Setup Paper

If title is missing, use AskUserQuestion to prompt.

Phase 2: Resolve Target Directory

Determine where to write main.tex and references.bib:

1. If cwd is inside projects/<name>/ (any depth), target = projects/<name>/latex/
2. If cwd already ends with /latex/, target = cwd
3. Otherwise, ask the user which project to target or whether to write to cwd

Create the target directory if it does not exist.

Phase 3: Locate Boilerplate

Find the repo root by walking up from cwd looking for boilerplate/template_main.tex. The boilerplate lives at:

<repo_root>/boilerplate/template_main.tex
<repo_root>/boilerplate/template_references.bib

If the boilerplate files are not found, stop and tell the user.

Phase 4: Copy and Transform

1. Read boilerplate/template_main.tex
2. Read boilerplate/template_references.bib
3. Write both to the target directory as main.tex and references.bib
4. Update the \bibliography{} line: replace template_references with references

Phase 5: Replace Placeholders

Find and replace these [REMOVE] placeholders in main.tex:

Also replace the Internet Appendix title: | [REMOVE] Your Paper Title Here (in IA section) | User's title |

Author block generation from --authors "Name1 (Affil1), Name2 (Affil2)":

\author{
{\normalsize Name1\thanks{{\scriptsize
Affil1; \url{[email protected]}}}}
\and
{\normalsize Name2\thanks{{\scriptsize
Affil2; \url{[email protected]}}}}
}

If no --authors provided, leave the template's placeholder authors intact.

Phase 6: Write Filler Content

If --topic is provided, rewrite the introduction filler (~250 words) to:

• Open with a concrete claim about the topic
• Follow motivation → gap → contribution → roadmap structure
• Cite \citet{FamaFrench_1992}, \citet{FamaFrench_1993}, and \citet{FamaFrench_2015}
• Tag every sentence with [REMOVE]

Also write 2–3 sentence [REMOVE]-tagged filler for Data, Methodology, Results, and Conclusion sections that references the topic.

If no --topic, leave the template's default filler intact.

Do NOT remove the example tables, figures, or equations. These serve as formatting exemplars.

Phase 7: Compile

Run the standard build cycle using the pdflatex path from canonical local state reported by tools/bootstrap.py audit:

cd {target_dir} && pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode main.tex && bibtex main && pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode main.tex && pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode main.tex

Report any errors or warnings. If pdflatex is not available, skip compilation and note it in the summary.

Phase 8: Summary

Print the structured summary below.

Table Exemplar Index

The template includes 7 table styles for reference:

Output

PAPER SETUP COMPLETE
====================

Title: {title}
Authors: {author list or "template placeholders (replace [REMOVE] tags)"}
Topic: {topic or "none"}
Target: {target_dir}
Files created:
  {target_dir}/main.tex       (from boilerplate/template_main.tex)
  {target_dir}/references.bib (from boilerplate/template_references.bib)

Compile: SUCCESS / FAILED / SKIPPED (pdflatex not available)
Pages: {N}

Section keys (for /write-section):
  introduction, data, methodology, results, conclusion, appendix-a, internet-appendix

Table exemplars (7):
  tab:example_panel, tab:example_descriptive, tab:example_definitions,
  tab:example_decomposition, tab:example_comparison, tab:example_summary,
  tab:ia_example

[REMOVE] items: {count} across {N} sections

Next steps:
  1. Search for [REMOVE] and replace all filler content with your text
  2. Add your .bib entries to references.bib (FF 1992/1993/2015 included as demos)
  3. Keep example tables as formatting reference until you replace with your own
  4. Run /build-paper to recompile after edits