/compile-latex

name: compile-latex
description: Compile a Beamer LaTeX slide deck with XeLaTeX (3 passes + bibtex). Use when compiling lecture slides.
argument-hint: "[filename without .tex extension]"
allowed-tools: ["Read", "Bash", "Glob"]

Compile Beamer LaTeX Slides

Compile a Beamer slide deck using XeLaTeX with full citation resolution.

Steps

1. **Navigate to Slides/ directory** and compile with 3-pass sequence:

cd Slides
TEXINPUTS=../Preambles:$TEXINPUTS xelatex -interaction=nonstopmode $ARGUMENTS.tex
BIBINPUTS=..:$BIBINPUTS bibtex $ARGUMENTS
TEXINPUTS=../Preambles:$TEXINPUTS xelatex -interaction=nonstopmode $ARGUMENTS.tex
TEXINPUTS=../Preambles:$TEXINPUTS xelatex -interaction=nonstopmode $ARGUMENTS.tex

**Alternative (latexmk):**

cd Slides
TEXINPUTS=../Preambles:$TEXINPUTS BIBINPUTS=..:$BIBINPUTS latexmk -xelatex -interaction=nonstopmode $ARGUMENTS.tex

2. **Check for warnings:**

• Grep output for `Overfull \\hbox` warnings
• Grep for `undefined citations` or `Label(s) may have changed`
• Report any issues found

3. **Open the PDF** for visual verification:

   open Slides/$ARGUMENTS.pdf          # macOS
   # xdg-open Slides/$ARGUMENTS.pdf    # Linux

4. **Report results:**

• Compilation success/failure
• Number of overfull hbox warnings
• Any undefined citations
• PDF page count

Why 3 passes?

1. First xelatex: Creates `.aux` file with citation keys 2. bibtex: Reads `.aux`, generates `.bbl` with formatted references 3. Second xelatex: Incorporates bibliography 4. Third xelatex: Resolves all cross-references with final page numbers

Important

• **Always use XeLaTeX**, never pdflatex
• **TEXINPUTS** is required: your Beamer theme lives in `Preambles/`
• **BIBINPUTS** is required: your `.bib` file lives in the repo root