latex-scaffold_skill

Overview

This skill scaffolds a minimal, buildable LaTeX project from an existing Markdown draft and a BibTeX file. It produces latex/main.tex (plus any small support files) and wires the bibliography to citations/ref.bib. The conversion is deterministic and preserves document structure without rewriting prose.

How this skill works

The tool parses output/DRAFT.md, converts Markdown headings into LaTeX sectioning commands, maps abstract and appendices appropriately, and translates simple inline formatting and citation markers into LaTeX equivalents. It creates a latex/ directory (if missing) and writes latex/main.tex with a table of contents, citation wiring to citations/ref.bib, and layout choices that adapt to CJK content. The scaffold removes Markdown artifacts (##, **, [@...]) rather than editing content semantics.

When to use it

• You have a completed or approved draft at output/DRAFT.md and need a LaTeX/PDF deliverable.
• Preparing submissions for arXiv, journals, or conference proceedings from a Markdown draft.
• Integrating a LaTeX build step into an automated research pipeline (PDF generation, QA, or review).
• You already maintain citations in citations/ref.bib and want them wired into LaTeX.
• When you want a deterministic conversion that preserves authored prose and structure.

Best practices

• Clean the Markdown draft before running (no unresolved Markdown markup or stray citation tokens).
• Keep citations/ref.bib up to date; the scaffold only points to that file and does not modify it.
• Do not expect content rewriting—fix prose upstream in the draft, then re-run the scaffold to regenerate LaTeX.
• Run the scaffold in a workspace where output/DRAFT.md and citations/ref.bib are present to avoid missing references.
• After scaffolding, compile the generated latex/main.tex (use your usual LaTeX toolchain) and run any QA compilation scripts as needed.

Example use cases

• Convert a finished survey draft into latex/main.tex for arXiv submission, with bibliography wired to citations/ref.bib.
• Automate PDF generation in CI: pipeline step takes output/DRAFT.md → LaTeX scaffold → LaTeX compile → PDF artifact.
• Prepare an academic project where collaborators write in Markdown but final deliverable must be LaTeX; regenerate after content updates.
• Switch to CJK-capable layout automatically when the draft contains Chinese/Japanese/Korean content so PDF renders correctly.