Skip to content

/build-paper

Compiles the LaTeX paper to PDF through the pdflatex and bibtex cycle and lists common compilation failures.

Category: infra
Field: general
License: MIT (repo LICENSE, "Copyright (c) 2025 Alex Dickerson")
Updated: 2026-03-24
Stages: dissemination

Build Paper Skill

Compile the paper from LaTeX source to PDF.

Examples

  • /build-paper -- full compile cycle for main.tex
  • /build-paper --quick -- single pdflatex pass (faster, no bibliography update)
  • /build-paper path/to/file.tex -- compile a specific file

Workflow

Full Build (default)

  1. Run pdflatex (first pass)
  2. Run bibtex
  3. Run pdflatex (second pass -- resolve references)
  4. Run pdflatex (third pass -- finalize)
  5. Check for errors/warnings
  6. Report result

Quick Build (--quick)

  1. Run single pdflatex pass
  2. Report result

Commands

Use the pdflatex and bibtex paths from canonical local state reported by tools/bootstrap.py audit (or a repo-root CLAUDE.local.md compatibility shim if present). The general pattern:

Full build:

Bash
cd {latex_dir} && pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode {file} && bibtex {stem} && pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode {file} && pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode {file}

Quick build:

Bash
cd {latex_dir} && pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode {file}

IMPORTANT: Always cd to the directory containing the .tex file before compiling.

Output

Text Only
BUILD REPORT
============

Status: SUCCESS / FAILED
Warnings: N
Errors: N

[list of warnings if any]
[list of errors if any]

Output: {latex_dir}/{stem}.pdf

Common Issues

  • Undefined references: Run full build (not quick)
  • Missing citations: Check the .bib file has the key
  • Package errors: Check \usepackage declarations
  • Font warnings: Usually harmless (font substitution)