stata

name	stata
description	Work with Stata projects, `.do` files, logs, help files, and bundled manuals. Use when Codex needs to create or edit Stata scripts, run Stata from Windows PowerShell, inspect `.dta`-based workflows, or locate documentation shipped with the local Stata installation.

Stata

Overview

Use this skill for Stata work in a Windows environment with a local desktop installation. Stata is a command-driven package for data management, statistics, econometrics, and reproducible analysis; most project automation lives in plain-text .do files.

Read environment.md for machine-specific execution details and documentation.md when you need the installed manuals or help-file locations.

Quick Start

Follow this workflow:

1. Identify the target .do file, expected inputs, and working directory.
2. Edit the .do file as plain text, keeping commands explicit and reproducible.
3. Run it from PowerShell with the local Stata executable when the user wants execution or verification.
4. Read the generated .log file and any output artifacts before concluding that the run succeeded.

In this environment, prefer command discovery first:

$stata = (Get-Command StataSE-64.exe -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).Path
if (-not $stata) { $stata = 'C:\Program Files\StataNow19\StataSE-64.exe' }

$p = Start-Process -FilePath $stata `
  -ArgumentList '/e do "C:\full\path\to\script.do"' `
  -PassThru -Wait
$p.ExitCode

The verified fallback path on this machine is:

$p = Start-Process -FilePath 'C:\Program Files\StataNow19\StataSE-64.exe' `
  -ArgumentList '/e do "C:\full\path\to\script.do"' `
  -PassThru -Wait
$p.ExitCode

Expect Stata to write script.log next to script.do in batch mode.

Create Or Edit Do-files

Treat .do files as the primary automation surface:

• Write them as ASCII or UTF-8 plain-text files.
• Prefer one command per line unless the file already uses #delimit ;.
• Preserve the project's existing Stata version/style when it is already established.
• Keep paths quoted when they may contain spaces.
• Use comments sparingly and only where the analysis flow is hard to infer.

For new scripts, prefer a predictable skeleton like:

version 18.0
clear all
set more off
capture log close
log using "path\to\run.log", text replace

* analysis steps here

log close
exit, clear

If the task is interactive rather than batch-oriented, Stata can run scripts from inside the GUI with:

do "C:\full\path\to\script.do"

Use run instead of do when you want quieter execution from inside Stata.

Validate Runs

After editing or creating a .do file:

1. Run it with the PowerShell batch command from environment.md when execution is feasible.
2. Check the exit code and read the .log file.
3. Look for the final end of do-file marker and any r(...) error codes in the log.
4. Confirm expected output files were created or updated.

Do not assume success from process exit alone if the log shows Stata errors.

Use Installed Documentation

Prefer the local installation before browsing elsewhere. Start with:

• help do
• help doedit
• help log
• help use
• search <topic>

Use documentation.md for local manual paths. In this installation, the most relevant bundled data documentation is the Data Management Reference Manual at C:\Program Files\StataNow19\docs\d.pdf.

When you need help-file source locations, remember that Stata help files live under C:\Program Files\StataNow19\ado\base\ as .sthlp files.

Prefer this token-efficient documentation workflow:

1. Check the relevant .sthlp file first because it is much lighter than a PDF and often names the exact manual section.
2. Use .sthlp files or help/search output to identify the command or manual section before opening any PDF.
3. If pdftotext is available, extract only the relevant pages with it; do not read whole manuals into context.
4. If Pandoc is available, use it only on the small extracted snippet to normalize it into Markdown for easier reading, summarization, or quoting.
5. If the PDF has tables, columns, or poor text extraction, use pdfplumber from Python to pull only the needed pages, text blocks, or tables.

If Pandoc and pdftotext are installed, the practical pattern is:

pdftotext -f 120 -l 123 -layout "C:\Program Files\StataNow19\docs\d.pdf" "snippet.txt"
pandoc -f markdown -t gfm "snippet.txt" -o "snippet.md"

If keyword search across extracted snippets is needed, use rg on .txt or .md files. There is no native pdfgrep installation in this environment.

Then read snippet.md or summarize it instead of touching the full PDF again.

Practical Notes

• Respect the project's working directory assumptions before running a script.
• Expect Windows paths with spaces and quote them consistently.
• Prefer reproducible batch runs for verification because they leave a .log artifact.
• If a run depends on user-specific globals, local drives, or network shares, inspect the .do file before executing it.
• Avoid loading entire Stata manuals into context when a .sthlp file, a 1-3 page extracted snippet, or a targeted pdfplumber extraction will answer the question.