Lecture Creation Workflow
Create a beautiful, pedagogically excellent Beamer lecture deck.
This is a collaborative, iterative process. The instructor drives the vision; Claude is a thinking partner.
CONSTRAINTS (Non-Negotiable)
- Read the knowledge base FIRST — notation registry, narrative arc, applications database
- Every new symbol MUST be checked against the notation registry
- Motivation before formalism — no exceptions
- Worked example within 2 slides of every definition
- Max 2 colored boxes per slide
- No
\pauseor overlay commands (check project rules) - Transition slides at major conceptual pivots
- Thread at least 1 running empirical application throughout
- All citations verified against the bibliography
- Work in batches of 5-10 slides — share for feedback, don't bulk-dump
WORKFLOW
Phase 0: Intake & Context (Pre-Flight Report required)
Read the inputs, then produce a Pre-Flight Report in your response before Phase 1 starts.
Inputs to read:
.claude/rules/knowledge-base-template.md— notation registry, narrative arc, applications.claude/rules/content-invariants.md— INV-1..INV-8 govern slide content- Any source papers / existing slides the user provided
- The previous lecture's
.tex(last section + ending slide) if one exists
Required Pre-Flight Report block:
## Pre-Flight Report
**Sources read:**
- [source 1]: [one-line takeaway — what notation, what result, what diagram]
- [source 2]: ...
**Notation registry check:**
- New symbols this lecture will introduce: [list]
- Symbols reused from prior lectures: [list, with the lecture each was introduced in]
- Conflicts detected: [none / specific clashes]
**Narrative position:** [Where does this lecture sit in the course arc? What did the previous lecture end on? What does the next lecture need you to set up?]
**Pedagogical goal:** [one sentence]
**Running application:** [which real-world example threads through this deck]State the pedagogical goal, get user confirmation, then proceed.
First-lecture fallback (fresh fork, empty knowledge base). If .claude/rules/knowledge-base-template.md still has unfilled placeholder tables (no notation registry entries, no applications, no prior lectures in Slides/), do NOT halt waiting for it. Instead:
- Acknowledge the template is empty and we're creating the course's first lecture.
- Propose a minimal starter knowledge base from the user's topic: 5-8 key symbols with conventions, 1-2 running applications, a short narrative arc (intro → main idea → implications). Present for approval.
- Write the approved stub into the knowledge base template so subsequent lectures inherit it.
- Continue to Phase 1.
This prevents /create-lecture from deadlocking for every new forker.
Phase 1: Paper Analysis (When Papers Provided)
- Split into chunks, extract key ideas
- Map paper notation → course notation
- Identify slide-worthy content
- Present summary for approval
Phase 2: Structure Proposal
- Propose outline (5-Act or 3-Part template)
- List TikZ diagrams and R figures needed
- List new notation to introduce
- GATE: User approves before Phase 3
Phase 3: Draft Slides (Iterative)
- Work in batches of 5-10 slides
- Check notation, apply creation patterns
- Quality checks during drafting
Phase 4: Figures & Code
- R scripts following conventions
- TikZ diagrams in Beamer source (single source of truth)
- Save RDS for future Quarto integration
Phase 5: Polish & Compile
- Full 3-pass compilation
- Run Devil's Advocate
- Run Substance Review (if domain reviewer configured)
- Update knowledge base with new notation
Post-Creation Checklist
[ ] Lecture compiles without errors
[ ] No overfull hbox > 10pt
[ ] All citations resolve
[ ] Every definition has motivation + worked example
[ ] Max 2 colored boxes per slide
[ ] 2-3 Socratic questions embedded
[ ] Transition slides between sections
[ ] At least 1 running application threaded throughout
[ ] New notation added to knowledge base
[ ] Session log updated
[ ] Devil's Advocate run