Editing a built deck

A liebstoeckel deck ships as a single .html. Unlike most built files, that artifact is not a dead end: by default the build embeds a compressed copy of the deck’s own source inside the file, so you can recover an editable project from it at any time and keep working. You can confirm a file is recoverable before you even install anything: open it, press ? (or right-click), and the help overlay shows an “edit this deck” hint when the source is embedded.

This guide takes you from a bare .html to an editing loop.

1. Install the CLI

You need Bun 1.3+. Then install the umbrella liebstoeckel command:

bun add -g @liebstoeckel/cli

See Getting started for the full setup.

2. Eject the source

Point eject at the .html:

liebstoeckel eject my-talk.html            # → ./my-talk-source/
liebstoeckel eject my-talk.html ./edits    # or choose the output dir

You get back the real project the deck was built from: the slides, index.html, the entry, package.json, and any assets that were in the deck’s "files" list. What you do not get is node_modules (you reinstall those) or anything the build deliberately left out.

When eject won't work

A deck built with --no-inline-package carries no source, so it can’t be ejected. The help overlay’s hint and the embedded carrier are absent in that case, and eject errors clearly. Rebuild without that flag to make a deck recoverable.

Anyone with the file has the source

The embedded source is recoverable by anyone who has the .html. A "files" allowlist in the deck’s package.json (the scaffold ships one) controls exactly what’s embedded, and the build refuses to embed a .env or anything that looks like a credential. Ship --no-inline-package if you need an opaque deck.

3. Install and run

Inside the ejected directory, install dependencies and start the dev server with instant HMR:

1. Install (keep lifecycle scripts off for a deck you didn’t build yourself):

   cd my-talk-source
   bun install --ignore-scripts

2. Edit live:

   liebstoeckel live .        # or: bun run dev

4. Edit it

A deck is just code, so you edit it two ways.

By hand

Slides are MDX or TSX files referenced from the deck’s entry. Change the prose in an .mdx slide, tweak a .tsx component, swap the brand, or add a slide to the list. The dev server hot-reloads as you save. The Authoring guide covers the slide model, steps, and presenter notes.

With an agent

The deck is plain text on disk, so a coding agent can edit it the same way it edits any project. The thing that makes it good at editing a liebstoeckel deck is the liebstoeckel-deck skill. Install it into the ejected directory and your agent learns the deck model and the CLI workflow (scaffold, add charts, wire data, build) without you having to explain any of it:

cd my-talk-source
liebstoeckel skill install        # → Claude, Codex, Cursor, Gemini + an AGENTS.md fallback

The skill is version-pinned to your installed CLI and placed where each agent looks for it. After that, just point your agent at the directory and tell it what to change. See skill for targets and skill update, and the Scaffolding guide for how an agent works a deck.

5. Rebuild

When you’re happy, build a fresh single-file deck (it re-embeds the updated source, so the new .html stays editable too):

liebstoeckel build .          # → ./dist/<deck-slug>.html

Rebuilding runs the deck’s own build-time code, so the first build of an ejected deck asks you to trust it. In a terminal you confirm once. Non-interactively (CI, piped input) it refuses, fail-closed — and trusting a deck you didn’t write is a human decision, so an AI agent should surface it to you rather than approve on its own. Once you have reviewed and trust the deck, approve it with --trust (or LIEBSTOECKEL_TRUST_BUILD=1):

liebstoeckel build . --trust  # a human approving an ejected deck for a non-interactive build

That’s the whole loop: eject → edit → build, repeatable on any deck you hold.

CLI reference: eject Flags, default output dir, and the untrusted-deck rebuild recipe.

Building & deploying What the single-file build inlines and how to ship it.