MBB-Cell

A think-cell-style charting add-in for Windows PowerPoint, built to make consultant-grade charts with best-in-class labeling, color, and visual control, without think-cell's heavy install.

⚠️ Alpha

MBB-Cell is an early alpha — a workable prototype that already does real work, and a quick way to get consultant-grade charting into PowerPoint today. It is rough in places. Known issues:

• Installation needs work — setup is fiddly, not yet smooth.
• Waterfall chart is not great — functional but needs refinement.
• Visuals and design need work — the panel UI is functional, not polished.

Treat it as an early build, not a finished product. Feedback and issues welcome.

Branches

• dev — the day-to-day line. Dailies and small updates land here first and fastest, so it moves quickly and may be rough.
• master — the stable line. I promote work to master only when a new feature feels good enough to trust.

Want the freshest build? Watch dev. Want the version I'm confident in? Use master.

Install & changelog

• INSTALL.md — install MBB-Cell on Windows PowerPoint (~2 minutes, no admin rights).
• CHANGELOG.md — release and run history.

Docs

Design and build docs live in docs/:

• GOAL.md — the NORTH STAR (drift anchor), definition of done, and out-of-scope.
• PRD.md — what MBB-Cell does, feature by feature, in plain behavior terms.
• ARCHITECTURE.md — the technical approach and the known unknowns.
• DECISIONS.md — the decision log plus full architecture decision records (ADRs).
• GLOSSARY.md — shared vocabulary. Code and docs use these terms.
• ROADMAP.md — v1 scope, fast-follows, and deferred work.
• PROCESS.md — how it gets built: the charter + loopy workflow and the two human gates.

One-paragraph summary

MBB-Cell is a PowerPoint side-panel add-in (Office.js web add-in), not an installed COM add-in. You enter data in a grid inside the panel; the panel draws the chart onto the slide as real, editable PowerPoint shapes. The chart's data and settings are stored invisibly on the slide so you can reselect the chart and keep editing. v1 covers column, bar, line, area, waterfall/bridge, and line+bar combination charts, with automatic labels and totals, per-element and saved-palette color control, chart-type switching, and the core MBB annotations (difference arrows, CAGR arrows, average lines). Pie and doughnut are intentionally excluded.