Document Generation Fallback Workflow (Unicode-Safe)

When to Use

First, assess whether to delegate to shell_agent or use manual workflow:

✅ Use shell_agent Directly When:

• Document is straightforward (no special Unicode characters, symbols, or non-ASCII text)
• Single format output needed (e.g., just .docx)
• Content is primarily ASCII text with standard punctuation
• No complex formatting requirements (tables, equations, custom templates)
• You want quick iteration and shell_agent has succeeded on similar tasks before

⚠️ Use Manual Workflow When:

• shell_agent returns unknown or unclear errors
• Document contains special characters, symbols, or non-ASCII text (see Unicode table below)
• Generating multiple formats simultaneously (e.g., .docx, .pdf, .html)
• PDF generation fails due to LaTeX encoding issues
• You need fine-grained control over each conversion step
• Previous shell_agent attempts failed on similar content

📋 Decision Checklist

1. Does the document contain: em-dashes (—), curly quotes (" "), arrows (→), 
   checkmarks (✓), or other special symbols? → Use Manual Workflow

2. Is non-ASCII text present (é, ñ, ü, 中文，العربية)? → Use Manual Workflow with sanitization

3. Did shell_agent already fail on this or similar content? → Use Manual Workflow

4. Need multiple output formats with guaranteed success? → Use Manual Workflow

5. Simple ASCII document, single format, first attempt? → Try shell_agent First

Core Technique

Quick Path (for straightforward documents): Delegate directly to shell_agent with clear instructions:

shell_agent
task: Create a Word document from markdown content. Write the markdown to 
      /tmp/document.md, then convert to .docx using pandoc, and verify the output exists.

Manual Path (for complex/Unicode-heavy documents): Split the workflow into discrete, observable steps:

1. Content creation → Use write_file to create source document (Markdown)
2. Unicode sanitization → Preprocess markdown to replace problematic characters before PDF conversion
3. Format conversion → Use run_shell with pandoc for each target format
4. Verification → Check output files exist and are valid

Why This Adaptive Approach?

Scenario	Recommended Approach	Rationale
Simple ASCII doc, single format	shell_agent	Faster, less manual overhead
Unicode symbols present	Manual workflow	Prevents LaTeX encoding failures
Previous shell_agent failure	Manual workflow	Avoids repeat failures
Multiple formats needed	Manual workflow	Granular control per format
Time-sensitive, low-risk	shell_agent first	Try fast path, fallback if needed

1. Content creation → Use write_file to create source document (Markdown)
2. Unicode sanitization → Preprocess markdown to replace problematic characters before PDF conversion
3. Format conversion → Use run_shell with pandoc for each target format
4. Verification → Check output files exist and are valid

⚠️ Unicode & LaTeX Compatibility Warning

Critical: PDF generation via pandoc typically uses LaTeX (pdflatex or xelatex), which has limited Unicode support. Common problematic characters include:

Character	Issue	Safe Replacement
— (em dash)	May not render	-- or -
– (en dash)	May not render	-
" " (curly quotes)	Encoding errors	" " (straight quotes)
' ' (curly apostrophe)	Encoding errors	' (straight apostrophe)
… (ellipsis)	May not render	...
→ ← ↑ ↓ (arrows)	LaTeX incompatibility	-> <- ^ v
✓ ✗ (checkmarks)	May not render	[x] [ ]
★ ● (symbols)	May not render	* -
© ® ™	May require packages	(c) (r) (tm)
Non-ASCII letters (é, ñ, ü)	Font-dependent	Use xeLaTeX or replace

Step-by-Step Workflow

Step 1: Create Source Content with write_file

Write your document content as Markdown to a temporary source file. This gives you full visibility into the content being generated.

write_file
path: /tmp/document_source.md
content: |
  # Document Title
  
  ## Section 1
  Content here...
  
  ## Section 2
  More content...

Step 2: Sanitize Unicode Characters (Pre-PDF Conversion)

Before PDF conversion, create a sanitized version of your markdown with LaTeX-safe characters:

write_file
path: /tmp/document_source_sanitized.md
content: |
  # Document Title
  
  ## Section 1
  Content here... (with all special chars replaced per table above)

Alternative: Use a shell script to sanitize:

run_shell
command: sed -e 's/—/--/g' -e 's/–/-/g' -e 's/"([^"]*)"/"\1"/g' -e 's/'([^']*)/'\1'/g' /tmp/document_source.md > /tmp/document_source_sanitized.md

Note: Keep the original unsanitized file for DOCX/HTML conversion (these formats handle Unicode better).

Step 3: Convert to Target Formats with run_shell

Use run_shell with explicit pandoc commands for each format. Use sanitized source for PDF, original for other formats.

run_shell
command: pandoc /tmp/document_source.md -o output.docx

run_shell
command: pandoc /tmp/document_source_sanitized.md -o output.pdf

run_shell
command: pandoc /tmp/document_source.md -o output.html

Step 4: Verify Outputs

Check that files were created successfully:

run_shell
command: ls -lh output.docx output.pdf output.html

Complete Example

Quick Path Example (Simple Document)

# Generate Simple Meeting Notes

## Delegate to shell_agent
shell_agent
task: |
  Create meeting notes document:
  1. Write to /tmp/meeting_notes.md with content:
     "# Team Meeting Notes
     
     ## Date: 2024-01-15
     ## Attendees: Alice, Bob, Carol
     
     ## Action Items
     - Alice: Complete report by Friday
     - Bob: Schedule follow-up meeting
     
     ## Next Meeting: 2024-01-22"
  2. Convert to Word: pandoc /tmp/meeting_notes.md -o meeting_notes.docx
  3. Verify: ls -lh meeting_notes.docx

Manual Path Example (Unicode-Heavy Document)

# Generate Negotiation Strategy Document

## Step 1: Write Markdown source
write_file
path: /tmp/negotiation_strategy.md
content: |
  # Negotiation Strategy
  
  ## Executive Summary
  [Content with original unicode...]
  
  ## Resolution Path
  [Content...]
  
  ## BATNA Analysis
  [Content...]

## Step 2: Create sanitized version for PDF
write_file
path: /tmp/negotiation_strategy_sanitized.md
content: |
  # Negotiation Strategy
  
  ## Executive Summary
  [Content with unicode replaced: em-dash -> --, curly quotes -> straight, etc.]
  
  ## Resolution Path
  [Content...]
  
  ## BATNA Analysis
  [Content...]

## Step 3: Convert to DOCX (from original)
run_shell
command: pandoc /tmp/negotiation_strategy.md -o negotiation_strategy.docx

## Step 4: Convert to PDF (from sanitized)
run_shell
command: pandoc /tmp/negotiation_strategy_sanitized.md -o negotiation_strategy.pdf

## Step 5: Convert to HTML (from original)
run_shell
command: pandoc /tmp/negotiation_strategy.md -o negotiation_strategy.html

## Step 6: Verify
run_shell
command: ls -lh negotiation_strategy.*

Advantages Over shell_agent

Aspect	shell_agent	Manual Workflow
Error visibility	Opaque, may retry silently	Each step shows explicit output
Recovery	Automatic but may loop	Manual intervention at specific step
Debugging	Hard to isolate failure point	Clear which step failed
Unicode control	Agent may not handle encoding	You control character sanitization
Control	Agent decides approach	You control each conversion

Common pandoc Commands

# Markdown to Word
pandoc input.md -o output.docx

# Markdown to PDF (requires LaTeX or wkhtmltopdf)
pandoc input.md -o output.pdf

# Markdown to PDF with Unicode-safe engine (better Unicode support)
pandoc input.md -o output.pdf --pdf-engine=xelatex

# Markdown to HTML
pandoc input.md -o output.html

# With custom template
pandoc input.md --template=template.html -o output.html

# With metadata
pandoc input.md -o output.pdf --metadata title="Document Title"

Troubleshooting

• PDF generation fails with encoding error:

  • Use the sanitized markdown file (Step 2)
  • Or try --pdf-engine=xelatex for better Unicode support
  • Or use --pdf-engine=wkhtmltopdf as alternative

• PDF generation fails: LaTeX not found:

  • Install LaTeX: apt-get install texlive-latex-recommended texlive-fonts-recommended
  • Or use --pdf-engine=wkhtmltopdf instead

• DOCX formatting issues: Add --reference-doc=template.docx for custom styles

• Unicode/encoding errors in any format:

  • Add -f markdown+utf8 to pandoc command
  • Ensure source file is UTF-8 encoded: file -i source.md

• Special characters not rendering in PDF:

  • Use the character replacement table above
  • Create sanitized version before PDF conversion

• Missing pandoc: Install via apt-get install pandoc or brew install pandoc

Unicode Sanitization Script (Optional)

For repeated use, create a reusable sanitization script:

#!/bin/bash
# sanitize_for_pdf.sh - Replace problematic unicode chars for LaTeX/PDF
if [ -z "$1" ]; then
  echo "Usage: $0 <input.md> [output.md]"
  exit 1
fi
INPUT="$1"
OUTPUT="${2:-${1%.md}_sanitized.md}"

sed -e 's/—/--/g' \
    -e 's/–/-/g' \
    -e 's/"([^"]*)"/"\1"/g' \
    -e 's/'([^']*)/'\1'/g' \
    -e 's/…/.../g' \
    -e 's/→/->/g' \
    -e 's/←/<-/g' \
    -e 's/✓/[x]/g' \
    -e 's/✗/[ ]/g' \
    -e 's/©/(c)/g' \
    -e 's/®/(r)/g' \
    -e 's/™/(tm)/g' \
    "$INPUT" > "$OUTPUT"

echo "Sanitized: $INPUT -> $OUTPUT"

Save as sanitize_for_pdf.sh, make executable with chmod +x sanitize_for_pdf.sh, then use:

run_shell
command: ./sanitize_for_pdf.sh /tmp/document_source.md /tmp/document_source_sanitized.md

When to Return to shell_agent

After successful shell_agent completion: Continue using shell_agent for similar straightforward documents.

After shell_agent failure on Unicode content: Switch to manual workflow for that document and similar future documents. Document the failure pattern.

After successful manual workflow: You now have a proven approach. For future similar documents:

• If content is similar (same Unicode patterns): Use manual workflow directly
• If content is simpler: Try shell_agent first, keep manual workflow as backup
• Build a library of sanitized templates for repeated use

Related Skills

• document-gen-fallback: Original fallback workflow without Unicode guidance
• Use this skill as your primary document generation skill—it adapts to document complexity
• Fall back to document-gen-unicode-safe (parent) if you need the original prescriptive manual-only approach name: document-gen-adaptive-workflow description: Adaptive document generation with smart fallback to manual Unicode-safe workflow

Quick Path: Delegate to shell_agent

For straightforward documents without Unicode concerns:

shell_agent
task: |
  1. Write markdown content to /tmp/report.md using write_file
  2. Convert to Word format: pandoc /tmp/report.md -o report.docx
  3. Convert to PDF: pandoc /tmp/report.md -o report.pdf --pdf-engine=xelatex
  4. Verify both files exist with: ls -lh report.docx report.pdf
  5. Report the file sizes and confirm successful generation

If shell_agent succeeds: Task complete.

If shell_agent fails: Switch to Manual Path below.

Manual Path: Step-by-Step Workflow