Route Selection

Route

Trigger

Route File

HTML

(default)

All PDF creation requests

routes/html.md

LaTeX

User explicitly requests LaTeX, .tex, or Tectonic

routes/latex.md

Process

Work with existing PDFs (extract, merge, fill forms, etc.)

routes/process.md

Default to HTML.

Only use LaTeX route when user explicitly requests it.

MANDATORY: Read Route File Before Implementation

Before implementation, you MUST:

Determine the route (HTML / LaTeX / Process)

Read the route file

(

routes/html.md

,

routes/latex.md

, or

routes/process.md

)

Only then proceed with implementation

This file (SKILL.md) contains constraints and principles. Route files contain

how-to details

.

Decision Rules

Route Selection

User Says

Route

"Create a PDF", "Make a report", "Write a paper"

HTML

"Use LaTeX", "Compile .tex", "Use Tectonic"

LaTeX

"Extract text from PDF", "Merge these PDFs", "Fill this form"

Process

Cover Style Selection (HTML Route)

Context

Style

Academic paper, thesis, formal coursework

Minimal

(white, centered, no decoration)

Reports, proposals, professional documents

Designed

(choose from style reference in html.md)

Uncertain

Default to

Designed

— plain text cover = mediocre

Key principle

Cover background separates "acceptable" from "impressive". See html.md for 11 style options. Citation Format Selection Document Language Format Chinese GB/T 7714 (use [J][M][D] identifiers) English APA Mixed Chinese refs → GB/T 7714, English refs → APA Quick Start Use the unified CLI for all operations:

Check environment (JSON output, exit code 0=ok, 2=missing deps)

/app/.kimi/skills/kimi-pdf/scripts/pdf.sh check

Auto-fix missing dependencies (idempotent, safe to run multiple times)

/app/.kimi/skills/kimi-pdf/scripts/pdf.sh fix

Convert HTML to PDF

/app/.kimi/skills/kimi-pdf/scripts/pdf.sh html input.html

Compile LaTeX to PDF

/app/.kimi/skills/kimi-pdf/scripts/pdf.sh latex input.tex

Exit codes:

0

= success

1

= usage error

2

= dependency missing (run

pdf.sh fix

)

3

= runtime error

Dependencies by route:

HTML route

Node.js, Playwright, Chromium

Process route

Python 3, pikepdf, pdfplumber

LaTeX route

Tectonic Core Constraints (Must Follow) 1. Output Language Output language must match user's query language. User writes in Chinese → PDF content in Chinese User writes in English → PDF content in English User explicitly specifies language → Follow user's specification 2. Word Count and Page Constraints Strictly follow user-specified word/page count requirements Do not arbitrarily inflate content length 3. Citation and Search Standards CRITICAL: Search Before Writing DO NOT fabricate information. When in doubt, SEARCH. If content involves ANY of these, you MUST search FIRST before writing: Statistics, numbers, percentages, rankings Policies, regulations, laws, standards Academic research, theories, methodologies Current events, recent developments Anything you're not 100% certain about When Search is Required Scenario Search? Notes Statistics, data Required e.g., "2024 employment rate" Policies, regulations Required e.g., "startup subsidies" Research, papers Required e.g., "effectiveness of method X" Time-sensitive content Required Information after knowledge cutoff Uncertain facts Required If unsure, always search Common knowledge Not needed e.g., "water boils at 100°C" Search workflow : Identify facts/data requiring verification Search for authentic sources If results insufficient, iterate search until reliable info obtained Include real sources in references If search fails repeatedly, tell the user instead of making up data Citations Must Be Real Fabricating references is prohibited . All citations must have: Correct author/institution names Accurate titles Verifiable year, journal/source Cross-references (Must Be Clickable) As shown in < a href = "

fig-1-1

"

Figure 1-1 </ a

... From < a href = "

eq-2-1

"

Equation (2-1) </ a

... See < a href = "

sec3

"

>

Section 3

</

a

>

...

Note

:

id

must be placed at container top (see CSS Counters section in html.md).

Content Quality Constraints

1. Word/Page Count Constraints

Must strictly follow user-specified word or page count requirements

:

User Request

Execution Standard

Specific word count (e.g., "3000 words")

Within ±20%, i.e., 2400-3600 words

Specific page count (e.g., "5 pages")

Exactly equal, last page may be partial

Word count range (e.g., "2000-3000 words")

Must fall within range

No explicit requirement

Infer reasonably by document type; prefer thorough over superficial

Minimum specified (e.g., "more than 5000 words")

No more than 2x, i.e., 5000-10000 words

Prohibited behaviors

:

Arbitrarily shortening content ("concise" is not an excuse)

Padding pages with excessive bullet lists (maintain high information density)

Exceeding twice the user's requested length

Special case - Resume/CV

:

Resume should be

1 page

unless user specifies otherwise

Use compact margins:

margin: 1.5cm

2. Outline Adherence (Mandatory)

When user provides outline

:

Strictly follow

the user-provided outline structure

Section titles must match outline (minor wording adjustments OK, no level/order changes)

Do not add or remove sections arbitrarily

If outline seems problematic,

ask user first

before modifying

When no user outline

:

Use standard structures based on document type:

Academic papers

IMRaD (Introduction-Methods-Results-Discussion) or Introduction-Literature Review-Methods-Results-Discussion-Conclusion

Business reports

Conclusion-first (Executive Summary → Detailed Analysis → Recommendations)

Technical docs

Overview → Principles → Usage → Examples → FAQ

Course assignments

Follow assignment structure requirements Sections must have logical progression, no disconnects Tech Stack Overview Route Tools Purpose HTML Playwright + Paged.js HTML → PDF conversion HTML KaTeX, Mermaid Math formulas, diagrams Process pikepdf Form filling, page operations, metadata Process pdfplumber Text and table extraction Process LibreOffice Office → PDF conversion LaTeX Tectonic LaTeX → PDF compilation