LaTeX Navigator and Structure Summariser

A single-file Python tool for navigating large LaTeX manuscripts. Parses theorems, definitions, sections, labels, cross-references, and dependencies, producing structural summaries with authoritative line numbers.

Designed for mathematical manuscripts with hundreds of labelled environments across multiple files — the kind where grepping for a theorem name returns 30 matches and you need to know which one is the definition vs which ones reference it.

"Very useful — it's the single most important navigation tool for this manuscript. Before any manuscript task, I use it to orient: find labels, check what's in a section, trace reverse references, see status. Without it, I'd be grepping through 3000+ line LaTeX files blind. For a manuscript of this complexity (6 chapters, hundreds of theorems/labels, cross-chapter dependencies), it's essentially indispensable."

— Opus 4.6

"Based on using it repeatedly on this manuscript, my honest view is that latexnav.py is genuinely useful and above-average for research-manuscript navigation. It is one of the few local tools here that consistently saves time before opening raw .tex."

— GPT 5.4

Built for LLM agent workflows. When an AI agent (Claude, GPT, Gemini, etc.) works with a large LaTeX manuscript via a CLI tool like Claude Code, Codex, or OpenCode, it faces a fundamental problem: reading raw .tex files consumes thousands of context tokens, and the agent has no structural awareness of what theorems exist, what depends on what, or where a proof starts. This tool gives the agent a way to navigate the manuscript structurally — view a theorem statement in 3 lines instead of reading a 200-line file, check reverse dependencies before modifying a result, or get a compact overview of an entire chapter. The --compact output mode produces tab-separated summaries optimised for LLM context windows, and the --show/--proof/--neighbourhood commands let agents retrieve exactly the content they need without loading surrounding material.

The tool is equally useful for human navigation from the terminal — colour-coded output, fuzzy scope matching, and --help with 25 examples make it practical for direct use.

Key capabilities:

• View theorem statements and proofs without opening the file (--show, --proof)
• Trace what depends on a result before modifying it (--reverse-refs)
• Find orphaned labels and missing references (--orphan-report)
• Overlay publication status from a TSV file (--status)
• Export structure as JSON, DOT dependency graphs, or compact TSV

Requirements: Python 3.8+, standard library only. Optional: PyYAML (for manifest features).

Installation

Option A: pip (recommended — gives you the latexnav command)

pip install latexnav
latexnav --help
latexnav *.tex

Option B: single file (no install needed)

# Copy latexnav.py into your project root, then:
python3 latexnav.py --help
python3 latexnav.py *.tex

No dependencies beyond the Python standard library. Requires Python 3.8+.

Examples below use latexnav (the pip-installed command). If using the single-file method, substitute python3 latexnav.py.

Using with an LLM agent? See LLM agent integration for setup. The quickest path: tell the agent to read this README and set up its memory/instructions files as suggested in that section.

Quickstart

# Structural overview of your manuscript
latexnav --only-sections --only-numbered-results main.tex

# View a theorem's statement (10 lines) or full body
latexnav --show thm:main_result chapter1.tex
latexnav --show-full thm:main_result chapter1.tex

# View multiple statements at once
latexnav --show thm:main_result,lem:helper chapter1.tex

# View the proof of a theorem
latexnav --proof thm:main_result chapter1.tex

# What's near a result? (±3 elements by default)
latexnav --neighbourhood thm:main_result chapter1.tex

# Find a label (built-in regex filter, replaces | grep)
latexnav --compact --filter "thm:main" *.tex

# Focus on a section (by label or title substring)
latexnav --scope sec:introduction chapter1.tex
latexnav --scope "spectral theory" chapter2.tex

# Who references this result?
latexnav --reverse-refs thm:main_result main.tex

# Full transitive dependency chain
latexnav --reverse-refs thm:main_result --transitive main.tex

# Cross-file dependency matrix
latexnav --deps-matrix main.tex

Use the main document file (the one with \input commands) for cross-file reference resolution. Individual chapter files cannot resolve labels from other files.

Feature overview

Category	Key flags	Purpose
Viewing	--show, --show-full, --proof, --neighbourhood	View statements, proofs, and context without opening files
Finding	--filter, --scope, --line-range	Locate results by label, title, or line range
References	--reverse-refs, --deps-matrix, --refs-per-theorem	Trace dependencies and cross-references
Reports	--orphan-report, --drafting-report, --cite-usage, --parse-summary	Structural analysis and cleanup
Status	--status, --hide-ready, --review	Publication status overlay from TSV
Export	--json, --compact, --dot-export, --sizes	Machine-readable output
Display	--only-theorems, --hide-proofs, --only-sections	Filter by structural level and element type

Reference extraction covers \ref{}, \cref{}, \Cref{}, and \eqref{}, including comma-separated labels in \cref{a,b}.

Run latexnav --help for the complete flag reference with examples.

Common workflows

Before modifying a theorem: check what depends on it, then view the statement.

latexnav --reverse-refs thm:main_result main.tex
latexnav --show thm:main_result chapter1.tex

Pre-submission cleanup: find orphaned labels, unused definitions, and missing references.

latexnav --orphan-report main.tex

Review workflow: see all results that need work (hides READY items).

latexnav --review *.tex
# Equivalent to: --status --hide-ready --only-numbered-results --compact

Citation audit: check where a specific reference is used.

latexnav --cite-usage AuthorYear main.tex

Export for scripting: compact TSV output, one line per element.

latexnav --compact --refs-per-theorem main.tex > structure.tsv

Parsed environments

The summariser automatically detects \newtheorem declarations in your files. Standard environments are recognised out of the box:

• Numbered: theorem, definition, lemma, proposition, corollary
• Supporting: proof, remark, example, note, claim
• Research: assumption, conjecture, hypothesis, question, problem, openproblem

Starred variants (e.g. theorem*) are parsed but hidden by default; use --show-non-numbered-results to include them.

For environments defined in .sty files that aren't scanned, use --extra-env NAME[,NAME,...].

Draftingnote and reasoning environments (optional)

The summariser also recognises two meta-environments for mathematical development workflow:

• draftingnote — marks uncertainties, gaps, or points requiring verification in a proof or derivation. Useful during drafting to flag steps that need checking without interrupting the mathematical flow.
• reasoning — marks intermediate reasoning or scratch work that may not appear in the final version. Useful for helping the model to think and recording why a particular approach was taken.

These are entirely optional — the summariser works without them. If you use them, they appear as structural elements in the output, enabling --drafting-report (structured listing with first line, refs, and context) and --filter draftingnote (quick listing).

Defining the environments. Add to your preamble (requires the mdframed package):

\usepackage{mdframed}

\newenvironment{draftingnote}
  {\begin{mdframed}[linecolor=red,linewidth=1.5pt]
    \textbf{Drafting note:}\par\small}
  {\end{mdframed}}

\newenvironment{reasoning}
  {\begin{mdframed}[linecolor=black!50!magenta!50,linewidth=1.5pt]
    \emph{Reasoning:}\par\small}
  {\end{mdframed}}

You can use any visual styling — the summariser matches on the environment name, not the formatting.

Using with an LLM agent. If you use an AI assistant (Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, etc.) to help with mathematical writing, add something like this to your agent's instructions file:

## Special environments

Your LaTeX context includes two environments for mathematical development:

- `\begin{draftingnote} ... \end{draftingnote}`: Use this for uncertainties,
  gaps, or points requiring verification. If you produce a proof and cannot
  ensure it is complete and correct, you MUST include a draftingnote explaining
  what is uncertain.
- `\begin{reasoning} ... \end{reasoning}`: Use this when you need to reason
  through part of a proof or derivation within the LaTeX output.

This prompts the agent to use draftingnotes for honest uncertainty tracking rather than silently producing questionable proofs.

Status tracking (optional)

Create a TSV file (default name: MANUSCRIPT_STATUS_SUMMARY.tsv) with columns:

FILE	LABEL	STATUS	DESCRIPTION	MATH_ISSUES

Valid statuses: READY, MINOR_REVISION, MAJOR_REVISION, CRITICAL_REVISION, PLACEHOLDER, DEPRECATED

Then use --status to overlay status on output, --hide-ready to focus on items needing work, or --review as a shortcut for the full review workflow.

Warning levels

Stderr output is controlled by --warnings:

Level	Flag	Shows
errors (default)	(no flag needed)	Duplicate labels, missing files, parse failures
all	--warnings	Everything including loading messages
none	--warnings=none or -q	Suppress all stderr

LLM agent integration

The summariser's compact output mode (--compact) produces tab-separated output optimised for LLM context windows. This makes it a structural navigation tool that AI agents can invoke instead of reading raw .tex files — saving tokens and giving the agent awareness of the manuscript's logical structure.

Documentation strategy

For LLM agents, we recommend a two-tier documentation approach to manage context window cost:

1. Concise snippet (~15 lines) in your always-loaded instructions file (e.g., .claude/CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md). Covers: what the tool is, when to use it, 10-row command table, key caveats.
2. Detailed reference in a separate file the agent reads on demand (e.g., LATEXNAV_GUIDE.md). Covers: full feature reference, all flags, edge cases, filtering model, paper workflow.

This keeps the base context small while making the full reference accessible when needed.

Concise snippet (for always-loaded context)

Paste this into your agent's main instructions file. Adapt the file paths to your project.

## LaTeX structure navigation

Use `latexnav.py` before reading raw .tex files. It parses LaTeX
directly, so line numbers are always current. Stderr shows errors by default;
use `--warnings` for all diagnostics or `-q` to suppress.

| Task | Command |
|------|---------|
| Show theorem statement | `python3 latexnav.py --show thm:foo *.tex` |
| Show multiple statements | `python3 latexnav.py --show thm:foo,lem:bar *.tex` |
| Show a theorem's proof | `python3 latexnav.py --proof thm:foo *.tex` |
| Context around a result | `python3 latexnav.py --neighbourhood thm:foo *.tex` |
| Find a label | `python3 latexnav.py --compact --filter "thm:foo" *.tex` |
| Who references X? | `python3 latexnav.py --reverse-refs LABEL main.tex` |
| Review workflow | `python3 latexnav.py --review *.tex` |
| Cross-file dependencies | `python3 latexnav.py --deps-matrix main.tex` |
| Orphaned/missing labels | `python3 latexnav.py --orphan-report main.tex` |
| Drafting note report | `python3 latexnav.py --drafting-report *.tex` |

**Key caveats:**
- Use the main document file (with `\input` commands) for cross-file ref resolution
- `--scope LABEL` restricts the label lookup table; refs outside scope show as `(oos)` in compact / `(out of scope)` in terminal — drop `--scope` to verify
- `--compact` produces tab-separated output optimised for LLM parsing

Detailed reference (for on-demand context)

The included LATEXNAV_GUIDE.md provides the full feature reference: complete flag descriptions, the filtering model, scope caveats, dependency analysis options, export formats, and 40+ example queries. Copy it into your project and instruct the agent to read it when it needs details beyond the concise command table.

Target CLI tools

CLI tool	Always-loaded file	On-demand file
Claude Code	CLAUDE.md	LATEXNAV_GUIDE.md
Codex (GPT)	AGENTS.md	LATEXNAV_GUIDE.md
OpenCode	PROJECT_SETUP.md	LATEXNAV_GUIDE.md
Gemini CLI	GEMINI.md	LATEXNAV_GUIDE.md

Licence

MIT. See LICENSE.