| name | onboard |
| description | Check that all dependencies required to run this template are installed. Verifies R, LaTeX, required packages, and runs a full smoke test of the pipeline. |
| disable-model-invocation | true |
| argument-hint | [none required] |
Onboard — Template Environment Check
Verify that your machine can run every part of this template: R scripts, figure generation, table generation, and LaTeX compilation. Run all checks, then report everything at once.
Step 1: Detect OS
uname -s
On Windows, check for WSL or Git Bash:
cmd.exe /c ver 2>/dev/null || echo "Not Windows CMD"
The detected OS determines the installation suggestions used throughout this report.
Step 2: System Tools
Check that the following CLI tools are available:
| Tool | Check command | macOS | Linux | Windows |
|---|
| R / Rscript | Rscript --version | brew install r or r-project.org | sudo apt install r-base | Download from r-project.org |
| pdflatex | pdflatex --version | brew install --cask mactex-no-gui | sudo apt install texlive-full | Install MiKTeX from miktex.org |
| latexmk | latexmk --version | Included with MacTeX | sudo apt install latexmk | Via MiKTeX console |
| bibtex | bibtex --version | Included with MacTeX | Included with texlive | Included with MiKTeX |
| git | git --version | brew install git | sudo apt install git | Download from git-scm.com |
Step 3: R Packages
Run this snippet to check all packages the template uses:
Rscript -e '
required <- c(
"data.table", # fast CSV reading
"modelsummary", # regression tables
"ggplot2" # figures
)
installed <- rownames(installed.packages())
missing <- setdiff(required, installed)
if (length(missing) == 0) {
cat("All", length(required), "R packages installed.\n")
} else {
cat("Missing:", paste(missing, collapse = ", "), "\n")
cat("Install with: install.packages(c(\"", paste(missing, collapse = "\", \""), "\"))\n", sep = "")
}
'
Step 4: LaTeX Packages
Check that the packages used in draft/preamble/packages.tex are available:
kpsewhich natbib.sty booktabs.sty threeparttable.sty microtype.sty \
amsmath.sty amssymb.sty graphicx.sty hyperref.sty cleveref.sty \
dsfont.sty pdflscape.sty subcaption.sty caption.sty \
setspace.sty relsize.sty xcolor.sty footmisc.sty \
tabularx.sty multirow.sty tablefootnote.sty
Each call should return a file path. Empty output means the package is missing.
- macOS / Linux (TeX Live / MacTeX):
tlmgr install <package-name>
- Windows (MiKTeX): packages auto-install on first compile, or use the MiKTeX console
Also verify that the bibliography style ships with the template:
ls draft/informs2014.bst
This file is included in the template repository — it does not need a separate install.
Step 5: Template Data Files
Verify that the sample dataset ships with the repository:
ls -lh data/mtcars.csv
This file is tracked in git and should always be present. If missing, run git checkout data/mtcars.csv.
Step 6: Output Directories
Check that output directories exist; create them if missing:
mkdir -p draft/figures draft/tables
ls draft/figures draft/tables
Step 7: Smoke Test — Run the Full Pipeline
If all tools are present, execute each stage in order:
Stage 1 — Generate tables (main-analysis.R):
Rscript code/main-analysis.R 2>&1
Expected output: draft/tables/summary-statistics.tex and draft/tables/main-results.tex
Stage 2 — Generate figures (visualization.R):
Rscript code/visualization.R 2>&1
Expected output: draft/figures/scatter_mpg_wt.pdf and draft/figures/scatter_mpg_hp.pdf
Stage 3 — Compile the PDF:
cd draft && latexmk -pdf -interaction=nonstopmode main.tex 2>&1 | tail -20
Expected: exit code 0 and draft/main.pdf generated.
ls -lh draft/main.pdf
Output Format
Present results as a checklist:
## Onboard Results
### System Tools
- [x] R 4.x.x
- [x] pdflatex (TeX Live / MacTeX / MiKTeX)
- [x] latexmk
- [x] bibtex
- [x] git
- [ ] pdflatex — MISSING → brew install --cask mactex-no-gui
### R Packages (3 required)
- [x] 3/3 installed
- [ ] Missing: ggplot2 → install.packages("ggplot2")
### LaTeX Packages
- [x] All found
- [ ] Missing: cleveref → tlmgr install cleveref
### Template Files
- [x] draft/informs2014.bst
- [x] data/mtcars.csv
### Output Directories
- [x] draft/figures/ exists
- [x] draft/tables/ exists
### Smoke Test
- [x] main-analysis.R → tables generated
- [x] visualization.R → figures generated
- [x] LaTeX compile → main.pdf generated (N pages)
### Summary
Ready to work: YES / NO (list any blocking issues)