Apply slide comments

Process @slide-comment markers in slides/*/index.tsx files and apply the requested edits.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DevelopmentIntermediate
308/29/2026
Claude CodeCursorWindsurfCopilotCodex
#slide-authoring#jsx#comments#code-editing

Recommended for


name: apply-comments description: Apply pending @slide-comment markers written by the open-slide inspector tool. Use when the user asks to "apply comments", "process slide comments", "apply the inspector comments", or references markers left inside slides/<id>/index.tsx.

Apply slide comments

The open-slide editor has an inspector tool that lets the user click on a rendered page element and attach a textual comment (e.g. "make this red", "change to 'Open Slide Rocks'"). Each comment is persisted as an in-source JSX marker inside slides/<slideId>/index.tsx.

Your job: read those markers, perform the described edits, and delete the markers.

Before making any page edit, consult the slide-authoring skill — it is the technical reference for how slides/<id>/index.tsx is structured (canvas, type scale, palette, assets, file contract). A comment like "make this bigger" or "change the accent colour" should be applied in a way that stays consistent with those rules.

Marker format

{/* @slide-comment id="c-<8hex>" ts="<ISO>" text="<base64url(JSON)>" */}
  • Always sits on its own line as the first child inside the JSX element it refers to (i.e. between that element's opening > and its other children). The marker is dropped into its target, not floated above it.

  • text is base64url-encoded JSON: {"note": "...", "hint"?: "..."}.

  • Detection regex (authoritative — use exactly this):

    /\{\/\*\s*@slide-comment\s+id="(c-[a-f0-9]+)"\s+ts="([^"]+)"\s+text="([A-Za-z0-9_\-]+={0,2})"\s*\*\/\}/g
    

Procedure

  1. Identify the target slide(s).

    • If the user names one (getting-started, q2-roadmap, etc.), work on that single slides/<slideId>/index.tsx.
    • If they say "all" or don't specify, scan every slides/*/index.tsx. Process each slide one at a time.
  2. Read the file and find all markers.

    • Run the regex above against the whole file.
    • For each match, base64url-decode text and JSON.parse it to get { note, hint? }.
    • Record each hit as { id, lineIndex (0-based), note, hint }.
    • If there are no markers, tell the user and stop.
  3. Understand each comment in context.

    • The targeted JSX element is the enclosing element of the marker — i.e. read upward from the marker line until you reach the unclosed JSX opening tag whose body the marker lives in. That element is the target. (For self-closing elements like <img />, the inspector hoists the marker to the nearest non-self-closing ancestor; in that case the comment usually refers to a child of the enclosing element rather than the enclosing element itself — use the note text to disambiguate.)
    • Read enough surrounding code (parent element, sibling elements, inline styles) to apply the change faithfully. A comment inside a <div> with an inline background style usually refers to that element's styling, for example.
    • If the note is ambiguous, do the smallest reasonable interpretation and mention the assumption in your summary.
  4. Apply edits in reverse line order.

    • Sort markers by descending lineIndex and process one at a time, using the Edit tool.
    • Processing top-down would invalidate line numbers for later markers as the file shrinks/grows.
  5. Remove each marker after applying its edit.

    • Delete the entire marker line including its trailing \n.
    • Never leave a marker behind for an edit you applied — that signals a failure. Markers deliberately skipped per the edge cases below stay in place.
  6. Verify.

    • After all edits, re-read the file and confirm the only remaining markers are ones you reported as skipped.
    • Confirm the edited JSX is well-formed (balanced tags, no dangling attributes). If the project's package.json has typecheck/lint scripts, run them with the project's package manager; scaffolded projects ship neither TypeScript nor a linter — there, rely on the running dev server (or the build script) to surface compile errors. Fix any errors you introduced.
  7. Report.

    • Summarise: N applied, M skipped plus a one-line description of each change (including the slide id).

base64url decoding helper

function decode(s) {
  const pad = s.length % 4 === 0 ? '' : '='.repeat(4 - (s.length % 4));
  return Buffer.from(s.replace(/-/g, '+').replace(/_/g, '/') + pad, 'base64').toString('utf8');
}

You can run this inline via node -e '...' if you need to inspect a payload; otherwise just reason about the decoded string.

Edge cases

  • Marker with no enclosing JSX element (shouldn't happen — the inspector won't write one — but if you find one): delete it and note as orphan.
  • Multiple markers stacked on consecutive lines inside the same element: they all refer to that enclosing element. Read their notes in source order to understand the combined intent, then apply and delete them bottom-up per step 4.
  • Comment asks for something outside the target element's scope (e.g. "add a new page"): do the closest-reasonable edit and mention the scope expansion in your summary.
  • Can't resolve the comment (e.g. truly ambiguous, or the file changed shape such that the target element doesn't exist): leave the marker in place and report it as skipped. Don't guess.

Do not

  • Do not touch package.json, open-slide.config.ts, or files outside slides/.
  • Do not add dependencies.
  • Do not re-introduce markers or leave TODO breadcrumbs — the user already has a record in git.
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