latex-cleanup - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: latex-cleanup user_invocable: true description: Review LaTeX documents for common issues, style consistency, typography, cross-references, draft artifacts, and debugging code. Use after editing LaTeX documents or before submission.

latex-cleanup — LaTeX Document Review

Systematically review LaTeX documents and identify issues that need attention.

When to Use

"check my latex", "clean up the paper", "review formatting"
After editing a LaTeX document
Called by the presubmit-checks skill as one of its checks

Workflow

1. Find the paper

Same search logic as other skills:

User-provided path
paper/current/main.tex
paper/main.tex
main.tex
Glob for **/*.tex with \begin{document}

2. Read the document

Identify all .tex files in the project (main file + \input/\include targets). Read the main document and any included files.

3. Run checks

Go through each checklist category below.

4. Report findings

Report organized by category with specific line references. Offer to fix issues when possible.

Checklist Categories

1. Common Issues

Orphan/widow lines: Check for single lines at top/bottom of pages (look for manual \newpage or \clearpage that might help)
Non-breaking spaces (~): Verify ~ before \cite{}, \ref{}, units (100~kg), and after titles (Dr.~Smith). Do NOT use ~ before \footnote{} (superscripts attach directly)
Citation formatting: Ensure consistent citation style (e.g., \citep vs \cite, multiple citations in one command)
Figure/table placement: Check [htbp] specifiers are appropriate, verify all figures/tables are referenced in text
Overfull/underfull boxes: Look for potential causes (long words, improper hyphenation)

2. Style Consistency

Capitalization: Title case vs sentence case in section headings, figure/table captions
Abbreviations: First use spelled out, consistent usage (e.g., "Figure" vs "Fig.")
Math notation: Consistent variable names, proper use of \text{} for non-variable words in math mode (e.g., $P_{\text{data}}$ not $P_{data}$ )
Math operators: Use predefined operators (\log, \exp, \sin, \max, \min, \Pr, etc.) not italic text. For custom operators use \operatorname{} (e.g., \operatorname{PMI}(x, y) not $PMI(x, y)$ )
Minus signs: Use math mode for negative numbers ( $-10$ not -10)
Reference styles: Consistent "Section~~\ref{}" vs "Sec.~~\ref{}" usage
Lists: Consistent punctuation and capitalization in itemize/enumerate environments

3. Draft Artifacts and Cleanup

Remove comments: Find % comments that should be removed (especially TODO, FIXME, NOTE)
Remove draft artifacts: Check for \lipsum, placeholder text, [draft] options
Draft leftovers: TODO, FIXME, XXX, HACK (case-insensitive)
Draft commands: \todo{, \note{, \marginpar{
Debug packages: \usepackage{showkeys}, \usepackage{lineno}
Draft mode: draft option in \documentclass
Placeholder text: Lorem ipsum, TBD, PLACEHOLDER
Commented-out sections: Blocks longer than 5 lines
Check hyperlinks: Verify URLs are valid and properly escaped
Verify bibliography: All citations have corresponding bib entries, no unused entries
Check margins: Verify document class options match submission requirements
Remove unused packages: Identify \usepackage that may not be needed
Check for debugging code: Remove \showkeys, \overfullrule, etc.

4. Cross-references

Undefined references: Search for ?? in output or \ref to undefined labels
Duplicate labels: Check for labels used more than once, including figures, tables, equations, sections, and appendices
Unused labels: Labels defined but never referenced
Float reference order: For each float family separately (figures, tables, algorithms, etc.), verify that items are first referenced in the same order they appear in the paper. Flag cases where, for example, Figure~~\ref{fig:third} is first mentioned before Figure~~\ref{fig:second}
Broken cross-file references: For multi-file documents

For float reference-order checks, identify labeled floats in source order, then scan the manuscript text in reading order for the first reference to each label. Compare the two sequences within each float type separately; do not require one global order across figures, tables, algorithms, etc.

5. Typography

Quotation marks: Use `` and '' instead of ". Same for single quotes.
Dashes: Proper use of -, --, --- (hyphen, en-dash, em-dash). No space around em-dash.
Ellipsis: Use \ldots or \dots instead of ...
Percent symbol: Use \% in text
Special characters: Proper escaping of &, #, $, _

6. Source Formatting

One sentence per line: Each sentence should start on its own line in the source. This produces cleaner git diffs, makes reordering easy, and allows easier commenting out individual sentences with %

7. Grammar and Language

General grammar check: Read through the text and fix grammatical errors. Pay special attention to:
Subject-verb agreement: Check for mismatches, especially in long sentences with intervening clauses
Article usage: Missing or incorrect articles (a/an/the), common in non-native English writing
Tense consistency: Verify consistent tense within sections.
Dangling modifiers: Participial phrases that don't attach to the intended subject
Parallel structure: Items in lists, comparisons, and coordinating conjunctions should use parallel grammatical forms
Common academic writing errors: "which" vs "that", "less" vs "fewer", "between" vs "among", "compared to" vs "compared with"
Redundancies: e.g., "in order to" → "to", "a total of N" → "N", "the fact that" → "that"
Sentence fragments and run-ons: Incomplete sentences or comma splices

Output Format

Report findings in this format:

## [Category Name]

### [Issue Type]
- `filename.tex:123` - Description of issue
- `filename.tex:456` - Description of issue

**Suggested fix**: [If applicable]

Rules

Preserve the author's writing style and voice
Focus on technical correctness, not stylistic preferences
Prioritize issues that would cause compilation errors or submission rejection
For borderline cases, ask the user for their preference
Don't modify files without asking