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The slides binary accepts the following flags. Flags take precedence over environment variables, which in turn take precedence over values saved in config.json.

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Flag reference

FlagShortDescriptionDefault
--port <n>-pPort to listen on3000
--data-dir <path>-dDirectory containing slideshow JSON files./data/slideshows
--api-key <key>-kAnthropic API key for AI assistant features(none)
--open-oOpen the browser automatically after the server startsfalse
--initSave current flags as defaults and attempt to install a launcher symlink—
--install-path <path>Custom directory for the launcher symlink (used with --init)auto-detected
--versionPrint the binary version and exit—
--helpPrint help text and exit—

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—port

Sets the TCP port the server listens on. Valid values are 1–65535. 
./slides --port 8080
./slides -p 8080
If the port is already in use, the server will fail to start. Free the port first or choose a different one.

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—data-dir

Specifies the directory from which slideshow JSON files are loaded. The path is resolved to an absolute path at startup. When --data-dir is provided, the server uses that path exclusively — no fallback applies. If omitted, the server searches in order: data/slideshows/ adjacent to the binary, then data/slideshows/ in the current working directory. 
./slides --data-dir /home/you/presentations
./slides -d ./my-slideshows
Images referenced by slideshows should be placed in an img/ subdirectory inside the data directory. They are served at /img/*.

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—api-key

Provides an Anthropic API key to enable the AI assistant. Without this flag (and without the ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable), the server starts normally but AI features will be unavailable. 
./slides --api-key sk-ant-xxx
./slides -k sk-ant-xxx
Avoid passing your API key as a shell argument in shared or logged environments — it may appear in process listings or shell history. Prefer setting ANTHROPIC_API_KEY as an environment variable or saving it via --init instead.

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—open

Opens the default browser to http://localhost:<port> immediately after the server starts. Uses open on macOS, xdg-open on Linux, and cmd /c start on Windows. 
./slides --open
./slides --port 4000 --open

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—init

Runs the one-time setup workflow:
  1. Saves the current resolved flags (--port, --data-dir, --api-key, --open) to ~/.config/slides/config.json (or %APPDATA%\slides\config.json on Windows).
  2. On macOS and Linux, attempts to install a symlink named slides into a writable directory on your PATH (/usr/local/bin, /opt/homebrew/bin, or ~/.local/bin — tried in that order). On Windows, prints instructions to add the extracted folder to PATH manually.
After a successful init, you can invoke slides directly from any directory without specifying the full path. 
# Save defaults with all options, then install launcher
./slides --init --port 4000 --data-dir /path/to/slides --api-key sk-ant-xxx --open

# Specify a custom install location for the launcher symlink
./slides --init --install-path ~/.local/bin
To update saved defaults later, re-run --init with the new values or edit the config file directly. See Configuration for the config file format.
--init exits immediately after completing setup — it does not start the server.

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—install-path

Overrides the directory used when --init installs the launcher symlink. Has no effect if --init is not also provided. 
./slides --init --install-path /opt/local/bin
./slides --init --install-path ~/.local/bin

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Usage examples

./slides

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Flag precedence

When the same setting is configured in multiple places, the order of precedence from highest to lowest is:
  1. CLI flags passed at invocation time
  2. Environment variables (PORT, DATA_DIR, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY)
  3. Saved config (~/.config/slides/config.json)
  4. Built-in defaults (port 3000, ./data/slideshows)

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