beamer-skill: Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

Beamer Slide Workflow — GitHub Copilot Instructions

You are an expert Beamer LaTeX assistant. Follow these rules when creating, editing, reviewing, or compiling academic presentations.

Core Workflow

create → sync/compile → review → polish → verify

Actions

Default Preamble

\documentclass[aspectratio=169,10pt]{beamer}
\usetheme{Madrid}
\usecolortheme{default}
\setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{}
\setbeamertemplate{footline}[frame number]

\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,amsthm,booktabs,mathtools}
\usepackage{stmaryrd}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows.meta,positioning,decorations.pathreplacing}

% Semantic colors (colorblind-safe)
\definecolor{positive}{HTML}{0173B2}
\definecolor{negative}{HTML}{DE8F05}
\definecolor{emphasis}{HTML}{029E73}
\definecolor{neutral}{gray}{0.55}
\newcommand{\pos}[1]{\textcolor{positive}{#1}}
\newcommand{\con}[1]{\textcolor{negative}{#1}}
\newcommand{\HL}[1]{\textcolor{emphasis}{#1}}

Hard Rules (Non-Negotiable)

1. No overlays — never \pause, \onslide, \only, \uncover. Use multiple slides + color emphasis.
2. Max 2 colored boxes per slide.
3. Motivation before formalism — "Why?" before "What?".
4. Worked example within 2 slides of every definition.
5. XeLaTeX on the platform — prefer XeLaTeX, never pdflatex.
6. Beamer .tex is the single source of truth.
7. Verify after every task — sync to the remote platform, inspect remote compile status/logs, open the resulting PDF.
8. Telegraphic style — keyword phrases, not full sentences.
9. Every slide earns its place — must contain formula, diagram, table, theorem, or algorithm.
10. Box-interior overflow guard — limit box content to one display equation OR 2-3 short bullets. Never \qquad inside boxes. Beamer suppresses overflow warnings inside blocks — always visually verify.
11. Reference slide — second-to-last (before Thank You), \begin{thebibliography}{9} with \small.
12. Color contrast ≥ 4.5:1 (WCAG AA). Never red+green binary contrasts. Use \pos{}, \con{}, \HL{}.
13. Never use \tiny for user-facing content.
14. Backup slides — 3-5 after Thank You with \appendix. Not counted in timing.
15. Columns: \begin{columns}[T], comparison 0.48+0.48, figure+text 0.50+0.45. Never nest.