book-export

Final-assembly skill for Builder-Leader: The AI Exoskeleton That Crosses the Gap. Takes the chapter files in chapters/ and produces a typeset PDF in export/.

When to run

• User says "build the book", "export the book", "ship it", "produce a PDF", "finish the book", "compile the draft", or anything pointing at final assembly.
• Automated gates at milestone boundaries (end of Stage 2, end of Stage 3, etc.).

Modes

Two modes, passed as the first argument to scripts/build.sh:

Mode	Behavior
preview (default)	Compiles every chapter in chapters/ regardless of status. Stamps DRAFT — NOT FOR CIRCULATION in the running header of every page and large on the title page. Writes status column in the TOC. For sharing pre-ship drafts with named readers.
ship	Refuses to compile unless every chapter's frontmatter status field is ship-ready. No watermark. Clean TOC. For final distribution.

Pass epub as the second argument to also produce an EPUB.

./build.sh preview        # → export/book-preview.pdf
./build.sh preview epub   # → export/book-preview.pdf + export/book-preview.epub
./build.sh ship           # → export/book.pdf (gated on ship-ready)

Inputs

• chapters/*.md — chapter files, sorted by filename (00 → 10)
• canon/thesis.md — used to extract title and one-line description
• Each chapter's YAML frontmatter (chapter, title, status, word_count)

Procedure

1. Prepare. Ensure export/ exists. Check pandoc + xelatex are on PATH. If missing, tell the user to install and stop.
2. Gate (ship mode only). Read frontmatter of every chapter file. If any status is not ship-ready, print the list of offenders and exit 1.
3. Strip frontmatter. For each chapter file, produce a frontmatter-stripped copy in a tempdir. Keep chapter order by filename prefix.
4. Assemble. Concatenate into a single manuscript.md with page breaks between chapters (pandoc \newpage raw LaTeX).
5. Build TOC data. Derive title list from frontmatter titles. Status column appears in preview mode only.
6. Invoke pandoc. Uses templates/book.tex as header include, templates/titlepage.tex as before-body include. xelatex engine. 6"×9" trim. Iowan Old Style body, Avenir Next display.
7. Report. Print output path, final page count, and any pandoc warnings.

Typography decisions (locked)

• Trim: 6" × 9" (standard trade hardcover)
• Body: Iowan Old Style 11/15pt (ships with macOS, book-optimized)
• Display: Avenir Next for chapter numbers, chapter titles, running heads
• Chapter opener: drop cap (40pt first letter) + small caps first three words of chapter
• Pull quotes: fenced div ::: pullquote ... ::: — rendered larger italic with rule above/below, no quote marks
• Block quotes: standard markdown > — indented, slightly smaller, roman
• Attributions / citations: numbered endnotes per chapter via pandoc footnotes ([^1] markdown). Currently zero citations in chapters; wired for future use.
• Running heads: verso = book title (small caps), recto = chapter title (italic). Folio outer. Preview mode adds DRAFT — NOT FOR CIRCULATION in header center.
• Front matter: title page with title + subtitle + author + DRAFT notice + copyright, then TOC
• Back matter: about the author placeholder (stub for later)

Copyright notice (title-page verso, preview and ship)

Copyright © 2026 Justin Johnson. All rights reserved.
No part of this manuscript may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted
without the prior written permission of the author.
Working title; subject to change.

Pull-quote markdown convention

To render a pull quote in any chapter, use a pandoc fenced div:

::: pullquote
You can't read your way across the gap. You cross it by building.
:::

Attribution, if present, goes on the next line inside the div, prefixed by an em-dash-free separator (the project bans em-dashes):

::: pullquote
The harness is the moat.

, Justin Johnson, Run Data Run
:::

The skill will render this as a centered pull quote with the attribution styled smaller.

Dependencies

• pandoc 3.x (installed via Homebrew)
• xelatex from MacTeX / BasicTeX
• LaTeX packages: fontspec, microtype, geometry, fancyhdr, xcolor, hyperref, setspace, parskip

If any LaTeX package is missing, the skill prints the exact sudo tlmgr install command to fix it and exits.

What this skill does NOT do

• Does not modify any chapter file.
• Does not run fact-checking or red-team. Those are book-fact-check and book-red-team.
• Does not publish. Distribution is a separate human step.
• Does not attempt cover art. Cover is a later concern.

Output location

• export/book-preview.pdf — preview builds
• export/book.pdf — ship builds
• export/book-preview.epub / export/book.epub — when epub flag is set
• export/.build.log — pandoc stderr from the latest build