report-builder

name	report-builder
description	Generate publication-quality LaTeX reports — white papers, sector analyses, policy briefs, technical documentation — with data-driven charts, diagrams-as-code, citations, and multi-agent quality review. Use when a document needs professional typesetting with figures, tables, bibliography, and strategic visualisations (Wardley maps, causal diagrams); not for a plain markdown write-up.

Report Builder — Comprehensive Research Report Generator

Build publication-quality reports using a hierarchical mesh swarm of specialist agents, multi-LLM research, professional LaTeX typesetting, Python-generated analytics, diagrams-as-code, and AI-powered infographic generation.

When to Use This Skill

• Creating research reports, white papers, or sector analyses
• Building comprehensive documents with data, charts, and citations
• Producing policy briefs or government-quality publications
• Any document needing professional LaTeX with figures, tables, bibliography
• Reports requiring Wardley maps, causal diagrams, or strategic visualisations

When Not To Use

• For simple markdown documents that do not need LaTeX formatting — just write markdown directly
• For presentations — use Beamer via the latex-documents skill instead
• For single-figure chart generation — use Python directly without the full report pipeline
• For API documentation — use the docs-alignment skill instead
• For diagrams only without a full report — use the mermaid-diagrams skill instead

What This Skill Produces

A complete report package:

• Compiled PDF (LaTeX book class, A4, professional typography)
• Python-generated charts (matplotlib/seaborn, PDF vector output)
• Diagrams-as-code (TikZ + Mermaid with Nano Banana infographic upgrade)
• Full bibliography (BibLaTeX/Biber with 100+ cited sources)
• Index, glossary, list of figures/tables
• Appendices with deep technical data
• Git-tracked with clean commits at each version

Quick Start

1. Define Your Report

/report-builder "UK Water Sector Analysis" --topics 5 --depth comprehensive

Or provide a brief:

/report-builder --brief "Analyse the five most pressing challenges facing
the UK water sector, with data-driven projections, Wardley mapping,
and policy recommendations. Target audience: government policy makers."

2. Preflight

python3 scripts/preflight.py   # from the report-builder skill directory

Preflight reports which tools and API keys are available and degrades gracefully when optional features (Nano Banana infographics, cross-LLM review, Perplexity research) are unavailable. Full prerequisite matrix in references/reference.md.

3. The Six-Phase Pipeline

Phase 1 RESEARCH   → parallel research swarm, Perplexity search, structured data
Phase 2 STRUCTURE  → LaTeX skeleton (book class), figure/table/diagram plan
Phase 3 WRITE      → parallel chapter agents, Python charts, BibLaTeX, compile
Phase 4 VISUALISE  → TikZ/Mermaid renders, Nano Banana infographic upgrade
Phase 5 REVIEW     → 4 specialist reviewers + optional cross-LLM review
Phase 6 PUBLISH    → clean 3-pass build, PDF verify, asset audit, git commit

Per-phase mechanics — swarm topology, report directory layout, chart style, diagram commands, reviewer roles, the final clean-build script, and quality gates — are in references/pipeline.md.

Quality Gates

• 0 LaTeX errors
• Every \includegraphics resolves to an existing file; no unused generated assets
• PDF renders correctly via PyMuPDF
• UK English throughout (babel british)

References

• references/pipeline.md — detailed six-phase guide (topology, structure, charts, diagram pipeline, review, final assembly).
• references/reference.md — prerequisites, configuration (report-config.yaml, colour schemes), skill integration map, troubleshooting, example output, scripts/resources catalog.

Scripts

Script	Purpose
scripts/preflight.py	Check all prerequisites and API keys
scripts/compile_report.sh	Full LaTeX build pipeline with verification
scripts/asset_audit.sh	Check all figures referenced and present

See references/reference.md for the full script and resource catalog (including templates and figure/pipeline generators).