LaTeX Skill

Comprehensive assistance with LaTeX document preparation, typesetting, and formatting. This skill provides quick references, templates, and troubleshooting for academic papers, presentations, reports, and technical documents.

When to Use This Skill

This skill should be triggered when:

• Writing LaTeX documents (papers, theses, reports)
• Creating mathematical equations and formulas
• Formatting scientific or academic documents
• Making presentations with Beamer
• Debugging LaTeX compilation errors
• Creating tables, figures, or bibliographies
• Asking about LaTeX commands or syntax
• Converting documents to LaTeX format
• Setting up document structure or layout
• Troubleshooting LaTeX warnings or errors

Quick Reference

Essential Document Structure

\documentclass{article}  % or book, report, beamer
\usepackage{graphicx}     % For images
\usepackage{amsmath}      % For math
\usepackage{hyperref}     % For hyperlinks

\title{Document Title}
\author{Author Name}
\date{\today}

\begin{document}

\maketitle

\section{Introduction}
Your content here.

\subsection{Background}
More content.

\section{Conclusion}
Final thoughts.

\end{document}

Common Commands

Text Formatting:

• \textbf{bold text} - Bold
• \textit{italic text} - Italic
• \underline{underlined} - Underline
• \texttt{monospace} - Typewriter font
• \emph{emphasized} - Emphasis (usually italic)

Document Structure:

• \section{Title} - Section heading
• \subsection{Title} - Subsection
• \subsubsection{Title} - Sub-subsection
• \paragraph{Title} - Paragraph heading
• \label{sec:intro} - Label for cross-reference
• \ref{sec:intro} - Reference to label

Lists:

% Bulleted list
\begin{itemize}
  \item First item
  \item Second item
\end{itemize}

% Numbered list
\begin{enumerate}
  \item First item
  \item Second item
\end{enumerate}

% Description list
\begin{description}
  \item[Term] Definition
  \item[Another] Explanation
\end{description}

Math Mode:

• Inline: $x^2 + y^2 = z^2$
• Display: $$E = mc^2$$
• Numbered equation:

\begin{equation}
  \int_0^1 f(x)dx = F(1) - F(0)
  \label{eq:ftc}
\end{equation}

Tables:

\begin{table}[h]
  \centering
  \begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
    \hline
    Header 1 & Header 2 & Header 3 \\
    \hline
    Data 1 & Data 2 & Data 3 \\
    Data 4 & Data 5 & Data 6 \\
    \hline
  \end{tabular}
  \caption{Table caption}
  \label{tab:example}
\end{table}

Figures:

\begin{figure}[h]
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.8\textwidth]{image.pdf}
  \caption{Figure caption}
  \label{fig:example}
\end{figure}

Cross-References:

• See Section~\ref{sec:intro} - Reference section
• As shown in Figure~\ref{fig:example} - Reference figure
• Equation~\eqref{eq:ftc} - Reference equation (with parentheses)

Citations:

% In preamble
\usepackage{natbib}
\bibliographystyle{plain}

% In text
According to~\cite{author2024}...
Multiple citations~\cite{author2024,smith2023}...

% At end of document
\bibliography{references}  % references.bib file

Common Packages

Essential:

• amsmath - Advanced mathematics
• graphicx - Include graphics
• hyperref - Clickable links and URLs
• geometry - Page layout
• fancyhdr - Custom headers/footers

Text and Fonts:

• fontenc - Font encoding
• inputenc - Input encoding (UTF-8)
• babel - Language support
• microtype - Typography improvements

Tables and Lists:

• booktabs - Professional tables
• longtable - Multi-page tables
• enumitem - Customizable lists

Graphics:

• tikz - Programmatic graphics
• pgfplots - Data plots
• subfig - Subfigures

Bibliography:

• natbib - Citations and bibliography
• biblatex - Modern bibliography system

Code Listings:

• listings - Source code formatting
• minted - Syntax highlighting (requires Python)

Reference Files

This skill includes comprehensive documentation in references/:

• quick-start.md - Getting started with LaTeX
• mathematics.md - Math mode, equations, symbols
• formatting.md - Text formatting, fonts, spacing
• tables-graphics.md - Tables, figures, images
• bibliography.md - Citations and bibliography management
• troubleshooting.md - Common errors and solutions

Templates

Ready-to-use templates in assets/:

• article-template.tex - Basic article/paper
• report-template.tex - Report with chapters
• beamer-template.tex - Presentation slides
• letter-template.tex - Formal letter
• ieee-paper-template.tex - IEEE conference paper format

Scripts

Helper scripts in scripts/:

• compile.sh - Compile LaTeX document
• clean.sh - Remove auxiliary files
• bibtex.sh - Run complete BibTeX workflow

Common Patterns

Two-Column Layout

\documentclass[twocolumn]{article}
% or
\usepackage{multicol}
\begin{multicols}{2}
  Content in two columns
\end{multicols}

Custom Page Margins

\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{
  a4paper,
  left=1in,
  right=1in,
  top=1in,
  bottom=1in
}

Custom Headers and Footers

\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\pagestyle{fancy}
\fancyhead[L]{Left Header}
\fancyhead[C]{Center Header}
\fancyhead[R]{Right Header}
\fancyfoot[C]{\thepage}

Including Code

\usepackage{listings}
\lstset{
  language=Python,
  basicstyle=\ttfamily,
  numbers=left,
  frame=single
}

\begin{lstlisting}
def hello():
    print("Hello, World!")
\end{lstlisting}

Multiple Authors

\author{
  First Author\thanks{University A} \and
  Second Author\thanks{University B} \and
  Third Author\thanks{University C}
}

Compilation Workflow

Standard:

pdflatex document.tex
pdflatex document.tex  # Run twice for references

With Bibliography:

pdflatex document.tex
bibtex document
pdflatex document.tex
pdflatex document.tex

Modern (latexmk):

latexmk -pdf document.tex  # Handles all compilation steps

Troubleshooting Quick Tips

Undefined control sequence:

• Missing package (add \usepackage{...})
• Typo in command name
• Missing math mode delimiter

Missing $ inserted:

• Math symbols used outside math mode
• Add $...$ or \(...\) around math

File not found:

• Check file path and extension
• Use relative paths or place in same directory
• For images, ensure file extension is specified

Overfull \hbox:

• Line too wide to fit
• Add \sloppy or break long URLs with \url{}
• Use \linebreak or rephrase text

Undefined references:

• Run LaTeX twice (first pass creates labels, second resolves)
• Check label names match \ref{...} commands

Best Practices

1. Always compile twice after adding labels/references
2. Use meaningful labels: \label{sec:intro} not \label{s1}
3. Keep figures in subfolder: figures/image.pdf
4. Use vector graphics (PDF, EPS) when possible
5. Separate bibliography into .bib file
6. Version control your .tex files (Git recommended)
7. Comment your code: % This explains the code
8. Use packages sparingly: Only include what you need
9. Consistent formatting: Choose one citation style
10. Test compilation early and often

Resources

Online Documentation

• LaTeX Wikibook: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX
• Overleaf Learn: https://www.overleaf.com/learn
• CTAN (packages): https://ctan.org
• TeX Stack Exchange: https://tex.stackexchange.com

Reference Files

See references/ directory for detailed guides on:

• Quick start and basics
• Mathematical typesetting
• Text formatting and fonts
• Tables and graphics
• Bibliography management
• Troubleshooting common errors

Templates

See assets/ directory for ready-to-use templates:

• Academic papers
• Technical reports
• Presentations
• Letters
• Conference papers

Version History

• 1.0.0 (2025-12-31): Initial manual creation
  • Comprehensive command reference
  • 5 document templates
  • Troubleshooting guide
  • Compilation scripts

Contributing

To enhance this skill:

1. Add new templates to assets/
2. Expand reference guides in references/
3. Update SKILL.md quick reference
4. Add helper scripts to scripts/
5. Document common patterns and solutions

Created: Manually curated LaTeX skill Status: Production Ready Version: 1.0.0 Last Updated: 2025-12-31