Turn your AI coding assistant into a full-blown, autonomous LaTeX engineering department. LaTeX Engineer Skill functions as a highly specialized LaTeX project operating system. It allows AI agents to scaffold modular document structures, compile high-quality PDFs, automatically diagnose and resolve LaTeX compiler errors, manage references, and generate ATS-compliant resumes or academic papers.

• 🚀 Automated Scaffolding: Instantly generates professional, modular LaTeX layouts including main.tex, structured subfolders (sections/, figures/, tables/), dynamic Makefile build files, and pre-configured compilation engines.
• ⚙️ Multi-Engine Compiler Pipeline: Automatically compiles documents using latexmk, with built-in configurations for pdflatex (standard), xelatex (system fonts), and lualatex (complex multilingual script rendering).
• 🔍 Self-Healing & Debugging: Parses compiler log files (.log) autonomously when a build fails. It isolates syntax issues, handles missing packages via automated package installations (tlmgr), and fixes broken commands without manual intervention.
• 🎯 ATS-Compliant Resume Generation: Implements layout architectures optimized specifically for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to ensure resumes scan perfectly in automated parsers (single-column format, standard section headings, and table-less tables).
• 📚 Intelligent Citation Management: Integrates citations directly using biblatex and biber. Simply provide a DOI or citation key, and the system automatically updates .bib catalogs.

Interact with the LaTeX engineering agent using standard slash commands:

The diagram below outlines the autonomous compile-debug loop that the LaTeX Engineer runs behind the scenes:

graph TD
    A[User Request: e.g., /new resume] --> B[Scaffold Phase]
    B --> C[Generate Modular Folders & Makefile]
    C --> D[Continuous Editing & Refinement]
    D --> E[Compilation: /compile]
    E --> F{Build Success?}
    F -- Yes --> G[Generate High-Quality PDF]
    F -- No --> H[Autonomous Debugging: /fix-errors]
    H --> I[Analyze .log Output]
    I --> J[Identify Missing Packages or Bad Syntax]
    J --> K[Apply Auto-Fixes & Install Packages]
    K --> E

The skill includes detailed layout rules and structures for a variety of academic and professional templates:

• Professional Resumes: Fully ATS-optimized layouts and Academic CVs using moderncv.
• Academic Papers: Strict, publication-ready layouts for major venues:
  • IEEE Conference & Journals (IEEEtran support)
  • ACM Conference & Journals (acmart support)
  • Springer LNCS (llncs support)
  • Elsevier Journals (elsarticle support)
• Technical Reports & Theses: Multi-chapter reports and university thesis formats utilizing modular sections/.
• Slides & Presentations: Clean, elegant slide layouts using the LaTeX beamer class.
• Notes & Lab Reports: Mathematical formulations using amsmath, amssymb, and siunitx.

Install the LaTeX Engineer skill across all compatible agents at once using the automated installer script:

# Clone the repository and run the install script
git clone https://github.com/shihabshahrier/latex-skill.git
cd latex-skill
bash install.sh

The install.sh script automatically installs the skill into the following directories:

For desktop environments like Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, or GitHub Copilot, the prompt rule files in .cursor/, .windsurf/, .clinerules, AGENTS.md, and GEMINI.md ensure global compatibility.

To compile PDFs locally, ensure a valid TeX distribution and compiler toolchain are installed:

• macOS:

  # Full installation (Recommended)
  brew install --cask mactex
  # Minimal installation
  brew install --cask basictex

• Ubuntu / Debian:

  sudo apt update
  sudo apt install texlive-full latexmk

• Fedora / RHEL:

  sudo dnf install texlive-scheme-full latexmk

• Windows: Install TeX Live or MiKTeX.

Please help us keep the skill organized and performant. Keep the following source of truth rules in mind:

• Do not edit agent-specific config files directly (such as .cursor/, .windsurf/, .clinerules, or AGENTS.md). These are automatically synchronized and updated from the main definition.
• Keep the core SKILL.md under 5,000 tokens to prevent context bloating in AI systems. Place deep domain knowledge, code templates, or complex guidelines inside the references/ directory.

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

📖 Project page: https://shihub.online/projects/latex-engineer