latex-paper-writer

name	latex-paper-writer
description	Use when a user wants Codex to write, revise, convert, or compile academic paper sections from a supplied LaTeX conference or journal template plus local project materials. Supports template directories or zip exports, Zotero-first citation discovery, Markdown draft to LaTeX section conversion, and compile validation without guessing missing templates, citations, or experimental results.

LaTeX Paper Writer

Core Contract

Use this skill for template-driven paper writing. The user supplies, or points to, a LaTeX template directory or zip and a local project directory. Your job is to inspect the template and project, draft content in Markdown, convert it to a LaTeX section fragment matching the template, insert it into a template work copy, and compile-validate the result.

Never invent missing templates, citation keys, papers, PDFs, or experimental results. If a required artifact is missing, ask the user for it and say exactly what is needed.

Required First Pass

Before writing content, locate or ask for:

• Template input: complete LaTeX directory or zip, preferably from Overleaf export.
• Project input: local code/results/docs directory.
• Target section: e.g. Related Work, Method, Experiments.
• Output paths: Markdown draft, .tex fragment, and build/work directory.

Then inspect:

• Template entrypoint, bibliography setup, section inclusion style, compile engine, and custom macros. See references/template-analysis.md.
• Project evidence: README, docs, code/configs, figures, tables, logs, existing drafts. See references/writing-workflow.md.
• Citation sources: Zotero first, then existing .bib, then user-provided DOI/BibTeX/PDF. See references/citation-policy.md.

Workflow

1. Template/format gate

   • Before any LaTeX conversion intended for a real paper, and before every compile validation, confirm the target LaTeX format: complete template directory or zip, main .tex, class/style files, bibliography style/config, and build instructions when available.
   • If no target template/format is available, stop and ask the user to upload or point to the complete conference/journal template. Do not create a default article, report, or other generic wrapper as a substitute.
   • A minimal synthetic template is allowed only for an explicit smoke test of the skill or scripts. Label it as a non-venue test and do not present the resulting PDF as formatted for the target venue.

2. Dependency readiness

   • On a fresh or unverified machine, do not begin by auto-installing tools. First read references/dependency-setup.md, point the user to the OS-specific setup commands, and ask them to install the required tools manually.
   • After the user says dependency installation is complete, run scripts/check_env.sh <project-or-template-root> on Linux, macOS, Git Bash, or WSL2, or scripts/check_env.ps1 -Root <project-or-template-root> on native Windows PowerShell.
   • If pandoc or TeX tooling is still missing, report the missing tools and use the matching install_user_tools script only after explicit permission for network/user-environment writes, sudo, or elevated installers is available.
   • If the task needs citations or literature search and Zotero desktop, Zotero local API, or Zotero MCP is missing, stop before drafting and tell the user to install/configure Zotero plus register the Zotero MCP. Do not silently fall back to invented or placeholder citations.

3. Template work copy

   • Do not mutate the original template. Copy or unpack it into a work directory such as paper_build_workdir/.
   • If the template is incomplete, stop and request the missing files (main.tex, .cls, .sty, .bst, bibliography file, figures, etc.).

4. Draft

   • Write a Markdown draft first for review and traceability.
   • Use Pandoc citation syntax [@key].
   • Use only claims supported by project files, user-provided notes, or cited literature.

5. Convert

   • Convert Markdown to a LaTeX fragment with scripts/convert_md_to_tex.sh or scripts/convert_md_to_tex.ps1.
   • Keep citations as LaTeX cite commands; do not render them into author-year prose.
   • Adapt headings, figures, tables, algorithms, and theorem environments to the template after conversion.

6. Integrate and compile

   • Insert or include the generated .tex in the template work copy using the template's existing section pattern.
   • Compile with scripts/compile_template.sh or scripts/compile_template.ps1.
   • Report the PDF path, unresolved citations/references, missing files, font issues, and next required user action.

When To Ask The User

Ask instead of guessing when:

• The LaTeX template is not complete or the class/style files are missing.
• The user asks to compile or validate a real paper but has not provided the target LaTeX template/format.
• The venue requires a specific template but no template was uploaded.
• Zotero, Zotero local API, or Zotero MCP is missing for a citation/literature task.
• Zotero cannot find a requested paper or citation key.
• A paper PDF, DOI, BibTeX entry, or Zotero collection is needed.
• Network, sudo, non-sandbox, or user-environment writes are required.
• Experimental results are absent or ambiguous.

Useful Scripts

• Bash/WSL/Linux/macOS:
  • scripts/check_env.sh ROOT: inspect tools, Zotero MCP, and likely template files.
  • scripts/install_user_tools.sh: install pandoc tectonic with conda-forge when conda exists.
  • scripts/convert_md_to_tex.sh INPUT.md OUTPUT.tex [BIBFILE]: convert Markdown to a LaTeX fragment.
  • scripts/compile_template.sh TEMPLATE_WORKDIR [MAIN_TEX]: compile a template copy and summarize likely issues.
• Native Windows PowerShell:
  • scripts/check_env.ps1 -Root ROOT
  • scripts/install_user_tools.ps1
  • scripts/convert_md_to_tex.ps1 -InputMarkdown INPUT.md -OutputTex OUTPUT.tex [-BibFile BIBFILE]
  • scripts/compile_template.ps1 -TemplateWorkdir TEMPLATE_WORKDIR [-MainTex MAIN_TEX]

Example Prompts

• "Use $latex-paper-writer with this Overleaf zip and my repo to write the Method section."
• "Use $latex-paper-writer to convert this Markdown draft into the uploaded L4DC template."
• "Use $latex-paper-writer to inspect this template and tell me which files are missing."
• "Use $latex-paper-writer to generate the Experiments section from local logs and Zotero references."