report-generation

Report Generation

Create structured, data-driven PDF reports that communicate insights effectively. This skill covers the full pipeline — from data sources and templates to polished PDF output with charts, tables, and professional formatting.

Report Structure Fundamentals

A well-structured report follows a consistent pattern that guides the reader from context to conclusions.

Standard Report Anatomy

┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
│           Cover Page                    │
│   Title, subtitle, author, date,        │
│   organization branding                 │
├────────────────────────────────────────┤
│         Table of Contents              │
│   Auto-generated from headings          │
├────────────────────────────────────────┤
│      Executive Summary                  │
│   Key findings in 1-2 paragraphs        │
├────────────────────────────────────────┤
│      Introduction / Background          │
│   Context, objectives, scope            │
├────────────────────────────────────────┤
│      Methodology                        │
│   How data was collected/analyzed       │
├────────────────────────────────────────┤
│      Findings / Results                 │
│   Data presentation with charts/tables  │
├────────────────────────────────────────┤
│      Discussion                         │
│   Interpretation of results             │
├────────────────────────────────────────┤
│      Conclusions                        │
│   Summary of key takeaways              │
├────────────────────────────────────────┤
│      Recommendations                    │
│   Actionable next steps                 │
├────────────────────────────────────────┤
│      Appendices                         │
│   Raw data, methodology details, refs    │
└────────────────────────────────────────┘

Report Metadata Standards

"""Report metadata schema for consistent document properties."""

from dataclasses import dataclass, field
from datetime import datetime
from typing import Optional


@dataclass
class ReportMetadata:
    """Standard metadata for all generated reports."""
    title: str
    subtitle: Optional[str] = None
    author: str = "Automated Report System"
    organization: str = "Cosmic Stack Labs"
    department: Optional[str] = None
    version: str = "1.0"
    report_date: str = field(default_factory=lambda: datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d"))
    period_start: Optional[str] = None
    period_end: Optional[str] = None
    classification: str = "Internal"
    document_id: Optional[str] = None
    keywords: list[str] = field(default_factory=list)
    
    def to_dict(self) -> dict:
        """Convert to dictionary for template rendering."""
        return {
            'title': self.title,
            'subtitle': self.subtitle,
            'author': self.author,
            'organization': self.organization,
            'department': self.department,
            'version': self.version,
            'report_date': self.report_date,
            'period_start': self.period_start,
            'period_end': self.period_end,
            'classification': self.classification,
            'document_id': self.document_id or f"RPT-{self.report_date}-{hash(self.title) % 10000:04d}",
            'keywords': ', '.join(self.keywords) if self.keywords else '',
        }


# Usage
metadata = ReportMetadata(
    title="Q4 2024 Performance Analysis",
    subtitle="Infrastructure & Operations Review",
    author="Data Engineering Team",
    department="Engineering",
    version="2.1",
    period_start="2024-10-01",
    period_end="2024-12-31",
    classification="Confidential",
    keywords=["performance", "infrastructure", "q4-2024", "analytics"],
)