Markdown to LaTeX Conversion

Convert Markdown documents to professional LaTeX with advanced typesetting, TikZ/PGFPlots visualizations, and PDF compilation.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when... Use another skill when...

Converting Markdown to presentation-quality PDF Writing Markdown documentation (/docs:generate )

Creating reports with diagrams and visualizations Simple text formatting

Generating print-ready strategic documents Creating HTML documentation

Building lifecycle reports with charts and timelines Syncing existing docs (/docs:sync )

Context

• LaTeX installed: !which pdflatex

• Current directory: !pwd

• Available .md files: !find . -maxdepth 2 -name '*.md' -not -name 'CHANGELOG.md' -not -name 'README.md'

Parameters

• <file> : Path to the Markdown source file (required)

• --no-compile : Generate .tex file only, skip PDF compilation

• --visualizations : Include TikZ/PGFPlots diagrams (timelines, charts, risk matrices)

• --report-type : Document structure preset

• roadmap : Phase-based roadmap with timeline visualization

• lifecycle : Project lifecycle with release charts and velocity graphs

• general : Standard professional document (default)

Execution

Execute this Markdown-to-LaTeX conversion workflow:

Step 1: Analyze the Markdown source

Read the source Markdown file and extract:

• Document title and metadata

• Section hierarchy (map # levels to LaTeX chapters/sections)

• Tables, lists, code blocks, callout blocks, and blockquotes

• Priorities or status indicators for color-coded markers

• Numerical data suitable for visualization

Step 2: Generate the LaTeX document

Create a .tex file adjacent to the source. Use the document preamble, color definitions, custom environments, and conversion rules from REFERENCE.md.

Apply the Markdown-to-LaTeX conversion rules:

Markdown LaTeX

Title

\chapter{Title}

Section

\section{Section}

Subsection

\subsection{Subsection}

bold

\textbf{bold}

italic

\textit{italic}

code

\texttt{code}

• item

\begin{itemize}\item ...\end{itemize}

1. item

\begin{enumerate}\item ...\end{enumerate}

quote

\begin{tcolorbox}...\end{tcolorbox}

text

\href{url}{text}

Tables booktabs tables with \toprule , \midrule , \bottomrule

Code blocks \begin{lstlisting}...\end{lstlisting}

• / - [x]

$\square$ / $\boxtimes$ (requires amssymb )

Step 3: Add visualizations (when --visualizations or data suggests it)

Choose appropriate TikZ/PGFPlots visualizations based on document content. Use the visualization templates from REFERENCE.md:

• Timeline for roadmaps with phases

• Bar/pie charts for release or metric data

• Risk matrix for documents with risk/impact data

• Test pyramid for QA/testing documents

Step 4: Compile to PDF

• Install LaTeX toolchain if not available: apt-get update && apt-get install -y texlive-latex-extra texlive-fonts-recommended
  texlive-fonts-extra texlive-science latexmk

• Compile with two passes for cross-references: pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode DOCUMENT.tex pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode DOCUMENT.tex

• If compilation fails, check REFERENCE.md for common compilation fixes.

Step 5: Clean up repository artifacts

Add LaTeX build artifacts to .gitignore if not already present: *.aux , *.log , *.out , *.toc , *.lof , *.lot , *.fls , *.fdb_latexmk , *.synctex.gz , *.bbl , *.blg , *.nav , *.snm , *.vrb .

Post-actions

• Report the output PDF path, page count, and file size

• Summarize what visualizations were generated

• List any compilation warnings that may need attention

• Suggest the .gitignore additions if not already present

Agentic Optimizations

Context Command

Check LaTeX installed which pdflatex 2>/dev/null

Quick compile pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode -halt-on-error FILE.tex

Full compile (with TOC) pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode FILE.tex && pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode FILE.tex

Check PDF page count pdfinfo FILE.pdf 2>/dev/null

Check PDF file size stat -f %z FILE.pdf 2>/dev/null

Install toolchain apt-get install -y texlive-latex-extra texlive-fonts-recommended texlive-fonts-extra texlive-science

Errors only pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode FILE.tex 2>&1

For detailed LaTeX patterns, TikZ templates, and package reference, see REFERENCE.md.