bio-reporting-quarto-reports

name	bio-reporting-quarto-reports
description	Builds reproducible Quarto reports, presentations, and websites across R, Python, and Julia, with correct engine selection, cache-vs-freeze semantics, native cross-references, parameters, and environment pinning. Use when creating a Quarto report of an analysis, setting up freeze for CI, or debugging cross-references, caching, or working-directory issues.
tool_type	mixed
primary_tool	Quarto
goal_approach_exempt	true

Version Compatibility

Reference examples tested with: Quarto 1.4+, knitr 1.45+, pandoc 3.1+ (bundled), scanpy 1.10+, matplotlib 3.8+

Before using code patterns, verify installed versions match. If versions differ:

• CLI: quarto --version, quarto check, quarto render --help

Some flags and project keys move between Quarto releases (e.g. the file-based --execute-params); confirm against quarto render --help. If a render fails, run quarto check and adapt to the installed version rather than retrying.

Quarto Reports

"Create a Quarto analysis report" -> Write a document mixing code (R/Python/Julia), narrative, and figures that executes through a computational engine and renders to HTML/PDF/Word.

• CLI: quarto render report.qmd --to html

The Pipeline: Engine, Then Pandoc

Both Quarto and R Markdown end at pandoc; what differs is what runs before it. Quarto first picks a computational ENGINE, then pandoc converts to the target format. The engine is a property of the document's languages, and it determines what runtime the rendering machine needs:

• Any {r} chunk present -> knitr engine (same knit -> md -> pandoc path as R Markdown).
• Only {python}/{julia} chunks -> jupyter engine (executes via a Jupyter kernel, then pandoc).
• Both R and Python -> knitr + reticulate in ONE process, so R and Python share a session and can pass objects back and forth. (This is why mixed-language docs "just work" through knitr, not jupyter.)
• Override in YAML: engine: knitr / engine: jupyter, or pin a kernel with jupyter: python3.

The consequence: a Python-only .qmd on the jupyter engine needs a registered Jupyter kernel; switched to knitr+reticulate it needs R+reticulate instead. Freeze (below) lets CI skip needing either.

Cache vs Freeze (the load-bearing distinction)

These solve DIFFERENT problems and are constantly conflated:

knitr cache makes a SINGLE render faster by skipping unchanged chunks. Quarto freeze lets a DIFFERENT machine (CI / a website build) render with NO language runtime installed, by reusing stored results.

	cache (execute: cache)	freeze (execute: freeze)
Granularity	per-chunk (knitr) / per-notebook (jupyter-cache)	per-document
Problem solved	skip unchanged chunks during a render	skip ALL execution on publish/CI
Key	MD5(code + evaluating options); data only via cache.extra	source-file hash (auto) or never re-run (true)
Lives in	*_cache/ (per-doc)	_freeze/ (project - commit it)
Runtime needed to render?	yes (still renders, skips some chunks)	no - CI renders with no R/Python
Invalidates on upstream DATA change?	NO unless cache.extra	only via source change (auto); data not auto-tracked
Scope	within one render	only FULL project renders

Two edges that trip everyone:

• The stale-cache footgun: cache=TRUE keys on chunk CODE, not the data it reads. If data.csv changes but the chunk code is byte-identical, the cached (stale) result is served. Bind the data into the key: cache.extra = tools::md5sum('data.csv'). Cross-chunk dependencies need dependson='chunkA' (or autodep=TRUE, best-effort).
• Freeze only acts on FULL project renders. quarto render onefile.qmd and quarto render subdir/ always execute, ignoring freeze:. Arrange CI to do a whole-project quarto render so frozen results are honored. Commit _freeze/ so others render without reproducing the environment.
• They compose, not conflict. Freeze decides whether the project re-executes at all; when it does (source changed), knitr cache still skips unchanged chunks within that run.

The Working-Directory Trap

Chunks execute with the working directory set to the document's folder, NOT the project root (default execute-dir: file). So pd.read_csv('data/x.csv') works interactively from the project root but breaks on render when the .qmd lives in reports/. Set project: execute-dir: project in _quarto.yml to run all chunks from the project root, or use root-anchored paths (here::here(...) in R). Never setwd() in a chunk - it desyncs figure/cache file placement.

Cross-References Need the Type Prefix

A Quarto label is a cross-reference ONLY if it starts with a reserved lower-case type prefix: fig-, tbl-, sec-, eq-, lst-, theorem/callout families. #| label: scatter is a dead anchor; #| label: fig-scatter is referenceable as @fig-scatter. This is the #1 cause of a reference rendering as ?@fig-x.

```{python}
#| label: fig-umap
#| fig-cap: "UMAP embedding colored by cluster"
sc.pl.umap(adata, color='leiden')
```
See @fig-umap. Methods are in @sec-methods.

A figure/table from a code cell needs both the prefixed label and a fig-cap/tbl-cap. Section refs need {#sec-methods} on the heading AND number-sections: true. (Base R Markdown cannot cross-reference at all - that requires bookdown; see reporting/rmarkdown-reports.)

Parameters: knitr vs jupyter Differ

• knitr engine: YAML params: block, accessed read-only as params$x. Override: quarto render doc.qmd -P alpha:0.2.
• jupyter engine: there is NO params: block. Designate a cell tagged parameters (papermill convention) with default assignments; variables are then top-level names. A params: YAML block on a jupyter-engine document is silently ignored - a common bug.

```{python}
#| tags: [parameters]
input_file = "adata.h5ad"
n_top_genes = 2000
```

-P key:val overrides on the CLI for both engines.

Document Basics and Layout

---
title: "Analysis Report"
date: today
format:
  html:
    toc: true
    code-fold: true
    embed-resources: true   # one portable self-contained HTML
execute:
  warning: false
  freeze: auto
---

Per-cell options use the #| hash-pipe (#| echo: false, #| fig-width: 8, #| cache: true). Tabsets group alternative views under ::: {.panel-tabset}; callouts (::: {.callout-note}) flag notes/warnings/tips. Render multiple formats by listing them under format: and quarto render (or --to pdf); PDF needs a TeX engine (quarto install tinytex).

Self-Contained Output

embed-resources: true base64-inlines images, CSS, and JS into one portable HTML (maps to pandoc --embed-resources --standalone; the older --self-contained is deprecated since pandoc 2.19). htmlwidgets (plotly, DT) get inlined too, so an interactive report is one openable file - but each widget library inflates the size.

The Document Captures Code, Not the Environment

Quarto does not pin package versions or the interpreter. A .qmd that renders perfectly today can silently change output next year when a dependency updates. The document gives byte-reproducible output only if code, data, AND versions are unchanged - and versions are not in the repo unless pinned. For real reproducibility add a lockfile/container: renv::snapshot() (renv.lock) for R, environment.yml/requirements.txt for Python, Docker/Apptainer when the OS, TeX, and pandoc must also be pinned. Freeze is not reproducibility - _freeze/ lets CI skip execution, but the frozen results came from an uncaptured environment. Record provenance with sessionInfo() / sessioninfo::session_info() (provenance, not a restore mechanism). For journal submission, Quarto manuscript/journal templates (quarto-journals/...) produce article-formatted output from the same source.

Common Errors

Symptom	Cause	Fix
@fig-x renders as ?@fig-x	label missing the type prefix	name it fig-x/tbl-x and give it a caption
params: ignored on a Python doc	jupyter engine uses a parameters-tagged cell, not params:	tag a cell parameters, or use the knitr engine
Stale results after editing data	cache keys on code, not data	cache.extra = tools::md5sum('data.csv')
CI re-runs everything despite freeze	single-file/subdir render ignores freeze	do a full-project quarto render; commit _freeze/
read_csv('data/..') fails on render	working dir = doc folder, not project root	execute-dir: project or here::here()
Report reproduces differently months later	environment not pinned	renv.lock / conda env / container
PDF render fails	no TeX engine	quarto install tinytex

Related Skills

• reporting/rmarkdown-reports - R-focused alternative; needs bookdown for cross-references
• reporting/jupyter-reports - Parameterized notebook execution Quarto can consume
• reporting/publication-tables - Formatted tables to embed in the report
• data-visualization/ggplot2-fundamentals - Figures for R-engine reports
• data-visualization/interactive-visualization - Interactive dashboards (Quarto format: dashboard for static/self-contained, Shiny when a running server is acceptable)

References

• Knuth DE. Literate Programming. Comput J. 1984;27(2):97-111. doi:10.1093/comjnl/27.2.97
• Xie Y, Allaire JJ, Grolemund G. R Markdown: The Definitive Guide. Chapman & Hall/CRC; 2018
• Xie Y, Dervieux C, Riederer E. R Markdown Cookbook. Chapman & Hall/CRC; 2020
• Quarto documentation: quarto.org (cache/freeze, cross-references, parameters, execution engine)