| name | latex-to-word |
| description | Convert between LaTeX and Microsoft Word for academic manuscripts in either direction, and assemble .tex from mixed sources. Fires on: converting .tex/LaTeX to Word/.docx ("tex to docx", "latex to word", "tex2docx", "convert to word", "pandoc convert"); converting .docx manuscripts to LaTeX for editing and back ("convert to latex", "manuscript", "footnotes", "reference doc", the docx-to-tex-to-docx round-trip / academic paper editing pipeline); high-fidelity delivery where plain pandoc loses tables, mangles cross-references, or fails on custom macros — booktabs/regression tables, OMML equations, cleveref, \estauto, \@@input, \thanks, TikZ, native Word tables, longtable, siunitx; and building .tex from mixed PDF/docx/LLM-generated sources. Replaces and reroutes the retired skills manuscript-editing-template-latex, latex-to-docx-fidelity, tex2docx, and latex-from-mixed-sources. |
| metadata | {"author":"Claude Code","date":"2026-07-03T00:00:00.000Z","version":"1.0.0"} |
LaTeX ↔ Word
This skill moves academic manuscripts between LaTeX and Microsoft Word and
assembles .tex from heterogeneous sources. It consolidates four former skills
into three workflows: a footnote-preserving round-trip for co-author editing
cycles, a high-fidelity one-way .tex → .docx engine for delivering finished
papers to Word-only journals or coauthors, and a set of knowledge patterns
for building a single .tex from PDF/docx/LLM-generated content. Read the deep
doc for the workflow you need before running anything.
Routing
| User intent | Workflow | Entry point | Deep doc |
|---|
| Deliver a finished LaTeX paper as high-fidelity Word (regression tables, math, cross-references must survive) | B — one-way tex→docx | scripts/convert.py | references/tex-to-docx-engine.md |
| Iterate on a manuscript with Word-based co-authors while editing in LaTeX (docx→tex→docx, footnotes preserved) | A — round-trip | gui.py, or scripts/docx_to_tex.py + scripts/tex_to_docx.py | references/roundtrip.md |
Build a .tex from PDF / .docx / LLM-generated text | C — assemble from mixed sources | knowledge patterns (no scripts) | references/mixed-sources.md |
Which workflow
- B is the default for "deliver my LaTeX paper as Word." The fidelity engine
builds native Word tables, OMML equations, real footnotes, embedded figures,
and resolves
\cref/\Cref/\eqref from the .aux. Use B whenever the paper
has regression/booktabs tables, math, or cross-references that must survive —
plain pandoc drops or mangles all of these.
- A is for iterating with Word-based co-authors while you edit in LaTeX. Its
tex → docx step is plain pandoc plus a style-templated scripts/reference.docx
(fast, formatting-only), so it does not build native tables or resolve crefs.
Choose A when the exchange is prose and footnotes and speed matters; switch to
B once the document depends on tables/math/cross-references.
- C is knowledge-only — patterns for a pipeline that emits
.tex, applied
when you author the pipeline. No script to invoke.
Quick start
Workflow B (one-way, high fidelity) — compile the source once so a current .aux
exists, then:
python scripts/convert.py path/to/main.tex --out main.docx
Workflow A (round-trip) — either launch the GUI:
python gui.py
or drive the two version-aware helpers (they wrap pandoc + reference.docx and run
the footnote-count sanity check), using the input/ intermediate/ output/ layout:
python scripts/docx_to_tex.py v1
python scripts/tex_to_docx.py v2
Workflow C — no command; read references/mixed-sources.md and apply the
two-track escaping / code-fence-stripping / \DeclareUnicodeCharacter patterns
in your own generator.
Tool requirements
- pandoc (3.x for the engine; ≥ 2.11 for the round-trip).
- xelatex / latexmk (TeX Live or MiKTeX) — required to produce the
.aux the
engine reads, and for TikZ/PGFPlots/algorithm rendering.
- python-docx, lxml — native table and OOXML construction.
- Optional PyMuPDF (fitz) + Pillow — QA rasterization and image rendering.
- Optional Microsoft Word (COM, via
win32com) or LibreOffice (soffice)
— final render-to-PDF check.
scripts/toolcheck.py resolves the pandoc / latexmk / xelatex executable
locations for scripts/convert.py, scripts/render_latex_env.py, and
scripts/gen_reference.py; gui.py, the round-trip helpers, and
tests/run_tests.py still call bare pandoc/xelatex/latexmk from PATH.
Consolidation notes
This skill merges four predecessors; their old names route here via the
description above:
- manuscript-editing-template-latex → workflow A (
references/roundtrip.md).
- latex-to-docx-fidelity → workflow B (
references/tex-to-docx-engine.md).
- latex-from-mixed-sources → workflow C (
references/mixed-sources.md).
- tex2docx (retired). Its pandoc-postprocessing fix registry was diffed
against the fidelity engine: six of seven fixes were already subsumed
architecturally, because the engine prevents upstream what tex2docx patched
after the fact — tables, figures, and captions never pass through pandoc, so
the damage tex2docx repaired downstream never occurs. The two genuine gaps were
ported INTO the engine: the notes-punctuation normalizer
(
normalize_note_text, applied to table-notes text in both table engines) and
\include{} expansion (in expand_latex_inputs). See the
"Ported from tex2docx" section of references/tex-to-docx-engine.md.
tests/ holds the 46-fixture (t01–t46) regression harness driven by
tests/run_tests.py and scored by tests/qa_metrics.py. It ships source .tex
fixtures only — compiled PDFs, rendered PNGs, and .docx artifacts regenerate
on each run. Fix the converter under scripts/, never the fixtures.
Caution: gui.py bypasses permission prompts
gui.py invokes the Claude CLI with --dangerously-skip-permissions for its
auto-edit and auto-fix loops (the "Edits" box and the automatic XeLaTeX-error
repair). This bypasses the normal permission prompts, so any tool call Claude
makes in those loops runs without confirmation. Review gui.py (see the two
--dangerously-skip-permissions invocations) and understand what the auto loops
can do before enabling that path.
