AugmentClaude

Academic LaTeX Layout

Optimize figure and table placement in academic papers for better PDF layout.

Installation

  1. Make sure Claude is on your device and in your terminal.

    Skills load from ~/.claude/skills/ when Claude Code starts up — so you need it on your machine first. If you don't have it yet, install it once with the command below, then run claude in any terminal to verify.

    One-time setup
    npm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

    Already have it? Skip ahead.

  2. Paste into Claude Code or into your terminal.

    This copies the whole skill folder into ~/.claude/skills/academic-latex-layout-joshua-zyy/ — the SKILL.md plus any scripts, reference docs, or templates the skill ships with. Safe default: works for every skill.

    Faster alternative (instruction-only skills)

    Skips the clone and grabs only the SKILL.md file. Don't use this if the skill ships Python scripts, reference markdowns, or asset templates — they won't be downloaded and the skill will fail when it tries to load them.

    Quick install (SKILL.md only)
    Sign up to copy
  3. Restart Claude Code.

    Quit and reopen Claude Code (or any other agent that loads from ~/.claude/skills/). New skills are picked up on startup.

  4. Just ask Claude.

    Skills auto-activate when your request matches the skill's description — no slash command needed. Trigger phrases live in the skill's own frontmatter; you can read them in the “What this skill does” section above.

Prefer to read the source first? Open on GitHub.

When Claude uses it

Use when working on academic paper LaTeX layout, figure/table float placement, draft-to-template LaTeX generation, existing .tex project layout repair, figures piling up, figures far from text, large blank areas, two-column figure/table placement, page-limit layout cleanup, or compiled PDF layout review.

What this skill does

Academic LaTeX Layout

LaTeX layout and float-placement router for academic papers. Optimize figure/table placement by semantic adjacency and compiled PDF evidence, not by source-level hacks.

Router Protocol

  1. Read manifest.yaml.
  2. Read every file listed under always_load.
  3. Detect exactly one mode from the manifest.
  4. Echo the selected mode before executing.
  5. Reach for references/ only when the manifest condition is satisfied.

Modes

ModeUse when
draft-to-latex-layoutDraft + template + existing figures/tables must become LaTeX with semantically placed floats
layout-repairExisting .tex project has float pileups, text/figure drift, blank areas, or two-column layout problems
layout-auditUser wants diagnosis only, without edits

Boundaries

Do not generate data figures; use academic-figure. Do not broadly polish prose; use academic-polishing. Do not decide which figures the paper should contain.

Completion Criteria

  • Template constraints identified or bounded.
  • Figure/table semantic map produced.
  • Direct edits follow risk policy.
  • Compile and PDF preview loop run when feasible; otherwise bounded assessment explains the blocker.
  • Final report follows references/report-format.md.

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