latex-architectlisted

# LaTeX Architect LaTeX conventions for documents you control — papers, reports, theses, preprints. Targets **TeX Live 2026** with **pdfLaTeX** as the default engine and **latexmk** as the only build entry point. Full skeletons (project tree, `.latexmkrc`, preamble, CI workflow, `.gitignore`) live in [RECIPES.md](RECIPES.md); pinned versions in [STACK.md](STACK.md). Venue-specific formatting (page limits, anonymization, conference style files) is **not** this skill's job — see [ml-conference-paper-architect](../../academic/ml-conference-paper-architect/SKILL.md). ## 1. Scope & defaults | Decision | Default | Switch when | |---|---|---| | Distribution | TeX Live 2026 | Never for CI. Use Tectonic for hermetic/reproducible builds where package coverage allows | | Engine | `pdflatex` | `lualatex` when you need system fonts, real Unicode input, or microtype-heavy typography. `xelatex` only for legacy font pipelines | | Build driver | `latexmk` | Never | | Bibliography | `biblatex` + `biber` | Venue templates that ship `natbib` — see [§8](#8-bibliography) | | Document classes | `article`, `report`, `book`, institutional thesis classes | — | **Never hand-run `pdflatex` twice.** Rerun logic (cross-refs, bibliography, ToC convergence) is exactly what `latexmk` exists to solve. A build recipe that calls `pdflatex && biber && pdflatex && pdflatex` is a bug waiting to happen — it silently under-runs on the documents that need a fourth pass. ## 2. Project layout One file per chapte