Quarto Skill

Quarto is an open-source scientific and technical publishing system built on Pandoc. It renders computational documents (with Python, R, Julia code) to publication-quality output in multiple formats.

Best Practices (TL;DR)

1. Markdown-First: Default to format: gfm with wrap: none for composability, portability, and archival
2. No Line Wrapping: Always use wrap: none for GFM output (avoids artificial line breaks)
3. Dark Mode: Always use auto-dark filter with dual themes for HTML output (accessibility and modern UX)
4. Visual Expression: Use charts and formatted tables, NEVER raw data dumps (df.head(), print(dict))
5. LaTeX for Math: Use LaTeX notation for ALL mathematical expressions ($\alpha = 0.15$, not "alpha = 0.15")
6. Professional Tables: Use LaTeX tables (booktabs) for PDF, Great Tables for HTML
7. No TOC: Table of contents is usually noise - use clear section headings instead
8. PDF for Sharing: Use --to pdf for Google Drive sharing (read-only, professional)
9. Blank Lines Before Lists: ALWAYS include a blank line before every list (bullet or numbered) - no exceptions
10. No Appendix for Sources: Data sources belong in code blocks, not appendix - only add external sources not directly referenced in code to appendix
11. Use Markdown() Class: ALWAYS use Markdown() for text output in code blocks - NEVER use print() or printf() (output must render as formatted markdown)
12. Minimal PDF Titling: For PDF output, suppress YAML title/author/date fields (they produce an academic title block via \maketitle). Use a raw LaTeX minipage inline header instead. Use ## markdown headings for section headings (NOT raw LaTeX \noindent{\large\textbf{...}} blocks — those fight with Quarto's float placement). Exception: only use raw LaTeX headings for the document title line itself.
13. PDF Figure Sizing: Every chart chunk MUST have #| fig-pos: "H", #| fig-width: N, #| fig-height: N, #| out-width: 100%. Always end chunks with plt.close('all'). Set ax.text(...).set_clip_on(True) on all annotation labels. Never use mixed coordinate transforms. See "PDF Figure Sizing — Critical Patterns" section for full details.