defense-slides

name: defense-slides description: Generates a populated LaTeX Beamer presentation for the thesis defense from thesis sections and student profile. Compiles to output/defense.pdf.

/defense-slides

Generates a 16-slide Beamer presentation for your thesis defense, populated from your thesis sections. Outputs output/defense.tex (editable) and attempts to compile output/defense.pdf.

Prerequisites

Run /interview first if you have not already — this skill reads docs/student-profile.md for your name, advisor, university, and thesis title.

Process

Step 1 — Check student profile

Read docs/student-profile.md. Extract:

• Student full name
• Advisor name
• University and program
• Thesis working title
• Research question

If the file does not exist or contains only placeholder text, stop and tell the student: "Please run /interview first to set up your student profile."

Step 2 — Read thesis sections

Read each of the following files:

Step 3 — Check pdflatex

Run:

pdflatex --version

If not found, print install instructions and stop:

• macOS: brew install --cask mactex or brew install basictex
• Windows: Install MiKTeX from miktex.org or winget install MiKTeX.MiKTeX
• Linux: sudo apt install texlive-latex-base or sudo dnf install texlive

Step 4 — Generate output/defense.tex

Apply these content extraction rules to each thesis section before inserting into the .tex file:

1. Strip lines starting with >, lines containing [placeholder], and bare headings
2. Summarize remaining prose into 3–4 concise bullet points per slide (one line each)
3. Do not copy sentences verbatim — rephrase into presentation language
4. Preserve cautious language where relevant: "suggests", "consistent with", "evidence points to"
5. For results slides: prioritize coefficients, key findings, and tables
6. For empty sections: insert % TODO: [Section name] not yet written — fill in before defense
7. Multi-slide sections: split content evenly across allocated slides; collapse to one slide if content is thin
8. Escape these characters before inserting into LaTeX:
   • & → \&
   • % → \%
   • $ → \$
   • # → \#
   • _ → \_
   • ^ → \^{}
   • ~ → \textasciitilde{}
   • { → \{
   • } → \}
   • \ → \textbackslash{}

Generate output/defense.tex using this exact structure, substituting bullet points from the thesis:

\documentclass{beamer}
\usetheme{Boadilla}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}

\title{[Thesis Title]}
\subtitle{Master's Thesis Defense}
\author{[Student Name]}
\institute{[University] \\ [Program]}
\date{\today}

\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
  \titlepage
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}{Outline}
  \tableofcontents
\end{frame}

% -------------------------------------------------------
\section{Motivation}
\begin{frame}{Motivation}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item [bullet 1 from introduction]
    \item [bullet 2 from introduction]
    \item [bullet 3 from introduction]
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

% -------------------------------------------------------
\section{Research Question}
\begin{frame}{Research Question}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item \textbf{Research question:} [RQ from student-profile.md]
    \item [bullet 2 from research question section]
    \item [bullet 3 from research question section]
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

% -------------------------------------------------------
\section{Literature \& Positioning}
\begin{frame}{Literature \& Positioning (1/2)}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item [bullet 1]
    \item [bullet 2]
    \item [bullet 3]
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}{Literature \& Positioning (2/2)}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item [bullet 1]
    \item [bullet 2]
    \item [bullet 3]
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

% -------------------------------------------------------
\section{Data}
\begin{frame}{Data (1/2)}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item [bullet 1]
    \item [bullet 2]
    \item [bullet 3]
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}{Data (2/2)}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item [bullet 1]
    \item [bullet 2]
    \item [bullet 3]
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

% -------------------------------------------------------
\section{Methodology}
\begin{frame}{Methodology (1/2)}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item [bullet 1]
    \item [bullet 2]
    \item [bullet 3]
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}{Methodology (2/2)}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item [bullet 1]
    \item [bullet 2]
    \item [bullet 3]
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

% -------------------------------------------------------
\section{Results}
\begin{frame}{Main Results (1/3)}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item [bullet 1]
    \item [bullet 2]
    \item [bullet 3]
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}{Main Results (2/3)}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item [bullet 1]
    \item [bullet 2]
    \item [bullet 3]
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}{Main Results (3/3)}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item [bullet 1]
    \item [bullet 2]
    \item [bullet 3]
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

% -------------------------------------------------------
\section{Robustness}
\begin{frame}{Robustness Checks}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item [bullet 1]
    \item [bullet 2]
    \item [bullet 3]
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

% -------------------------------------------------------
\section{Conclusion}
\begin{frame}{Conclusion \& Contribution}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item [bullet 1 from discussion/conclusion]
    \item [bullet 2 from discussion/conclusion]
    \item [bullet 3 from discussion/conclusion]
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

% -------------------------------------------------------
\begin{frame}
  \centering
  \Large Thank you. \\[1em]
  \normalsize Questions welcome.
\end{frame}

\end{document}

Step 5 — Compile

Run pdflatex twice from the project root (required for correct page numbering and outline):

pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode -output-directory=output output/defense.tex
pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode -output-directory=output output/defense.tex

Step 6 — Report result

On success:

"Slides compiled → output/defense.pdf (16 slides). Open output/defense.tex to customise the theme or adjust content before your defense. To change the theme, edit \usetheme{Boadilla} on line 2."

On failure, show the first error line from pdflatex output and diagnose:

• Undefined control sequence → a special character in your thesis was not escaped — open output/defense.tex and look for unescaped &, %, $, #, or _
• File ... not found → missing LaTeX package; run tlmgr install <package> (macOS/Linux) or use MiKTeX Package Manager (Windows)
• LaTeX Error: Environment itemize undefined → Beamer package not installed; reinstall your LaTeX distribution