| name | project-deck |
| description | Generate "future self" Beamer presentation decks as progress logs for research projects. Use when users ask to create a project deck, document project status, make slides summarizing their research, log what they've done on a project, or prepare update materials for coauthors. This skill creates dated LaTeX Beamer presentations (written to ./deck/project-deck-YYYYMMDD.tex) that preserve project context across work sessions - not for public speaking, but for communicating with your future self and collaborators. |
Project Deck Generator
Generate Beamer decks as progress logs - visual, structured snapshots of project state.
Workflow
Phase 1: Context Discovery
- Check for previous decks in
./deck/ to understand project history
- Read CLAUDE.md, README.md if they exist
- Scan project folder structure (identify data files, code, results, figures)
- Read any markdown files for context
- Auto-detect: Is this the first deck (no previous in ./deck/) or subsequent?
Phase 2: Gap Filling
If context is insufficient, ask targeted questions using AskUserQuestion:
For first deck (no previous exists):
- What is the research question?
- What data are you using?
- What is the identification strategy / methodology?
- Who are the authors?
For subsequent decks (previous exists):
- What was accomplished since the last deck?
- Any new results or figures?
- What's next?
Phase 3: Deck Generation
Generate complete Beamer .tex file following the rhetoric principles in references/deck.md.
Output location: ./deck/project-deck-YYYYMMDD.tex (create ./deck/ if needed)
Theme: Copy assets/beamerthemeProjectDeck.sty to ./deck/ on first use.
Deck Structure
\documentclass[aspectratio=169]{beamer}
\usetheme{ProjectDeck}
\title{Project Title}
\author{Authors}
\date{\today}
Slides to include:
-
Title slide - Project name, authors, date, status indicator (e.g., "Work in Progress")
-
Research Question - What we're trying to answer and why it matters
- Title as assertion: "We ask whether X affects Y"
- Brief motivation (2-3 bullet points max)
-
Context/Background - Key institutional details, prior work gap
- Title as assertion: "Prior work ignores the Z margin"
-
Data - What data, where from, sample size, key numbers
- Title as assertion: "We use N observations from Source"
-
Identification Strategy - How we establish causality / methodology
- Title as assertion: "We exploit variation in X"
-
Results (if available) - Tables/figures with highlighted coefficients
- Title as assertion: "Treatment increases Y by Z%"
- Use \alert{} or color boxes to highlight key numbers
-
Directory Structure - What files exist and what they do
- Use verbatim or listing environment
- Annotate key files
-
What's Done - Completed work
- Bullet list of accomplishments
-
What's Next - Open questions, next steps, blockers
-
Key Decisions - Rationale for choices made (for future reference)
Phase 4: Output & Validation
- Create
./deck/ folder if it doesn't exist
- Write
./deck/project-deck-YYYYMMDD.tex with today's date
- Copy theme file to
./deck/ if not already present
- Attempt compilation:
- Run
pdflatex project-deck-YYYYMMDD.tex in ./deck/
- If pdflatex is not available or fails completely → skip to step 6
- If compilation succeeds, validate and fix:
- Parse the .log file for overfull/underfull hbox/vbox warnings
- For each warning, fix the corresponding issue in the .tex file:
- Overfull hbox: reduce content, add line breaks, adjust column widths
- Underfull hbox: adjust spacing or content
- Overfull vbox: split content across slides, reduce vertical spacing
- Recompile and repeat until no warnings remain
- Confirm clean compile to user
- If pdflatex unavailable:
Key Principles
Decks as Logs
Each deck is a standalone snapshot of project state on that date. The ./deck/ folder accumulates a history of these snapshots.
"Future Self" Rhetoric
From the rhetoric principles - when making a deck for your future self:
- Be more explicit than for live presentation
- Include the "why" behind choices, not just the "what"
- Write in complete thoughts where necessary
- Date everything
- Assume you'll have forgotten the context
Slide Design
- One idea per slide - if you're saying "and also," you need another slide
- Titles are assertions, not labels - "Treatment increased distance by 61 miles" not "Results"
- Lead with conclusions - state the finding, then support it
- Visual hierarchy - what's big is important
- Highlight key numbers - use \alert{} or color boxes in tables
Beauty as Functional Rhetoric
Decks must be beautiful. Beauty captures attention, and attention enables learning. "Humans want to stare at beautiful things" - the goal is stare AND learn.
Unique design:
- Must not look like a recognizable Beamer theme (Metropolis, Madrid, etc.)
- If using a base theme, it should be unrecognizable
- Custom colors, fonts, and styling
Cognitive density:
- Too much density is not beautiful
- Prefer two slides over one crowded slide
- White space is valuable - let content breathe
Quantification:
- Brain needs numbers, tables, figures
- Visualize key results with beautiful charts
- Tables should be clean, highlighted, readable
TikZ for narrative:
- Use TikZ for functional, beautiful visualizations
- Examples: timelines, process flows, geographic maps, causal diagrams
- Must service the narrative, not just decorate
Directory structure:
Clean compile (when pdflatex available):
- Compile the generated .tex file automatically
- Parse log file for ALL overfull/underfull hbox/vbox warnings
- Fix each issue in the source .tex file
- Recompile until log shows no warnings
- Only present final deck to user after clean compile
Fallback (when pdflatex unavailable):
- Output .tex file without compilation
- Provide manual compilation instructions
