Awesome-omni-skill latex

This skill should be used when the user asks to "create a LaTeX document", "convert markdown to LaTeX", "make a PDF from markdown", "format as LaTeX", "write LaTeX", or wants to produce beautifully typeset documents. Handles LaTeX generation from any input source with professional typography, and optionally compiles to PDF.

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/diegosouzapw/awesome-omni-skill

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

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/diegosouzapw/awesome-omni-skill "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/development/latex" ~/.claude/skills/diegosouzapw-awesome-omni-skill-latex && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: skills/development/latex/SKILL.md

source content

LaTeX Document Creator

Create beautifully formatted LaTeX documents from any input source (markdown files, plain text, structured data, or user instructions). Produce professional-quality typeset output following modern LaTeX best practices.

Workflow

Analyze input - Read the source material, identify structure (headings, lists, tables, figures, math, code, citations)
Determine document class - Select appropriate class based on content type and length
Generate LaTeX - Produce a complete
```
.tex
```
file with proper preamble and body
Compile to PDF (if requested) - Detect platform and compile using
```
latexmk
```

If the user provides additional formatting instructions, apply them. User instructions override defaults below.

Document Class Selection

Content Type	Class	When
Short documents, articles, memos	`scrartcl`	No chapters needed
Reports, theses, long documents	`scrreprt`	Chapter-level structure
Books, manuals	`scrbook`	Front/back matter, parts
Presentations	`beamer`	Slides

Use KOMA-Script classes (

scrartcl

scrreprt

scrbook

) over standard classes for superior typography defaults and built-in customization.

Standard Preamble

Organize the preamble in this order. Include only packages the document actually needs.

\documentclass[a4paper, 11pt]{scrartcl}

% --- Typography ---
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{lmodern}              % Clean, professional font
\usepackage{microtype}            % ESSENTIAL: character protrusion + font expansion

% --- Math (include only if document has math) ---
\usepackage{mathtools}            % Superset of amsmath with fixes
\usepackage{amssymb}

% --- Layout ---
\usepackage{geometry}

% --- Tables & Figures ---
\usepackage{booktabs}             % Professional table rules
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{caption}
\usepackage{subcaption}

% --- Lists ---
\usepackage{enumitem}

% --- Language & Quotes ---
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{csquotes}

% --- Colors ---
\usepackage{xcolor}

% --- Code Listings (include only if document has code) ---
\usepackage{listings}

% --- Units (include only if document has quantities) ---
\usepackage{siunitx}

% --- Links & References (load near-last) ---
\usepackage{hyperref}
\hypersetup{
  colorlinks=true,
  linkcolor=blue!70!black,
  citecolor=green!50!black,
  urlcolor=blue!70!black,
}
\usepackage{cleveref}             % MUST be after hyperref

Package Notes

```
microtype
```
is non-negotiable for professional output - always include it
```
mathtools
```
loads
```
amsmath
```
automatically; never load both
```
cleveref
```
must load after
```
hyperref
```
```
hyperref
```
should load near-last
For bibliography: use
```
biblatex
```
with
```
biber
```
backend, not legacy
```
bibtex
```
/
```
natbib
```

Typography Rules

Fonts

Default:
```
lmodern
```
(Latin Modern) - clean, professional, widely available
Alternative serif:
```
libertinus
```
,
```
newtxtext
```
/
```
newtxmath
```
(Times-like)
For system fonts (Unicode): switch to LuaLaTeX with
```
fontspec
```

Spacing and Punctuation

En-dash for ranges:
```
2020--2025
```
renders as 2020–2025
Em-dash for breaks:
```
word---word
```
renders as word—word
Non-breaking space (
```
~
```
) before
```
\cite
```
,
```
\cref
```
, and between numbers and units
Thin space before differentials:
```
\int f(x) \, dx
```
Use
```
\enquote{}
```
from
```
csquotes
```
for quotation marks, never manual quote characters
Use
```
\emph{}
```
instead of
```
\textit{}
```
- semantic emphasis that adapts to context
Use
```
\dots
```
for ellipses, never three periods

Sentence Spacing

After abbreviations (not ending a sentence):
```
e.g.\ this
```
,
```
i.e.\ that
```
After a capital letter ending a sentence:
```
NASA\@. The next sentence
```

Formatting Standards

Tables

Always use
```
booktabs
```
:
```
\toprule
```
,
```
\midrule
```
,
```
\bottomrule
```
Never use vertical rules (
```
|
```
) or
```
\hline
```
Place table captions above the table
Place figure captions below the figure

Figures

Use
```
\centering
```
inside floats, not
```
\begin{center}
```
Default float placement:
```
[htbp]
```
Reference all figures in text before they appear

Cross-References

Use
```
\cref{}
```
from
```
cleveref
```
- automatically produces "Figure 1", "Table 2", etc.
Label prefixes:
```
fig:
```
,
```
tab:
```
,
```
sec:
```
,
```
eq:
```
,
```
lst:
```
Place
```
\label
```
immediately after
```
\caption
```
or
```
\section
```

Lists

Use
```
enumitem
```
for customization
Avoid nesting deeper than 3 levels - restructure content instead

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Never use
```
$$...$$
```
for display math - use
```
\[...\]
```
or
```
equation
```
environment
Never use
```
\\
```
for paragraph breaks - use a blank line
Never use
```
\begin{center}
```
inside floats - use
```
\centering
```
Never place
```
\label
```
before
```
\caption
```
- produces wrong reference numbers
Never hardcode reference numbers - always use
```
\cref{}
```
Never use bare function names in math - use
```
\sin
```
,
```
\log
```
, or
```
\DeclareMathOperator
```
Escape special characters:
```
#
```
,
```
%
```
,
```
$
```
,
```
&
```
,
```
_
```
,
```
{
```
,
```
}
```

Markdown-to-LaTeX Conversion

When converting from markdown, apply these mappings:

Markdown	LaTeX
`# Heading`	`\section{Heading}`
`## Heading`	`\subsection{Heading}`
`### Heading`	`\subsubsection{Heading}`
`bold`	`\textbf{bold}`
`italic`	`\emph{italic}`
`code`	`\texttt{code}`
`> blockquote`	`\begin{quote}...\end{quote}`
`- item`	`\begin{itemize}\item ...\end{itemize}`
`1. item`	`\begin{enumerate}\item ...\end{enumerate}`
`[text](url)`	`\href{url}{text}`
`![alt](path)`	`\begin{figure}...\includegraphics{path}...\end{figure}`
```lang ```	`\begin{lstlisting}[language=lang]...\end{lstlisting}`
`---` (horizontal rule)	`\bigskip\noindent\rule{\textwidth}{0.4pt}\bigskip`
Tables	`\begin{tabular}` with `booktabs` rules
$math$	$math$ (same)
`$$math$$`	`\[math\]`

Conversion Guidelines

Infer document title from the first
```
#
```
heading or filename
Infer
```
\author
```
and
```
\date
```
if present in the source, otherwise omit
Preserve the semantic structure - do not flatten or over-nest headings
Convert markdown tables to
```
booktabs
```
-styled
```
tabular
```
environments
Escape all LaTeX special characters in text content
For documents with chapters, promote heading levels (
```
#
```
→
```
\chapter
```
,
```
##
```
→
```
\section
```
)

Compiling to PDF

When the user requests PDF output, detect the platform and compile.

Engine Selection

Engine	Command	Use When
pdfLaTeX	`latexmk -pdf`	Default. ASCII/Latin content, standard fonts, fastest compilation
XeLaTeX	`latexmk -xelatex`	System fonts via `fontspec` , native Unicode
LuaLaTeX	`latexmk -lualatex`	System fonts + Lua scripting, no memory limits

Using latexmk (Preferred)

latexmk

automatically runs the correct number of passes for cross-references, bibliographies, and indices. Always prefer it over manual multi-pass compilation.

latexmk -pdf document.tex       # Compile to PDF (pdflatex)
latexmk -xelatex document.tex   # Compile with XeTeX
latexmk -lualatex document.tex  # Compile with LuaTeX
latexmk -c document.tex         # Clean auxiliary files (keep PDF)

Manual Compilation (When latexmk Is Unavailable)

# Simple document (no bibliography)
pdflatex document.tex && pdflatex document.tex

# Document with biblatex/biber bibliography
pdflatex document.tex && biber document && pdflatex document.tex && pdflatex document.tex

Platform-Specific Installation

If LaTeX tools are not installed or compilation fails due to missing packages, read the appropriate platform guide for installation instructions:

Ubuntu/Debian: Read
```
references/pdf-compilation-ubuntu.md
```
macOS: Read
```
references/pdf-compilation-macos.md
```

Detect the platform with

uname -s

(

Linux

Darwin

Package installation requires system permissions — present the installation command to the user and let them confirm before running

sudo

brew

commands.