amhuppert/my-ai-resources/latex

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

1. Analyze input - Read the source material, identify structure (headings, lists, tables, figures, math, code, citations)
2. Determine document class - Select appropriate class based on content type and length
3. Generate LaTeX - Produce a complete .tex file with proper preamble and body
4. 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

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:

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

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 or Darwin).

Package installation requires system permissions — present the installation command to the user and let them confirm before running sudo or brew commands.