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Guide · Agent skill

How to use the LaTeX Research Posters agent skill

Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data

The latex-posters skill is a set of instructions, templates and helper scripts that lets an AI agent build a scientific conference poster as editable LaTeX that compiles to a PDF. It is for researchers, students and teams adapting an institutional template who want a poster they can edit in LaTeX rather than a slide-style design. After this guide you will know how to install the skill, ask for a poster in a way that triggers it, and check the resulting PDF before printing.

LaTeX Research PostersK-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills · MIT

Quick start

  1. 1Download and unzip the skill. Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ or a project's .claude/skills/ folder, or upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills in the Claude apps.
  2. 2Gather the content and paper size. Record the exact poster width, height, orientation and venue rules, plus the one to three main messages and the results that support them.
  3. 3Ask for the poster in plain language. Describe the poster, paper size and package preference in a normal request so the agent uses the skill's workflow.
  4. 4Build the layout from a template. The agent copies one of the bundled templates from assets/ and replaces the placeholder figures, references, author details and QR target.
  5. 5Compile the PDF. Run pdflatex twice from the project directory, then inspect the log for overfull, underfull and undefined warnings.
  6. 6Run the preflight script. Run scripts/review_poster.sh with its absolute path against poster.pdf and read the exit status and reported fonts and image PPI.
  7. 7Review and proof before printing. Open the PDF, check every edge and figure, compare dimensions with the venue specification, and confirm final print requirements with the printer.

What the skill makes the agent do

When the skill is installed, the agent follows a structured workflow for a scientific poster. It helps you choose one of three LaTeX poster packages (beamerposter, tikzposter or baposter), sets up a layout from bundled templates, checks figures, compiles the PDF with pdfLaTeX and inspects it with Poppler tools.

The skill also includes a read-only preflight script that checks page size, page count, fonts and image resolution. The script does not certify accessibility, PDF/X compliance or scientific accuracy, so a person still has to review the poster.

  • beamerposter: fits Beamer blocks or institutional Beamer themes.
  • tikzposter: useful when you want TikZ styling and automatically stacked blocks.
  • baposter: suited to projects that use named, relative-positioned boxes. It needs a class file you supply yourself, because the class is archived.

How to install the latex-posters skill

Download the ZIP for the skill from the page you are reading. Then choose one of two routes.

For Claude Code, unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for a personal install, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder to share it with that project. For the Claude apps, open Settings, go to Capabilities, and upload the skill under Skills.

  • Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
  • Project install: unzip into the project's .claude/skills/ folder
  • Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the ZIP

What you need before you start

You need a LaTeX distribution with your chosen poster class. The skill was tested with pdfLaTeX on TeX Live 2025. For the PDF checks you need Poppler tools: pdfinfo, pdffonts, pdfimages and pdftoppm.

Python 3.10+ with the requests library, an OPENROUTER_API_KEY and network access are needed only for the optional AI schematic helper. If you use baposter, you must supply its class file separately.

  • LaTeX distribution (pdfLaTeX tested with TeX Live 2025)
  • Poppler tools: pdfinfo, pdffonts, pdfimages, pdftoppm
  • Optional: Python 3.10+, requests, OPENROUTER_API_KEY, network access (paid API usage)
  • If using baposter: your own baposter class file

How to trigger the skill with a natural request

You do not need special syntax. Describe the poster you want, the paper size and the content, and mention LaTeX or the package if you have a preference. The agent uses the skill when the request matches its purpose: conference posters, multi-column scientific layouts, figure integration, typography, compilation and PDF preflight.

Give the agent your paper width and height, the venue rules, and the results you want to highlight. The skill suggests a starting budget of 300-800 words with 3-5 figures.

  • "Make an A0 portrait LaTeX conference poster from this paper. Use tikzposter and three columns."
  • "Adapt our lab's institutional baposter template to a 36×48 inch poster with these results."
  • "Check my poster.pdf for page count, fonts and image resolution before I send it to the printer."

Compile and run the preflight check

The agent compiles the poster from the project directory and inspects the PDF. You can run the same commands yourself. The bundled preflight script must be called with its absolute path. Exit status 0 means the automated checks passed, 1 means a failure such as an unreadable PDF, multiple pages or unembedded fonts, and 2 means required Poppler tools are missing.

  • Read the log for Overfull, Underfull, Warning and undefined messages.
  • Open the rendered page and inspect every edge, column boundary and the footer.
  • A clean log is not enough: TikZ and baposter overlaps can happen without warnings.
pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode -halt-on-error poster.tex pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode -halt-on-error poster.tex pdfinfo poster.pdf pdffonts poster.pdf pdfimages -list poster.pdf bash /path/to/latex-posters/scripts/review_poster.sh poster.pdf

Using the optional AI schematic helper

The skill can generate conceptual schematic images through OpenRouter. Use it only to explain a concept. The skill warns against using image models for numerical charts, microscopy, spectra or results, because they can invent values. Keep titles, citations, numbers and QR codes in LaTeX or a plotting tool.

Generation and review both consume API credits, so the helper is paid. Check the saved image and the *_review_log.json file, including quality_met and termination_reason. A saved image does not establish scientific correctness.

  • Use the helper only for conceptual artwork, such as a methods overview diagram.
  • Do not rely on it for charts or data figures.
  • Inspect every generated figure for accuracy, labels, units and licence before use.
python scripts/generate_schematic.py "Conceptual A0 poster diagram: three boxes SAMPLE, MEASURE, ANALYZE connected left to right. Large dark labels on white, generous margins, no numerical results." -o /path/to/project/figures/methods.png --doc-type poster --iterations 1

Safety notes: scripts and network use

The skill runs scripts and, for the optional schematic helper, uses the network. The preflight script is read-only. The AI helpers send your prompt and images to OpenRouter and need OPENROUTER_API_KEY. Save project output outside the installed skill directory, and review any script before running it if you need to be sure of its behaviour.

Do not treat the skill's output as final print-ready. Confirm colour profile, bleed and any PDF/X requirement with your printer, and provide an accessible text summary if digital accessibility is required.

  • Keep your API key out of shared project files.
  • Preflight does not check accessibility, PDF/X compliance, QR destinations or overlap.
  • Ask the printer for their colour, bleed and PDF/X requirements.

What people use it for

  • Turning a finished research paper into a multi-column A0 conference poster
  • Building an editable LaTeX poster as an alternative to slide-based design
  • Adapting a lab or university LaTeX poster template to new results
  • Checking an existing poster PDF for page count, embedded fonts and raster image resolution
  • Generating a conceptual methods diagram to place alongside editable LaTeX text

Frequently asked questions

Is the latex-posters skill free?

The skill is released under the MIT licence. Running it needs a LaTeX distribution and Poppler tools; the optional AI schematic helper uses OpenRouter, which is paid API usage that needs OPENROUTER_API_KEY.

What do I need to install to use it?

You need a LaTeX distribution with your chosen poster class, and Poppler tools (pdfinfo, pdffonts, pdfimages, pdftoppm) for PDF checks. Python 3.10+ with requests is needed only for the optional AI schematics, and baposter needs its class file supplied separately.

How do I install the latex-posters skill in Claude?

Download the ZIP from the page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for a personal install or a project's .claude/skills/ folder. In the Claude apps, upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

Which poster package should I choose: beamerposter, tikzposter or baposter?

Choose beamerposter if you want Beamer blocks or an institutional Beamer theme, tikzposter if you want TikZ styling with automatically stacked blocks, and baposter only if your project already uses its named, relative-positioned boxes. baposter's class is archived, so you must provide it yourself.

Can the skill make charts or data figures with AI?

No. The skill warns against using image models for numerical charts, microscopy, spectra or results because they can invent values. Plot figures should come from your analysis code and verified data.

Does the preflight script guarantee my poster will print correctly?

No. The script is read-only and checks page size, page count, fonts and image resolution. It does not certify accessibility, PDF/X compliance, scientific accuracy, QR destinations or absence of overlap, so a human must review the output.

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Our verdict

Use latex-posters if you want an editable LaTeX conference poster built and checked by an agent, and you are comfortable with a LaTeX installation and reviewing the output yourself. Pick something else if you need a finished, certified accessible or PDF/X print file, want AI-generated charts, or cannot supply a baposter class file if you need that package.

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