# Build brief — a focused alternative to Gamma

> **Verdict:** Partly, if you narrow it · **Buildability:** 54/100 · **Category:** Presentations
> **Source:** https://www.canitbevibecoded.com/gamma
> Independent editorial assessment from Can It Be Vibe Coded? Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or derived from Gamma. Verify current pricing and capabilities before acting.

## Context

**Gamma** — AI presentation and document builder for decks, docs, and sites. It currently costs $12/mo.

An AI slide generator is buildable, but Gamma's strength is layouts, editing model, exports, hosting, analytics, and shareable deck/site UX.

This brief describes a focused, single-operator replacement for the part of Gamma that is genuinely reproducible. It is deliberately narrower than the product it replaces, and it says so in writing. Build the useful core; do not pretend to have rebuilt the rest.

## What you are building

Prompt an LLM for outline, generate slide/cards JSON, render with templates, export PDF/PPTX, and host a share page.

- Build a focused single-user workflow with real persistence, search, and export.
- A responsive interface with real empty, loading, success, and error states.

## Requirements

### Functional

- Slide renderer.
- Template system.
- Export pipeline.
- Hosted app.

### Data and integrations

- LLM API.
- Optional image API.

Each of these needs a real account, credential, or quota. Set them up before writing feature code.

### Non-functional

- Accessibility: semantic markup, labelled controls, visible focus, and reduced-motion support.
- Security: server-side secrets, validated input, and no credentials in the client bundle.
- Reliability: retries with backoff on external calls, and a clear failure state when a provider is down.
- Portability: the operator can export their data and leave without losing it.

## Implementation brief

Build me an AI slide-deck generator to replace Gamma. Requirements:

- A Node CLI around Slidev. `deck new "<topic>"` asks an LLM (key in .env) for
  an outline, then slide-by-slide content as JSON: title, bullets, speaker
  notes, layout name.
- Render that JSON to a Slidev slides.md; `deck preview` runs the Slidev dev
  server, `deck export` writes PDF and PPTX.
- Five layouts: title, bullets, two-column, big-quote, image-right. Images are
  optional via an image API key in .env; skip them cleanly when absent.
- One theme file for fonts and colors so every deck matches without redesign.
- `deck redo <n>` regenerates a single slide by number and leaves the rest
  untouched.
- Decks are files in ./decks/<slug>/ (slides.md plus assets), kept in git and
  hand-editable after generation. No database.
- No accounts, no telemetry; the only network calls are the LLM and optional
  image API.
- Out of scope: a web editor, share links with analytics, collaboration.
  slides.md in my editor is the editor.
- README: keys, export commands, and how to add a layout.

## Delivery standard

- Inspect the repository first, then write a short implementation plan before writing code.
- Deliver the smallest complete end-to-end workflow first; every primary control must work against persisted data.
- Use real validation and storage; never substitute fake dashboards, decorative controls, hard-coded success states, or mock integrations.
- Include responsive layouts plus genuine empty, loading, success, validation, and failure states.
- Keep secrets server-side in environment variables, provide .env.example, and never commit credentials or user data.
- Add structured logs around every external call and return actionable errors without leaking sensitive details.
- Write unit tests for the core logic and one automated test of the main user journey.
- Finish with a README covering setup, architecture, data location, backups, tests, deployment, and known limitations.

## Acceptance criteria

- [ ] A clean install starts the app using only the README and .env.example.
- [ ] The primary journey works from first visit through saved result, reload, edit, export, and deletion where applicable.
- [ ] Invalid input, missing configuration, provider failure, and an empty database each have a usable state.
- [ ] The interface works at 390px and 1440px, is keyboard navigable, and shows visible focus on every control.
- [ ] Tests, type checking, linting, and a production build all pass with no ignored failures.
- [ ] No part of the interface implies a live integration, security guarantee, or scale capability that was not actually built and verified.

## Non-goals

Do not build these, and do not claim to have replaced them:

- Polished editor.
- Responsive card model.
- Exports.
- Analytics.
- The last 20 percent is sync, migration fidelity, speed, and edge cases.
- Licensed content and distribution rights are not reproducible with an LLM.

## What you still own after launch

- Secure credentials, rotate secrets, and handle provider rate limits.
- Run migrations, backups, restores, and dependency updates.
- Test the critical journey after every model, API, or hosting change.
- Monitor failures and fix the edge cases a first prompt will miss.

## Risk

**Manageable.** A personal version is realistic if you test the critical journey and keep reliable backups.

Editorial confidence in this assessment: medium. No independent one-shot implementation is linked yet.

## Prior art

Working open-source software you can read, fork, or borrow from before starting:

- [Slidev](https://github.com/slidevjs/slidev) — Open-source Markdown/HTML slide deck generator; good foundation for a developer-oriented c

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