scaffold-paper

name

scaffold-paper

description

Scaffold a Paper/ folder with LaTeX (amsart, biblatex) or Typst article templates and a shared preamble, then act as an editor on the user-owned document. Use when the user says "scaffold paper", "add paper", "create paper folder", "set up latex", "set up typst", or during new-project when the user wants a paper. Trigger on: "paper setup", "latex template", "typst template", "add Paper/", "I want to write a paper".

Scaffold Paper

Create a Paper/ directory for a typeset article, then help the user edit it. Two formats:

• LaTeX (default) — amsart document class, biblatex with biber, shared macros.sty.
• Typst — main.typ importing a shared macros.typ, native bibliography().

The paper is the user's document. This skill scaffolds the structure and then acts as an editor, not an author (see Rules below).

What you need

1. Project directory — where to create Paper/. Usually the project root.
2. Format — LaTeX (default) or Typst. Pass --typst if the user wants Typst, or they say "typst".
3. Title (optional) — working title. Default: project name.
4. Author (optional) — defaults from git config.

If invoked from new-project, these are already known.

Step-by-step

1. Run the scaffold script

"${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/scaffold-paper.sh" [--typst] "<ProjectDir>" "<Title>" "<Author>" "<email>"

LaTeX creates:

Paper/
├── main.tex           — article (amsart + \usepackage{macros})
├── macros.sty         — shared preamble, theorem envs, macros
├── references.bib     — bibliography (biblatex format)
├── figures/           — for TikZ exports and plots
└── .latexmkrc         — latexmk config (pdflatex + biber)

Typst (--typst) creates:

Paper/
├── main.typ           — document (#import "macros.typ": *)
├── macros.typ         — shared preamble, math shorthand, theorem envs
├── references.bib     — bibliography (read natively by Typst)
└── figures/           — for plots and images

2. Seed references from existing resources

If Wiki/Resources/ exists and contains paper articles, extract BibTeX entries and add them to references.bib. Use arXiv MCP or crossref MCP to fetch proper biblatex/BibTeX entries for each paper. Both formats read references.bib.

3. Update .gitignore

If Paper/ is NOT already gitignored (research projects where Paper/ is tracked), add build artifact patterns. LaTeX:

Paper/*.aux
Paper/*.bbl
Paper/*.bcf
Paper/*.blg
Paper/*.fdb_latexmk
Paper/*.fls
Paper/*.log
Paper/*.out
Paper/*.run.xml
Paper/*.synctex.gz
Paper/*.toc
Paper/*.pdf

Typst produces only Paper/*.pdf. If Paper/ is already gitignored entirely (paclet-dev type), no action needed.

Template contents

macros.sty (LaTeX)

Shared preamble loaded by main.tex:

• Fonts: newpxtext + newpxmath (Palatino), microtype
• Math: amsthm, amsmath, amssymb, mathtools, mathrsfs
• Graphics: tikz, tikz-cd, subcaption
• Bibliography: biblatex with biber (alphabetic style)
• References: cleveref (nameinlink, capitalize)
• Theorem environments: theorem, corollary, proposition, lemma, conjecture, claim, definition, example, construction, remark, question, observation
• Operators: dist, diam, Aut, End, Hom
• Shorthand: \NN, \ZZ, \QQ, \RR, \CC, \FF, \GG, \VV, \EE

macros.typ (Typst)

Shared preamble applied with #show: macros. Mirrors the LaTeX setup: page/font style, the same math shorthand (NN, ZZ, …), the same operators, and dependency-free counter-based theorem blocks (theorem, lemma, definition, …) so the first compile needs no network. A comment points to @preview/ctheorems for richer numbering.

Extend macros.sty / macros.typ freely as the project needs.

Compiling

cd Paper && latexmk -pdf main.tex      # LaTeX
cd Paper && typst compile main.typ     # Typst (typst watch for live preview)

Rules for LLM

This skill scaffolds and edits; it does not write the paper.

• main.tex / main.typ is the user's writing space. Do not author content unprompted and do not overwrite user prose.
• Act as an editor on request:
  • Import material at a specified location ("put the lemma after Section 2").
  • Correct or rewrite a paragraph the user points to.
  • Add figures (TikZ / figures/ images), code listings, tables.
  • Keep notation consistent with macros.sty / macros.typ.
• macros.sty / macros.typ can be extended freely — add macros, operators, theorem environments as needed.
• references.bib — add entries when papers are downloaded or cited.
• When you do add prose at the user's request, write in the user's voice.
• Source formatting. When CLAUDE.md has Semantic line breaks: on (the default — see its Source formatting rule), write any prose you add or rewrite in main.tex / main.typ one sentence per source line. This affects only the .tex / .typ source; the compiled PDF is unchanged. Do not reflow paragraphs of existing user prose you were not asked to touch.