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SKILL.md
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name
latex-document-skill
description
Universal LaTeX document skill: create, compile, and convert any document to professional PDF with PNG previews. Supports resumes, reports, cover letters, invoices, academic papers, theses/dissertations, academic CVs, presentations (Beamer), scientific posters, formal letters, exams/quizzes, books, cheat sheets, reference cards, exam formula sheets, fillable PDF forms (hyperref form fields), conditional content (etoolbox toggles), mail merge from CSV/JSON (Jinja2 templates), version diffing (latexdiff), charts (pgfplots + matplotlib), tables (booktabs + CSV import), images (TikZ), Mermaid diagrams, AI-generated images, watermarks, landscape pages, bibliography/citations (BibTeX/biblatex), multi-language/CJK (auto XeLaTeX), algorithms/pseudocode, colored boxes (tcolorbox), SI units (siunitx), Pandoc format conversion (Markdown/DOCX/HTML ↔ LaTeX), and PDF-to-LaTeX conversion of handwritten or printed documents (math, business, legal, general). Compile script supports pdflatex, xelatex, lualatex with auto-detection, latexmk backend, texfot log filtering, PDF/A output, and verbosity control (--verbose/--quiet). Empirically optimized scaling: single agent 1-10 pages, split 11-20, batch-7 pipeline 21+. Use when user asks to: (1) create a resume/CV/cover letter, (2) write a LaTeX document, (3) create PDF with tables/charts/images, (4) compile a .tex file, (5) make a report/invoice/presentation, (6) anything involving LaTeX or pdflatex, (7) convert/OCR a PDF to LaTeX, (8) convert handwritten notes, (9) create charts/graphs/diagrams, (10) create slides, (11) write a thesis or dissertation, (12) create an academic CV, (13) create a poster, (14) create an exam/quiz, (15) create a book, (16) convert between document formats (Markdown, DOCX, HTML to/from LaTeX), (17) generate Mermaid diagrams for LaTeX, (18) create a formal business letter, (19) create a cheat sheet or reference card, (20) create an exam formula sheet or crib sheet, (21) condense lecture notes/PDFs into a cheat sheet, (22) create a fillable PDF form with text fields/checkboxes/dropdowns, (23) create a document with conditional content/toggles (show/hide sections), (24) generate batch/mail-merge documents from CSV/JSON data, (25) create a version diff PDF (latexdiff) highlighting changes between documents, (26) create a homework or assignment submission with problems and solutions, (27) create a lab report with data tables, graphs, and error analysis, (28) encrypt or password-protect a PDF, (29) merge multiple PDFs into one, (30) optimize/compress a PDF for web or email, (31) lint or check a LaTeX document for common issues, (32) count words in a LaTeX document, (33) analyze document statistics (figures, tables, citations), (34) fetch BibTeX from a DOI, (35) convert a Graphviz .dot file to PDF/PNG, (36) convert a PlantUML .puml file to PDF/PNG, (37) create a one-pager/fact sheet/executive summary, (38) create a datasheet or product specification sheet, (39) extract pages from a PDF (page ranges, odd/even), (40) check LaTeX package availability before compiling, (41) analyze citations and cross-reference with .bib files, (42) debug LaTeX compilation errors, (43) make a document accessible (PDF/A, tagged PDF), (44) create lecture notes or course handouts, (45) fill an existing PDF form (fillable fields or non-fillable with annotations), (46) extract text or tables from a PDF (pdfplumber, pypdf), (47) OCR a scanned PDF to text (pytesseract), (48) create a PDF programmatically with reportlab (Canvas, Platypus), (49) rotate or crop PDF pages (pypdf), (50) add a watermark to an existing PDF, (51) extract metadata from a PDF (title, author, subject).
LaTeX Document Skill
Create any LaTeX document, compile to PDF, and generate PNG previews. Convert PDFs of any type to LaTeX.
If the target is an IEEE journal / Transactions / IEEE two-column paper: Read references/ieee-journal-twocolumn-guide.md before choosing a template. Start from examples/ieee-twocolumn-sample.tex for a working IEEEtran baseline and use examples/ieee-twocolumn.png / examples/ieee-twocolumn-p1.png / examples/ieee-twocolumn-p2.png as visual references.
If poster: Run the poster sub-workflow (see Poster Sub-Workflow below), then skip to step 5.
For documents 5+ pages: Review the Long-Form Document Anti-Patterns section and run the Content Generation Checklist before compiling. Key rules: prefer prose over bullets, include global list compaction, escape </> in text mode, vary section formats, limit \newpage, size images at 0.75-0.85 textwidth.
Compile with scripts/compile_latex.sh (auto-detects XeLaTeX for CJK/RTL, glossaries, bibliography)
Show PNG preview to user, deliver PDF
Poster Sub-Workflow
When the user requests a poster: read references/poster-design-guide.md for the complete workflow including conference size presets (NeurIPS/ICML/CVPR/ICLR dimensions), layout archetypes (Traditional/BetterPoster/Visual-Heavy), color schemes, and typography standards. Use poster.tex (portrait) or poster-landscape.tex (landscape). Ask the user for conference/orientation, layout style, and color scheme using AskUserQuestion, then proceed to step 5.
Cheat Sheet / Reference Card Sub-Workflow
When the user requests a cheat sheet, reference card, or formula sheet:
Read references/cheatsheet-guide.md for the complete workflow including template selection, content budgets, typography rules, and the PDF-to-cheatsheet pipeline.
Follow the guide's workflow steps, then return to main workflow step 5.
Workflow: Mail Merge (Batch Personalized Documents)
Generate N personalized documents from a LaTeX template + CSV/JSON data source using scripts/mail_merge.py. Template syntax: {{variable}} for simple substitution, Jinja2 (<< >>, <% %>) for conditionals/loops. See assets/templates/mail-merge-letter.tex for an example. Full guide: references/interactive-features.md.
Workflow: Version Diffing (latexdiff)
Generate highlighted change-tracked PDFs using scripts/latex_diff.sh. Supports file-to-file diff, git revision diff, multi-file flatten, and custom markup styles. Full guide: references/interactive-features.md.
Workflow: Convert Document Formats
Convert between Markdown, DOCX, HTML, and LaTeX using scripts/convert_document.sh. Full guide: references/format-conversion.md.
Workflow: Convert PDF to LaTeX
Convert existing PDFs (handwritten notes, printed reports, legal docs) to LaTeX. Full pipeline: references/pdf-conversion.md.
Quick steps: Split PDF into page images (scripts/pdf_to_images.sh), select a conversion profile, create shared preamble, apply scaling strategy, validate with scripts/validate_latex.py, concatenate, compile.
Scaling strategy: 1-10 pages = single agent; 11-20 pages = split in half (2 agents); 21+ pages = batch-7 pipeline (ceil(N/7) agents with run_in_background: true).
# Extract field metadata
python3 <skill_path>/scripts/pdf_extract_fields.py form.pdf field_info.json
# Create field_values.json with values for each field, then fill
python3 <skill_path>/scripts/pdf_fill_form.py form.pdf field_values.json output.pdf
If non-fillable (no form fields):
# Convert to images for visual analysis
bash <skill_path>/scripts/pdf_to_images.sh form.pdf ./tmp/pages
# Visually identify fields, create fields.json with bounding boxes# Validate bounding boxes (+ optional validation image)
python3 <skill_path>/scripts/pdf_validate_boxes.py fields.json --image page_1.png --output validation.png --page 1
# Fill with text annotations
python3 <skill_path>/scripts/pdf_fill_annotations.py form.pdf fields.json output.pdf
Workflow: Advanced PDF Operations
For text/table extraction (pdfplumber), OCR (pytesseract), programmatic PDF creation (reportlab), watermarking, page rotation/cropping, metadata extraction, JavaScript libraries (pdf-lib, pdfjs-dist), and batch processing, see references/pdf-operations.md.
Compile Script
# Basic compile (auto-detects engine)
bash <skill_path>/scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex
# Compile + generate PNG previews
bash <skill_path>/scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --preview
# Compile + PNG in specific directory
bash <skill_path>/scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --preview --preview-dir ./outputs
# Force a specific engine
bash <skill_path>/scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --engine xelatex
bash <skill_path>/scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --engine lualatex
# Use latexmk for automatic multi-pass (recommended for complex documents)
bash <skill_path>/scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --use-latexmk --preview
# PDF/A output for thesis submissions and archival compliance
bash <skill_path>/scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --pdfa
# Verbose output for debugging compilation issues
bash <skill_path>/scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --verbose
# Quiet mode for batch/CI jobs (only errors shown)
bash <skill_path>/scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --quiet
# Clean auxiliary files only (no compilation)
bash <skill_path>/scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --clean
Compilation Flags
Flag
Description
--preview
Generate PNG previews of each page after compilation
--preview-dir DIR
Directory for PNG output (default: same as .tex file)
--engine ENGINE
Force engine: pdflatex, xelatex, or lualatex
--use-latexmk
Use latexmk as compilation backend (auto multi-pass, bibliography, index)
--verbose
Show full compilation output (all engine logs)
--quiet
Suppress all non-error output
--clean
Remove auxiliary files (.aux, .log, .bbl, .fdb_latexmk, etc.) and exit
--pdfa
Produce PDF/A-2b compliant output (auto-injects pdfx package)
--auto-fix
Auto-fix common compilation errors (float placement, encoding)
Compilation Backends
Manual multi-pass (default): Runs the engine multiple times with bibliography/index/glossary passes as needed. This is the traditional approach and works without latexmk installed.
latexmk (--use-latexmk): Uses latexmk for automatic dependency-driven compilation. Recommended for complex documents with bibliographies, indexes, glossaries, or cross-references -- latexmk determines the correct number of passes automatically. Requires latexmk (included with TeX Live).
Log Filtering (texfot)
When texfot is installed (included with TeX Live), compilation output is automatically filtered to show only relevant warnings and errors, suppressing noisy package loading messages. This applies in the default verbosity mode. Use --verbose to see unfiltered output, or --quiet to suppress all non-error output.
Engine auto-detection: If the .tex file uses fontspec, xeCJK, or polyglossia, the script automatically uses xelatex. If it uses luacode or luatextra, it uses lualatex. Otherwise defaults to pdflatex. Override with --engine.
The script auto-installs texlive (including texlive-science, texlive-xetex, texlive-luatex, biber) and poppler-utils if missing. It auto-detects \bibliography{} (runs bibtex), \addbibresource{} (runs biber), \makeindex (runs makeindex), \makeglossaries (runs makeglossaries), runs the correct number of passes, generates PNG previews with pdftoppm, and cleans auxiliary files.
Script & Tool Reference
For PDF utilities (encrypt, merge, optimize, extract pages, pdf-to-images), LaTeX quality tools (lint, word count, analysis, package check, citations), compilation auto-fix, bibliography fetching, and diagram scripts (Mermaid, Graphviz, PlantUML), see references/script-tools.md.
Templates
Copy from assets/templates/ and customize.
Resume Templates (5 ATS-Compatible Options)
Select based on experience level, industry, and ATS requirements. See references/resume-ats-guide.md for full ATS guidance.
Template
Best For
Key Feature
ATS Score
resume-classic-ats.tex
Finance, law, government, any ATS portal
Zero graphics, plain text only, maximum parse safety
10/10
resume-modern-professional.tex
Tech, corporate, general professional
Subtle color accents, clean design, good ATS + human appeal
All 5 templates follow ATS rules: single-column, no graphics/images, no tables for layout, standard section headings, contact info in body (not header/footer).
lab-report.tex -- STEM lab report template (article class, 11pt) with siunitx for uncertainties and SI units, pgfplots for data visualization, booktabs for professional tables, amsmath for equations, fancyhdr headers, caption+subcaption for figures. Structured sections: abstract, theory, procedure, data/results (with uncertainty tables), analysis (pgfplots graphs), discussion (error analysis), conclusion, references, appendix. Example: pendulum period measurement with error propagation.
Other Templates
lecture-notes.tex -- Beautiful lecture notes (scrartcl KOMA-Script class) with Palatino font, microtype typography, color-coded tcolorbox theorem environments (blue theorems, green definitions, orange examples, purple remarks), TikZ graph theory diagram styles and macros (\CompleteGraph, \CycleGraph, \PathGraph), styled section headings with titlesec, fancyhdr headers, hyperref + cleveref navigation. Ideal for converting handwritten math/science notes to beautiful PDFs. Includes graph theory custom commands (\V, \E, \deg, \chr). Used by the math-notes conversion profile in beautiful mode.
thesis.tex -- Thesis/dissertation (book class) with title page, declaration, abstract, acknowledgments, TOC, list of figures/tables, chapters, appendices, bibliography. Front matter uses roman numerals, main matter uses arabic. Includes theorem environments.
academic-cv.tex -- Multi-page academic CV with publications (journal/conference/preprint sections), grants and funding, teaching, advising (current/graduated students), awards, professional service, invited talks. ORCID and Google Scholar links.
book.tex -- Full book (book class) with half-title, title page, copyright page, dedication, preface, acknowledgments, TOC, list of figures/tables, parts, chapters, appendix, bibliography, index. Custom chapter headings, epigraphs, fancyhdr, microtype.
poster.tex -- Conference poster (tikzposter class, A0 portrait) with 2-column layout, QR code, 5 color schemes, tikzfigure charts, tables, coloredbox highlights. Includes commented #BetterPoster layout variant (central billboard + sidebars). Portrait is standard for most conferences. See poster design guide for conference size presets.
poster-landscape.tex -- Landscape conference poster (tikzposter class, A0 landscape) with 3-column (30/40/30) layout, QR code, tech purple color scheme. For CS/ML conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, CVPR, ICLR). Includes commented \geometry{} presets for CVPR/NeurIPS custom sizes.
cheatsheet.tex -- General reference card (extarticle class, landscape A4, 7pt base font) with 3-column multicols layout, tcolorbox colored section boxes, tight spacing. For command references, concept summaries, quick-reference guides. Supports front+back printing.
cheatsheet-exam.tex -- Exam formula sheet (extarticle class, portrait A4, 6pt base font) with 2-column layout, maximum content density, black-and-white printer-safe. For university exam "allowed cheat sheets" with formulas, theorems, definitions. Optimized for single-sided printing.
cheatsheet-code.tex -- Programming reference card (extarticle class, landscape A4, 7pt base font) with 4-column layout, minted syntax highlighting, monospace font emphasis. For language syntax, API reference, CLI commands, keyboard shortcuts.
letter.tex -- Formal business letter with colored letterhead bar, TikZ logo placeholder, company info, recipient block, date, subject line, signature. Professional corporate appearance.
exam.tex -- Exam/quiz (exam class) with grading table, multiple question types (multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-blank, matching, short answer, essay), point values, solution toggle via \printanswers.
report.tex -- Business report with TOC, headers/footers, data tables, bar chart (pgfplots), process flowchart (TikZ), recommendations
cover-letter.tex -- Professional cover letter with sender/recipient blocks
invoice.tex -- Invoice with company header, line items table, subtotal/tax/total
academic-paper.tex -- Research paper with abstract, sections, bibliography, figures. Includes example .bib file (references.bib) for BibTeX citations.
examples/ieee-twocolumn-sample.tex -- IEEE Transactions / journal example using \documentclass[journal,10pt]{IEEEtran} with abstract, keywords, single-column figure, single-column table, full-width table, and numeric bibliography. Use with references/ieee-journal-twocolumn-guide.md. Preview PNGs: examples/ieee-twocolumn.png, examples/ieee-twocolumn-p1.png, examples/ieee-twocolumn-p2.png.
presentation.tex -- Beamer presentation with title slide, content frames, columns
fillable-form.tex -- Fillable PDF form (article class) with hyperref form fields: text inputs, checkboxes, radio buttons, dropdowns, push buttons. Two-column layout with tabularx. Custom \FormField, \FormCheck, \FormDropdown helper commands. Requires Adobe Reader for full form support (browser PDF viewers have limited form capabilities).
conditional-document.tex -- Configurable document (article class) with etoolbox toggle system: show/hide TOC, appendix, watermark, draft mode, confidential marking, abstract. Template variables via \providecommand (title, author, org, version). Three visual profiles (corporate, academic, minimal). Supports command-line variable passing for CI/CD.
mail-merge-letter.tex -- Mail merge letter template with {{variable}} placeholders for use with scripts/mail_merge.py. Company-branded letterhead, recipient address block, body text with data-driven personalization. Pair with CSV/JSON data source.
resume.tex -- Legacy resume template (has photo area and tables -- not ATS-optimized)
Angle brackets in text mode:< and > are NOT valid in LaTeX text mode with T1 encoding. They render as inverted question marks (¡ or ¿). Always use math mode or text commands:
<5% → $<$5\% or \textless 5\%
>50 → $>$50 or \textgreater 50
<$300 → $<$\$300
>= → $\geq$, <= → $\leq$
This is one of the most common silent errors in generated LaTeX — the document compiles without errors but the PDF shows garbage characters.
Date ranges use en-dash: 2019--2025 (double hyphen).
For ready-to-use LaTeX code snippets (tables, charts, flowcharts, bibliography, watermarks, landscape pages, multi-language, images, Mermaid diagrams, matplotlib charts, CSV tables, AI images, fillable forms, conditional content, mail merge, version diff), read references/code-patterns.md.
Visual Elements in Reports
When creating reports, use the enrichment elements the user selected in step 4. For the quick reference table of visual element tools (charts, flowcharts, AI images, tables, timelines) and sizing guidelines, see references/advanced-features.md. Use \begin{figure}[H] (from float package) to prevent figures from floating. Size TikZ diagrams with width=0.8\textwidth or smaller.
Reference Guides (load as needed)
When uncertain about LaTeX patterns, compilation issues, or document quality, consult this table and load relevant files.
Run compile script from the directory containing the .tex file, or use absolute paths
Place output .tex files in ./outputs/ for user visibility
After compilation, read the PNG preview files to show the user how the document looks
PNG previews require poppler-utils (auto-installed by script)
Package Dependency Errors (MUST READ)
These cause Undefined control sequence -- always include the required package:
If you use...
You MUST include
Error without it
\rowcolor{}
\usepackage{colortbl}
Undefined control sequence \rowcolor
\url{} in .bib with natbib
\usepackage{url}
Undefined control sequence \url
\checkmark
\usepackage{amssymb}
Undefined control sequence \checkmark
\begin{figure}[H]
\usepackage{float}
Unknown float option H
\rowcolors{}{}{}
\usepackage[table]{xcolor} or \usepackage{colortbl}
Undefined control sequence
hyperref Package
hyperref is fine for normal documents (most templates use it).
Only avoid it in PDF-to-LaTeX converted documents with theorem environments, where it causes \set@color errors.
Compilation Environment
If texlive is not installed, the compile script auto-installs it. Do NOT run multiple compile commands in parallel before texlive is installed -- they will all try to install simultaneously, causing dpkg lock contention. Install once first or run compiles sequentially.
The compile script uses -interaction=nonstopmode (not -halt-on-error) to ensure PDFs are produced even with warnings. This is intentional -- many documents produce warnings on first pass that resolve on subsequent passes.
latexmk and texfot are included with TeX Live. The setup script (setup.sh) verifies their availability. latexmk is used when --use-latexmk is passed; texfot is used automatically when available (default verbosity mode).
A .chktexrc configuration file is included at the skill root to suppress common false positives when linting generated LaTeX documents. The latex_lint.sh script uses it automatically.
Long-Form Document Anti-Patterns
For documents 5+ pages (reports, theses, books), read references/long-form-best-practices.md for 9 critical anti-patterns, the report preamble best practices, and the content generation checklist. This is MUST-READ material before generating any long document.
