Latex Cheatsheet Updater Skill

Script-first workflow for updating LuaLaTeX cheatsheets from Markdown while preserving compact multi-column layout.

Overview

• Script-first conversion + mandatory manual tightening after the first compile.
• UTF-8 Chinese preserved; prefer short inline formulas in multi-column layout.

Files

• SKILL.md: workflow and rules used by the skill.
• scripts/md_to_cheatsheet_tex.py: convert a chapter Markdown file into \topic/\subtopic/\par blocks and insert/replace them.
• scripts/init_cheatsheet.py: initialize a new cheatsheet from templates.
• assets/cheatsheet-template-empty.tex: blank template with layout settings.
• assets/cheatsheet-template.tex: full template example.

Quick Start (Script-First)

1. (Optional) Initialize a new cheatsheet:

   python scripts/init_cheatsheet.py output.tex --columns 7 --font-size 5 --line-height 5

2. Update a chapter from Markdown:

   python scripts/md_to_cheatsheet_tex.py chapter.md output.tex

3. Compile once with LuaLaTeX to catch compatibility errors:

   latexmk -lualatex -synctex=1 -interaction=nonstopmode -file-line-error -outdir=out output.tex

4. Manually tighten layout, then recompile.

Manual Tightening (Required)

• Avoid display math (\[...\]); use inline $...$ unless a very short display is clearer.
• Split long formulas into two \par lines (break at = or +) to prevent column overflow.
• Merge adjacent \par lines when readability is still OK.

Post-Script Cleanup (Common Errors)

• Remove Markdown blockquotes (>); convert $$...$$ to inline $...$ or two-line \par formulas.
• Escape # inside text or \text{...} as \# / \text{\# ...}.
• Replace emoji/Unicode math symbols with LaTeX commands (e.g., \Rightarrow, \lceil...\rceil, \cdot).
• If the .tex is locked, stop latexmk/lualatex before editing.

Notes

• Verify Chinese in the editor (terminal output can be mojibake).
• Prefer ASCII paths or quoted absolute paths in PowerShell when non-ASCII paths cause issues.