How do I enable UTF-8 and font encoding?

Add \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} and \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} to the preamble; ensure your editor saves UTF-8.

How many passes are needed for references and bibliography?

Usually four passes: latex, bibtex, latex, latex; the first pass collects references, bibtex processes the bibliography, and the last passes resolve cross-references.

Where should hyperref be loaded?

Load hyperref last in the preamble to avoid package conflicts and keep clickable references.

LaTeX

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@ivangdavila

npx machina-cli add skill @ivangdavila/latex --openclaw

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SKILL.md

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Special Characters

Reserved chars need escape: \# \$ \% \& \_ \{ \} \textbackslash
Tilde as character: \textasciitilde not \~ (that's an accent)
Caret: \textasciicircum not \^
Backslash in text: \textbackslash not \\ (that's line break)

Quotes & Dashes

Opening quotes: `` not "; closing: ''—never use straight " quotes
Hyphen -, en-dash -- (ranges: 1--10), em-dash --- (punctuation)
Minus in math mode: $-1$ not -1 in text

Math Mode

Inline: $...$ or $...$; display: \[...\] or equation environment
Text inside math: $E = mc^2 \text{ where } m \text{ is mass}$
Multiline equations: align environment, not multiple equations
\left( ... \right) for auto-sizing delimiters—must be paired

Spacing

Command followed by text needs {} or \ : \LaTeX{} or \LaTeX\ is
Non-breaking space: ~ between number and unit: 5~km
Force space in math: \, thin, \: medium, \; thick, \quad \qquad

Packages

\usepackage order matters—hyperref almost always last
inputenc + fontenc for UTF-8: \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} \usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
graphicx for images, booktabs for professional tables, amsmath for advanced math
microtype for better typography—load early, subtle but significant improvement

Floats (Figures & Tables)

[htbp] suggests placement: here, top, bottom, page—not commands
LaTeX may move floats far from source—use [H] from float package to force
Always use \centering inside float, not center environment
Caption before \label—label references the last numbered element

References

Compile twice to resolve \ref and \pageref—first pass collects, second uses
\label immediately after \caption or inside environment being labeled
For bibliography: latex → bibtex → latex → latex (4 passes)
hyperref makes refs clickable—but can break with some packages

Tables

tabular for inline, table float for numbered with caption
Use booktabs: \toprule, \midrule, \bottomrule—no vertical lines
@{} removes padding: \begin{tabular}{@{}lll@{}}
Multicolumn: \multicolumn{2}{c}{Header}; multirow needs multirow package

Images

Path relative to main file or set with \graphicspath{{./images/}}
Prefer PDF/EPS for pdflatex/latex; PNG/JPG for photos
\includegraphics[width=0.8\textwidth]{file}—no extension often better

Common Errors

Overfull hbox: line too long—rephrase, add \- hyphenation hints, or allow \sloppy
Missing $: math command used in text mode
Undefined control sequence: typo or missing package
\include adds page break, \input doesn't—use \input for fragments

Document Structure

Preamble before \begin{document}—all \usepackage and settings
\maketitle after \begin{document} if using \title, \author, \date
article for short docs, report for chapters without parts, book for full books

Source

git clone https://clawhub.ai/ivangdavila/latexView on GitHub

Overview

Learn to write LaTeX documents with correct syntax, packages, and a reliable compilation workflow. It covers escaping special characters, math mode, tables, figures, and cross-references, plus best practices for preamble, package order, and error handling.

How This Skill Works

It uses a standard preamble with package commands and UTF-8/font encoding support. Content sits between \begin{document} and \end{document}, with inline math in $...$ and display math in \[ ... \] (or via the align environment). Compilation requires multiple passes: latex -> bibtex -> latex -> latex to resolve references and the bibliography.

When to Use It

Draft a short article or report with math and citations.
Create a long document (thesis or book) with sections, figures, and tables.
Include graphics with captions and labels for cross-references.
Write multilingual text with UTF-8 and proper font encoding.
Debug common errors and ensure all references resolve after compilation.

Quick Start

Step 1: Create a .tex file with a document class and a preamble; load packages: \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}, \usepackage[T1]{fontenc}, \usepackage{graphicx}, \usepackage{booktabs}, \usepackage{amsmath}, \usepackage{microtype}.
Step 2: Write content between \begin{document} and \end{document}, including math ($...$ or $ ... $) and figures/tables with captions and labels.
Step 3: Compile with latex, bibtex, latex, latex; review the log for errors and ensure cross-references are resolved.

Best Practices

Escape reserved characters like #, $, %, _, {, } and use typographic quotes ``...'' and proper dashes -- and ---.
Place hyperref last in the preamble and enable UTF-8 with \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} and \usepackage[T1]{fontenc}.
Use core packages: graphicx for images, booktabs for tables, amsmath for math, and microtype for typography; load them early for best results.
Floats: use [htbp] for placement, consider [H] with the float package to force position, always center inside floats, and caption before label.
Compile sequence: latex -> bibtex -> latex -> latex; check logs and fix references as needed.

Example Use Cases

Journal article with equations and BibTeX-managed references.
Engineering report with tables (booktabs) and figures (graphicx).
Book chapter or thesis with multi-section structure and cross-references.
UTF-8 multilingual paper using font encoding for proper non-ASCII characters.
PDF with clickable references using hyperref and consistent labeling.

Frequently Asked Questions

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