/compiledeck

name: compiledeck
description: Create and compile beautiful Beamer presentations following the Rhetoric of Decks philosophy. Use when making slides, creating decks, or compiling .tex presentation files.
allowed-tools: Bash(pdflatex*), Bash(latexmk*), Bash(ls*), Bash(open*), Bash(python*), Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep
argument-hint: "[topic-or-tex-file-path]"

Compile Deck

Create beautiful Beamer presentations. This skill enforces the **Rhetoric of Decks** philosophy through concrete, measurable rules — not aspirational guidance.

Step 1: Triage

Before touching anything, answer three questions:

**Q1: New deck or editing existing?**

• If editing: Read the `.tex` file first. Understand its palette, structure, and style before changing anything.
• If new: Proceed to Q2.

**Q2: Who is the audience?** 1. **Academic seminar** — sparse, one idea per slide, titles carry the argument 2. **Teaching lecture** — clarity over compression, repetition OK, progressive revelation 3. **Working deck** (coauthors) — more detail OK, document choices, preserve uncertainty 4. **External non-academic** — storytelling, visual impact, minimal jargon

See `domain_patterns.md` in this skill directory for detailed guidance per audience type.

**Q3: What's the tone?** 1. **Professional/Academic** — use the Warm Professional palette (default) or Academic Muted 2. **Colorful/Expressive** — create something new each time. See `palette_reference.md` for inspiration.

---

Step 2: The Non-Negotiable Rules

These are not guidelines. They are constraints.

ONE idea per slide

If a slide has two ideas, split it. No exceptions.

Titles are assertions, not labels

• Bad: "Results"
• Good: "Treatment increased distance by 61 miles on average"
• Bad: "Literature Review"
• Good: "Prior work ignores the supply-side margin"

If someone reads only the slide titles in sequence, they should understand the entire argument.

Typography minimums

• Body text: 24pt minimum
• Absolute floor (footnotes, source notes): 18pt
• Sans-serif fonts only
• Never justify text — always ragged right

No bullet lists (usually)

Bullets are a confession that you haven't found the structure. Look for:

• A sequence (use a flow diagram)
• A contrast (use two columns)
• A hierarchy (use size/color differentiation)
• A causal chain (use arrows)

Exception: genuinely parallel items (e.g., a list of axioms in a teaching deck).

Charts: one message, direct labels

• Every chart communicates ONE finding
• Title states the finding ("Enrollment doubled after 2015"), not the chart type ("Enrollment Over Time")
• Label data directly on the chart — no legends requiring eye movement
• Remove all chartjunk: gridlines, borders, unnecessary axis marks

White space is confidence, not waste

Empty space on a slide signals that you chose carefully. A full slide signals anxiety.

Zero compile warnings

Not "try to fix." Zero. See the Compile Loop below.

---

Step 3: The Preamble

For new decks, use this template. It is extracted from real decks that work.

Default: Warm Professional Palette (10 colors)

\documentclass[aspectratio=169,11pt]{beamer}

% Packages
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\usepackage{microtype}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\usepackage{ragged2e}
\usepackage{colortbl}
\usepackage{array}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{adjustbox}

\usetikzlibrary{shapes.geometric, arrows.meta, positioning, calc,
                backgrounds, decorations.pathreplacing, shadows, fadings}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.18}

% --- Color Palette: Warm Professional ---
\definecolor{DeepNavy}{HTML}{2E4057}
\definecolor{Teal}{HTML}{048A81}
\definecolor{WarmOrange}{HTML}{E85D04}
\definecolor{SoftPurple}{HTML}{9D4EDD}
\definecolor{WarmGray}{HTML}{6C757D}
\definecolor{LightGray}{HTML}{E9ECEF}
\definecolor{Cream}{HTML}{FBF8F1}
\definecolor{DeepRed}{HTML}{D62828}
\definecolor{Gold}{HTML}{D4A03A}
\definecolor{SoftWhite}{HTML}{FAFAFA}

% Beamer colors
\setbeamercolor{normal text}{fg=DeepNavy, bg=SoftWhite}
\setbeamercolor{structure}{fg=DeepNavy}
\setbeamercolor{alerted text}{fg=DeepRed}
\setbeamercolor{example text}{fg=Teal}
\setbeamercolor{frametitle}{fg=DeepNavy, bg=SoftWhite}
\setbeamercolor{title}{fg=DeepNavy}
\setbeamercolor{subtitle}{fg=WarmGray}
\setbeamercolor{block title}{bg=DeepNavy, fg=SoftWhite}
\setbeamercolor{block body}{bg=LightGray, fg=DeepNavy}
\setbeamercolor{itemize item}{fg=WarmOrange}
\setbeamercolor{itemize subitem}{fg=Gold}

% Fonts
\usefonttheme{professionalfonts}
\setbeamerfont{title}{size=\huge, series=\bfseries}
\setbeamerfont{frametitle}{size=\Large, series=\bfseries}

% Strip chrome
\setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{}
\setbeamertemplate{headline}{}

% Minimal footline
\setbeamertemplate{footline}{%
    \hfill
    \begin{beamercolorbox}[wd=3cm,ht=2.5ex,dp=1ex,right,rightskip=0.6cm]{page number}
        \usebeamercolor[fg]{WarmGray}\scriptsize\insertframenumber
    \end{beamercolorbox}
    \vspace{0.3cm}
}

% Bullets
\setbeamertemplate{itemize item}{\footnotesize\raisebox{0.3ex}{\tikz\fill[WarmOrange] (0,0) circle (0.45ex);}}
\setbeamertemplate{itemize subitem}{\footnotesize\raisebox{0.3ex}{\tikz\fill[Gold] (0,0) circle (0.35ex);}}

% Custom commands
\newcommand{\transitionslide}[2]{%
    {\setbeamercolor{normal text}{fg=SoftWhite,bg=DeepNavy}
    \begin{frame}[plain]\vfill\begin{center}
        {\huge\bfseries\textcolor{Gold}{#1}}\\[0.6cm]
        {\large\textcolor{LightGray}{#2}}
    \end{center}\vfill\end{frame}}
}

\graphicspath{{figures/}}

For alternative palettes, see `palette_reference.md` in this skill directory.

---

Step 4: Slide Architecture Patterns

Opening slide (first content slide after title)

**NOT** "Motivation" with bullet points. Instead:

• A surprising fact or statistic (big number, centered)
• A puzzle or unanswered question
• A prov