using-opentikz
Use when a user wants a TikZ figure for a paper — an icon, an editable architecture/pipeline/flow template, or an example — and wants you to find, edit, and verify it. The single repo-wide skill for working with the OpenTikZ library.
Profile →npx skills add opentikz/opentikz --skill using-opentikz --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Using OpenTikZ OpenTikZ is a library of copyable TikZ **icons**, editable **templates** (neural nets, encoder-decoder, training pipelines, system block diagrams, flowcharts), and full **examples**. This skill is how you go from a user's request to a finished, compiling `.tex` figure — reliably, and without guessing. There is **one** skill (this file). Per-template knowledge lives in each template's `edit_contract` (inside its `meta.json`), which you read at edit time. Do not look for per-template `skill.md` files; they no longer exist. ## 0. First: which mode are you in, and where is the library? **Pick the mode:** - **Mode A — produce a figure for the user's own project** (the default). The OpenTikZ library is read-only and lives elsewhere; the user is working in their own paper/LaTeX project. You will *copy* a figure out of the library and edit the copy in their project. Never modify the library. - **Mode B — contribute back to the OpenTikZ repo itself.** The user is editing the library: their working directory *is* the repo. Edit in place and run the repo tooling (see §6). **Locate the library root (`OTROOT`) for Mode A:** 1. If the environment variable `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}`
- 0. First: which mode are you in, and where is the library?
- 1. Communicate precisely (do this first, throughout)
- 2. Workflow
- 3. Hard rules (never violate)
- 4. Common cross-template operations
- 5. Reference material
- 6. Mode B procedure — contributing back (editing the repo itself)
What does the using-opentikz skill do?
Use when a user wants a TikZ figure for a paper — an icon, an editable architecture/pipeline/flow template, or an example — and wants you to find, edit, and verify it. The single repo-wide skill for working with the OpenTikZ library.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add opentikz/opentikz --skill using-opentikz --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From opentikz/opentikz, a repository with 239 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.