Add page-adjustment and figure-integrity builtin skills

New skills (auto-inherited by all projects):
- page-adjustment: gap-proportional strategies for fitting papers to
  page limits; appendix-first for new content; sensitive areas guidance
- figure-integrity: all figure/table data must trace to result files;
  plotting scripts must load from files not literals; protected during
  page adjustment

Updated writer.prompt to reference skills instead of inlining duplicate
rules. Simplified _enforce_page_count prompts to defer strategy choice
to the writer + skills.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: JihaoXin

ark/execution.py

@@ -765,37 +765,25 @@ def _enforce_page_count(self, context: str = "post-writing") -> bool:
             if page_count > cur_max:
                 action = "compress"
                 self.log(f"[{context}] Over limit ({page_count:.1f} > {cur_max:.1f}), compressing (attempt {attempt})...", "WARN")
-                self.run_agent("writer", f"""{hist_block}## PAGE COMPRESSION (attempt {attempt})
+                self.run_agent("writer", f"""{hist_block}## PAGE ADJUSTMENT — compress (attempt {attempt})
 
-The paper body is currently {page_count:.2f} pages, {gap:+.2f} pages over the limit ({columns}-column).
-Target: between {cur_min:.2f} and {venue_pages:.0f} body pages. Do NOT over-compress.
-
-Reduce carefully — aim for exactly {venue_pages} pages, NOT much less. Strategies:
-- Merge overlapping sentences in related work
-- Move only truly non-essential subsections to \\appendix
-- Do NOT remove key technical content, results, or entire sections
+Current: {page_count:.2f} body pages ({gap:+.2f} over limit, {columns}-column).
+Target: {cur_min:.2f}–{venue_pages:.0f} body pages.
 
-After changes, compile and verify body pages are between {cur_min:.2f} and {venue_pages:.0f}.
-Ensure `\\clearpage` before `\\bibliography`.
+Refer to the page-adjustment and figure-integrity skills for strategies and constraints.
+After changes, compile and verify. Ensure `\\clearpage` before `\\bibliography`.
 """, timeout=1800)
 
             elif page_count < cur_min:
                 action = "expand"
                 self.log(f"[{context}] Under target ({page_count:.1f} < {cur_min:.2f}), expanding (attempt {attempt})...", "WARN")
-                self.run_agent("writer", f"""{hist_block}## PAGE EXPANSION (attempt {attempt})
+                self.run_agent("writer", f"""{hist_block}## PAGE ADJUSTMENT — expand (attempt {attempt})
 
-The paper body is currently {page_count:.2f} pages, {-gap:+.2f} pages short of the target ({columns}-column).
+Current: {page_count:.2f} body pages ({-gap:+.2f} short of target, {columns}-column).
 Target: {cur_min:.2f}–{venue_pages:.0f} body pages.
 
-Expand by adding substantive content (NOT filler):
-- Deepen the analysis/discussion section with more insights
-- Add more related work comparisons and positioning
-- Expand experimental methodology details (hyperparameters, setup)
-- Add a limitations paragraph or future work discussion
-- Do NOT add padding text or redundant restatements
-
-After changes, compile and verify body pages are between {cur_min:.2f} and {venue_pages:.0f}.
-Ensure `\\clearpage` before `\\bibliography`.
+Refer to the page-adjustment and figure-integrity skills for strategies and constraints.
+After changes, compile and verify. Ensure `\\clearpage` before `\\bibliography`.
 """, timeout=1800)
 
             self._ensure_clearpage_before_bibliography()

ark/templates/agents/writer.prompt

@@ -60,51 +60,18 @@ Every quantitative claim in the paper must be traceable to a real result file:
 3. **If a result doesn't exist**, do not write the claim. Instead, leave a LaTeX comment: `% TODO: result not available — needs experiment`
 4. **Do NOT describe experiments that weren't run**. If `results/` is empty or contains only simulated data, do not write an Experiments section that claims real results were obtained.
 
-## Hard Page Limit — {VENUE_PAGES} pages (MANDATORY)
+## Page Limit — {VENUE_PAGES} pages
 
-The paper body (excluding references and appendix) has a strict page target:
-- **Maximum**: {VENUE_PAGES} pages. Exceeding this means automatic desk rejection. This is the hard constraint — never violate it.
-- **Minimum**: The last page of body text should be at least 70% filled. Up to 30% whitespace at the bottom is acceptable.
+The paper body (excluding references and appendix) must not exceed **{VENUE_PAGES} pages** (desk rejection). The last page should be at least 70% filled.
 
-**Before making ANY change**, check current page count. Then:
+Before making changes, check the current page count. Refer to the **page-adjustment** skill for compression/expansion strategies and the **figure-integrity** skill for rules on modifying figures and tables.
 
-- **Over {VENUE_PAGES} pages**: COMPRESS first. Do NOT add content until under the limit.
-- **At or near the limit**: For every paragraph added, remove equal or more text.
-- **Well under the limit (last page < 70% filled)**: ADD substantive content — deeper analysis, more related work comparisons, expanded methodology details. Do NOT pad with filler.
+Always ensure `\clearpage` appears before `\bibliography` so references start on a new page.
 
-**Always ensure `\clearpage` appears before `\bibliography`** so references start on a new page.
-
-## Figure Placement Rules (MUST check after every edit)
+## Figure Placement
 
 After every modification, compile and check that:
-1. **No blank pages with only figures** — if a figure can't fit on the current page, it may float to a later page. If this creates a page with only figure(s) and no text, fix it by:
-   - Moving the `\begin{figure}` declaration earlier in the text
-   - Reducing figure height with `\includegraphics[width=...,height=...]`
-   - Using `[!htbp]` placement specifier instead of `[t]`
-2. **`\FloatBarrier` before the last section** — add `\FloatBarrier` (from `\usepackage{placeins}`) immediately before the last body section (usually Conclusion). This guarantees all figures appear before the final section, not after it. Example:
-   ```
-   \FloatBarrier
-   \section{Conclusion}
-   ```
-3. **Figures match their context** — a figure referenced in Section 3 should appear on or near Section 3's pages, not 2 pages later
-4. **Multi-panel figures use correct environment** — figures with 2+ panels (side-by-side) should use `\begin{figure*}` (full width) in multi-column templates, so fonts are readable
-5. **No large whitespace gaps on body pages** — floats that don't fit on the current page can leave a big vertical gap (e.g., a paragraph ends, several inches of whitespace, then the next section starts on the next page). After compiling, visually scan every body page:
-   - If you see a gap larger than ~1/4 of page height between paragraphs, it's a float placement problem
-   - Fix it by: shrinking the offending figure, moving its `\begin{figure}` closer to where it's first referenced, switching `[t]` to `[!htbp]`, or combining adjacent small figures into one
-   - As a last resort, allow the float to appear slightly earlier or later than its reference rather than creating mid-page whitespace
-
-If you see layout issues after compiling, fix them before finishing.
-
-**Compression strategies** (in order of priority):
-1. Move detailed ablations, sensitivity analyses, and per-category breakdowns to `\appendix`
-2. Merge Discussion and Conclusion into one section
-3. Replace verbose multi-paragraph explanations with concise text
-4. Compress tables — remove redundant rows/columns, use `\small` or `\footnotesize`
-5. Remove any content that repeats information from another section
-
-**Expansion strategies** (when too short):
-1. Deepen analysis/discussion — explain WHY, not just WHAT
-2. Add more related work with specific comparisons to your approach
-3. Expand experimental setup (hyperparameters, hardware, dataset splits)
-4. Add a Limitations paragraph
-5. Expand figure captions with interpretive context
+1. No blank pages with only figures — adjust float placement (`[t]`, `[!htbp]`) or move the `\begin{figure}` earlier
+2. Add `\FloatBarrier` before the last body section (usually Conclusion)
+3. Figures appear near where they are referenced, not pages later
+4. No large whitespace gaps — shrink figures or adjust placement if floats leave gaps

skills/builtin/figure-integrity/SKILL.md

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+---
+name: figure-integrity
+description: Rules for maintaining figure and table data integrity. All visual data must trace to result files — never invented or modified for convenience.
+tags: [writing, figures, tables, data-integrity, latex]
+---
+
+# Figure and Table Integrity
+
+## Core Rule
+
+Every number displayed in a figure or table must be traceable to a file in `results/` or `data/`. If the source file doesn't exist, the figure should not exist either.
+
+## When Creating or Updating Figures
+
+1. **Read the source data first.** Before writing any plotting script, read the actual result file (`results/*.json`, `results/*.csv`) and extract the exact values. Do NOT hardcode numbers from memory or from the paper text.
+2. **Load data from files, not literals.** Plotting scripts must `json.load()` or `pandas.read_csv()` from the result file. Acceptable:
+   ```python
+   with open("results/exp3_repair_n100.json") as f:
+       data = json.load(f)
+   drr = data["mean_drr"]
+   ```
+   Not acceptable:
+   ```python
+   drr = 0.942  # from the paper
+   ```
+3. **Handle missing data honestly.** If a result file doesn't exist or is incomplete:
+   - Leave the figure cell/bar/point blank or mark it "N/A"
+   - Add a `% TODO` comment in the LaTeX caption
+   - Do NOT invent a plausible value
+
+## When the Paper Text Cites a Figure
+
+The flow is always: **experiment → result file → figure → paper text**. Never the reverse.
+
+- If the paper says "F1=0.891 (Figure 4)" — verify that Figure 4's plotting script reads a file that contains 0.891.
+- If the paper text and the figure disagree, the result file is the authority. Fix whichever is wrong.
+
+## During Page Adjustment
+
+Figures and tables are **protected zones** during page compression or expansion:
+
+- You may **resize** a figure (change `width`/`height` in `\includegraphics`)
+- You may **move** a figure to a different position in the LaTeX source or to the appendix
+- You may **change float placement** (`[t]`, `[!htbp]`, `[p]`)
+- You must NOT **change the data** shown in the figure
+- You must NOT **regenerate the figure with different values**
+- You must NOT **remove data points, bars, or table rows** to make it smaller
+
+## After Any Figure Modification
+
+1. **Spot-check values.** Pick 2-3 numbers from the figure and verify them against the source file.
+2. **Check captions.** If the figure was moved or its context changed, update the caption to remain accurate.
+3. **Check references.** Ensure all `\ref{fig:...}` in the text still point to the correct figure.
+
+## Common Mistakes to Avoid
+
+- Regenerating a plotting script from scratch using numbers "remembered" from the paper text, when the original script loaded from a result file
+- Changing figure data during page compression to make the figure smaller
+- Copying a figure caption's numbers into a new version of the figure without reading the actual data
+- Creating a figure for an experiment that was blocked or incomplete — an honest "not evaluated" note is better than a fabricated chart

skills/builtin/page-adjustment/SKILL.md

@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+---
+name: page-adjustment
+description: Strategies for fitting a paper to a venue's page limit without destroying content quality. Applies to any phase that modifies paper content.
+tags: [writing, latex, page-limit, appendix, compression]
+---
+
+# Page Adjustment
+
+## Guiding Principle
+
+Page adjustment is surgery, not demolition. Every change must preserve the paper's technical accuracy, figure correctness, and citation integrity. The approach should be proportional to the gap — small gaps need small edits, large gaps may require structural changes.
+
+## Assess the Gap First
+
+Before making any change, compile and measure:
+- **How many pages over/under?** This determines the scale of intervention.
+- **Small gap (< 0.3 pages):** Tighten or loosen prose — a sentence here, a paragraph there. No structural changes needed.
+- **Medium gap (0.3–1.0 pages):** May need to add/remove a paragraph, resize a figure, or move a subsection to appendix.
+- **Large gap (> 1.0 pages):** Structural changes — move entire subsections to/from appendix, add/remove a discussion section, consolidate related work.
+
+Match the intervention to the gap. Do not restructure the paper to fix a 0.2-page overshoot.
+
+## When Adding New Content
+
+When new experiment results or analyses need to be added (review phase, dev phase, any iteration):
+
+1. **Consider appendix for details.** Full experiment methodology, detailed tables, and per-category breakdowns often fit better in `\appendix`, with a brief summary (1-3 sentences) and forward reference in the main body.
+2. **Budget before writing.** Estimate how much space the new content needs. If the main body is already at or near the limit, the appendix is the natural home for details.
+3. **Balance additions with removals.** If you add a paragraph, look for an equal-length passage that can be condensed or moved to appendix. Do this in the same edit — do not defer to a later compression pass.
+
+## Available Strategies
+
+These are tools in your toolbox. Choose based on the gap size and paper structure — there is no fixed priority order.
+
+**For compression (over limit):**
+- Tighten prose: merge overlapping sentences, remove hedging ("it is worth noting that..."), collapse short lists into inline text
+- Move subsections to `\appendix`: per-category breakdowns, detailed ablations, extended proofs, large tables — keep a summary in the body
+- Compress tables: use `\footnotesize`, remove redundant columns, merge header rows
+- Reduce figure size: decrease `height` in `\includegraphics` by 10-20%
+- Merge sections: combine "Discussion" and "Conclusion" if both are short, merge sub-subsections with <3 sentences
+
+**For expansion (under limit):**
+- Deepen analysis: explain *why* results look the way they do, not just *what*
+- Add related work: compare with 2-3 more relevant papers, specific technical differences
+- Expand methodology: hyperparameters, hardware specs, dataset details that aid reproducibility
+- Bring appendix content back: if content was moved to appendix during prior compression, selectively restore the most important parts
+- Add a Limitations paragraph if one doesn't exist
+
+## What to Avoid
+
+- Avoid changing numbers in figures, tables, or quantitative claims — these come from result files
+- Avoid removing figures or tables entirely when they can be moved to appendix instead
+- Avoid deleting `\cite{}` commands or modifying `references.bib`
+- Avoid adding filler text or restating what was already said
+- Avoid fabricating new experimental results to fill space
+
+## Sensitive Areas
+
+These elements require extra care during page adjustment:
+
+- **Figure data and labels** — sourced from `results/` files. If you must modify a figure, re-read the source data. Do not change values from memory.
+- **Table values** — same principle. Move or resize the table, but be careful with its contents.
+- **`references.bib`** — managed by the citation system. Prefer not to touch it.
+- **Venue template** — `\documentclass`, `\usepackage`, `.sty`, `.bst` are off-limits.
+
+## Verification After Adjustment
+
+After every page adjustment pass:
+1. Compile and check page count
+2. Spot-check 2-3 quantitative values against `results/` files — especially any figure or table you touched
+3. Check for LaTeX warnings on unresolved `\ref{}` or `\cite{}`
+4. Read through any section you modified — no dangling references to moved content