Pandoc

Pandoc Document Conversion Plugin

Comprehensive Pandoc toolkit for converting markdown to PDF, DOCX, HTML, and presentations with smart defaults, template library, and YAML frontmatter validation.

Features

• Smart Validation - Catch YAML syntax and dependency errors before conversion
• Template Library - Quick start templates for academic papers, theses, and presentations
• Format Auto-Detection - Automatically detect output format from file extension
• Auto-Invoked Skill - Claude automatically helps when you mention document conversion
• Clear Error Messages - Explicit next steps when conversion fails
• Neurodivergent-Friendly - Step-by-step workflows with validation at each stage

Quick Start

Convert Markdown to PDF

/pandoc:convert paper.md paper.pdf

Start from Template

/pandoc:template academic-paper paper.md
# Edit paper.md
/pandoc:validate paper.md
/pandoc:convert paper.md paper.pdf

Validate Before Converting

/pandoc:validate document.md

Commands

• /pandoc:convert <input> [output] [options] - Convert markdown with smart defaults
• /pandoc:template <type> [file] - Generate template frontmatter
• /pandoc:validate <file> - Validate YAML and dependencies
• /pandoc:frontmatter <file> - Generate/update frontmatter
• /pandoc:defaults <format> [file] - Create defaults file for consistent conversions

Templates

• academic-paper - Academic paper with citations
• thesis - Thesis/report with custom title page
• presentation-beamer - LaTeX Beamer slides
• presentation-reveal - reveal.js web presentations
• article - Simple article format
• list - Show all available templates

Workflow Example

Academic Paper

# 1. Create from template
/pandoc:template academic-paper proposal.md

# 2. Edit your markdown
# (Add your content, bibliography, etc.)

# 3. Validate before conversion
/pandoc:validate proposal.md

# 4. Convert to PDF
/pandoc:convert proposal.md proposal.pdf

Project with Defaults

# 1. Create defaults file
/pandoc:defaults pdf .pandoc/defaults.yaml

# 2. Use for all conversions
pandoc chapter1.md --defaults=.pandoc/defaults.yaml -o chapter1.pdf
pandoc chapter2.md --defaults=.pandoc/defaults.yaml -o chapter2.pdf

Auto-Invoked Skill

Claude will automatically assist when you:

• Mention converting markdown to PDF/DOCX/HTML
• Ask about citations or academic papers
• Show markdown with YAML frontmatter
• Ask "how do I convert this to..."

Requirements

• Pandoc installed (sudo dnf install pandoc or brew install pandoc)
• XeLaTeX for PDF generation (sudo dnf install texlive-xetex)
• Python 3.8+ (for validation)
• Bibliography files (BibTeX) for citations

Common Workflows

Fix Existing Document:

/pandoc:validate old-paper.md
/pandoc:frontmatter old-paper.md
/pandoc:validate old-paper.md
/pandoc:convert old-paper.md old-paper.pdf

Web Presentation:

/pandoc:template presentation-reveal slides.md
# Edit slides
/pandoc:convert slides.md slides.html

Success Criteria

✅ Start academic paper from template in 1 command ✅ Validate before conversion (catch errors early) ✅ Convert with smart defaults (auto-add --citeproc, --pdf-engine) ✅ Fix frontmatter with guided assistance ✅ Create consistent conversions using defaults files

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

Author

Mae Capacite (cadrianmae@users.noreply.github.com)