using icons" |
| Add visuals | "Add a mermaid diagram showing the data flow on the architecture slide" |
| Change tone | "Make the intro more casual and add a hook question" |
| Add data | "Add a stats section with our Q1 metrics: 50K users, 99.9% uptime, 45ms p95 latency" |
| Restructure | "Split the long features slide into 3 separate slides, one per feature" |
| Change theme | "Switch to the bold theme" |
| Add notes | "Add speaker notes to slides 2-5" |
# Studio — use the "Refine" tab in the AI drawer
"Add a terminal demo showing the setup steps"
# CLI
mycuppa ai --refine my-talk/ "Add a pricing slide after features"
# MCP (Claude Desktop)
Use the refine_presentation tool on my-talk.md:
"Add a timeline showing the project milestones"--from for source content — mycuppa ai --from notes.md converts existing content into a presentationCopy-paste these prompt patterns:
# Pattern: [type] about [topic] for [audience]. Include [elements]. [slide count]. [theme].
# Technical
"A tech talk about GraphQL subscriptions for backend engineers.
Include a mermaid sequence diagram, code examples in TypeScript,
a terminal demo, and comparison table vs REST. 8 slides. Dark theme."
# Business
"A quarterly business review for the executive team. Include stats
with revenue, user growth, and NPS score, a line chart showing
MRR trend, cards for top initiatives, and a table of OKR progress.
7 slides. Corporate theme."
# Educational
"A workshop on Git branching strategies for junior developers.
Include terminal demos of each workflow, a mermaid diagram of
gitflow, code diffs showing merge vs rebase, and callout boxes
for common mistakes. 12 slides. Ocean theme."