new-article

name	new-article
description	Scaffold a new XeLaTeX article project from the plugin template — copies main.tex/refs.bib/build files, substitutes title/author/date, sets up the requested language, writes the .latex-agentic.json contract, and verifies with one compile. Use when the user wants to start a new article, paper, or LaTeX document, or says "new article", "start a paper", "scaffold a document".
argument-hint	[title] [language]

new-article

Scaffold a fresh XeLaTeX article project in the current directory. $1 is the document title, $2 is the primary language (default english). Author defaults to the git user; date defaults to today.

Procedure

1. Confirm the target directory is empty-ish. The current working directory is the project root. Refuse to clobber an existing project:

   if [ -f .latex-agentic.json ] || ls -1 *.tex >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     echo "This directory already contains a LaTeX project (.tex or .latex-agentic.json found)."
   fi
   

   If it is non-empty, stop and ask the user whether to pick another directory or proceed anyway. Only continue once they confirm. A few stray dotfiles (.git, .gitignore, README.md) are fine.

2. Copy the article template verbatim into the current directory using the plugin root env var (note the trailing /. to copy contents including dotfiles):

   cp -R "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/templates/article/." .
   

3. Resolve substitution values.

   • TITLE = $1 if provided, else ask the user for a title.
   • AUTHOR = git config user.name if set, else ask the user.
   • DATE = \today (let LaTeX render it) unless the user wants a fixed date.
   • LANGUAGE = $2 lowercased, else english.

4. Substitute the sample metadata in the copied template. main.tex ships with unique sample values that you overwrite with the resolved ones, using the Edit tool for exact, reviewable replacements:

   • \title{A Concise Study of Reproducible Typesetting} → \title{TITLE}
   • \author{Ada A. Researcher\\\small Department of Document Engineering, Example University} → \author{AUTHOR}
   • \date{\today} → \date{DATE} (leave \today if the user wants today's date)
   • The matching pdftitle={A Concise Study of Reproducible Typesetting} and pdfauthor={Ada A. Researcher} lines in the hyperref options — update these too so the PDF metadata matches.

   Escape any LaTeX-special characters (& % $ # _ { } ~ ^ \) in user-supplied text before inserting it.

5. Language setup. If LANGUAGE is not english, delegate to the i18n-typesetter agent: ask it for the polyglossia/fontspec recipe for LANGUAGE (it consults skills/i18n/references/languages.md) and apply the returned preamble changes to main.tex — set the main language via \setmainlanguage{...} and load the matching Noto font family. Do not hand-roll language config; let the specialist drive it. For english, the template default needs no changes.

6. Write the project contract .latex-agentic.json. If the template ships one, update it; otherwise create it. Reflect the chosen language:

   {
     "main": "main.tex",
     "engine": "xelatex",
     "bib": { "backend": "biber", "files": ["refs.bib"], "style": "authoryear" },
     "languages": ["LANGUAGE"],
     "overleaf": { "projectId": "", "transport": "git" }
   }
   

   Replace LANGUAGE with the resolved value (and include english plus the extra language if the document is multilingual).

7. Verify with one compile. Read main and engine from .latex-agentic.json (fall back to main.tex / xelatex) and run the canonical build:

   latexmk -xelatex -interaction=nonstopmode -file-line-error main.tex
   

   On failure, do not dump the whole log — hand off to the /fix-errors flow (error-doctor agent) to isolate and repair the first error, then re-verify.

8. Show next steps. On a clean compile, report the produced PDF path and point the user to the follow-on skills:

   • /compile — rebuild after edits
   • /bibliography — add and manage citations
   • /overleaf — link and sync with Overleaf