Awesome-Agent-Skills-for-Empirical-Research 08-ndpvt-web-latex-document-skill

<!--

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Agent-Skills-for-Empirical-Research

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Agent-Skills-for-Empirical-Research "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/08-ndpvt-web-latex-document-skill" ~/.claude/skills/brycewang-stanford-awesome-agent-skills-for-empirical-research-08-ndpvt-web-late && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: skills/08-ndpvt-web-latex-document-skill/SKILL.md

source content

name: latex-document 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.

Workflow: Create Documents

Determine document type (resume, report, letter, invoice, article, thesis, academic CV, presentation, poster, exam, book, cheat sheet)
If poster: Run the poster sub-workflow (see Poster Sub-Workflow below), then skip to step 5.
If cheat sheet / reference card: Run the cheat sheet sub-workflow (see Cheat Sheet / Reference Card Sub-Workflow below), then skip to step 5.
Ask the user which enrichment elements they want (use AskUserQuestion tool with multiSelect). Offer relevant options based on document type:
- AI-generated images -- custom illustrations, diagrams, photos (uses generate-image skill)
- Charts/graphs -- bar, line, pie, scatter, heatmap (pgfplots or matplotlib)
- Flowcharts/diagrams -- process flows, architecture, decision trees (TikZ or Mermaid)
- Citations/bibliography -- academic references, footnotes, works cited (BibTeX/biblatex)
- Tables with data -- comparison matrices, financial data, statistics (booktabs)
- Watermarks -- DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, or company logo background
- Skip this step for simple documents (cover letters, invoices) or when the user has already specified exactly what they want.
Copy the appropriate template from
```
assets/templates/
```
or write from scratch
Customize content based on user requirements

Generate external assets based on user's element choices:

AI images:

python3 <skill_path>/../generate-image/scripts/generate_image.py "prompt" --output ./outputs/figure.png

matplotlib charts:

python3 <skill_path>/scripts/generate_chart.py <type> --data '<json>' --output chart.png

Mermaid diagrams:

bash <skill_path>/scripts/mermaid_to_image.sh diagram.mmd output.png

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
```
 ewpage
```
, 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.
Select template:
```
cheatsheet.tex
```
(general, 3-col landscape),
```
cheatsheet-exam.tex
```
(exam formula, 2-col portrait), or
```
cheatsheet-code.tex
```
(programming, 4-col landscape).
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

Conversion profiles (in

references/profiles/

math-notes.md

(equations, theorems -- has beautiful mode),

business-document.md

(reports, memos),

legal-document.md

(contracts, statutes),

general-notes.md

(handwritten, mixed content).

Workflow: Fill PDF Forms

Fill existing PDF forms -- both fillable (with form fields) and non-fillable (image-based). Full guide: references/pdf-operations.md.

Step 1: Check form type:

python3 <skill_path>/scripts/pdf_check_form.py form.pdf

If fillable (has form fields):

# 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

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

ibliography{}

(runs bibtex),

ddbibresource{}

(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	9/10
`resume-executive.tex`	VP, Director, C-suite (5-15+ years)	Two-page, executive summary, board roles, P&L focus	9/10
`resume-technical.tex`	Software, data, engineering roles	Skills-first hybrid, projects section, tech stack emphasis	9/10
`resume-entry-level.tex`	New graduates, career starters	Education-first, one page, coursework, activities	9/10

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).

STEM Student Templates

homework.tex
-- Homework/assignment submission template (
```
article
```
class, 11pt) with toggle-able solutions (
```
\showsolutionstrue
```
/
```
\showsolutionsfalse
```
), custom problem/solution environments, honor code section,
```
fancyhdr
```
headers,
```
amsmath
```
+
```
amssymb
```
+
```
amsthm
```
math,
```
listings
```
code highlighting (Python, Java, C++, Matlab styles),
```
enumitem
```
for (a), (b), (c) sub-parts,
```
hyperref
```
. Customization via `