LaTeX resume builds: TeX Live, variants and CI

Meera applies for backend and data internships from one LaTeX source. Two short driver files make two PDFs that differ in exactly two lines, and the file that holds her phone number has never been committed anywhere.

This lesson builds that set-up on your own computer with latexmk, makes tailored variants without copying text, and keeps private details out of every file you share. You will also check what a PDF carries besides its page.

latexmk builds on your computer what Overleaf builds online

Overleaf compiles every project with latexmk, a build tool that runs pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX as many times as a document needs. Installed with TeX Live or TinyTeX, the same tool builds the same source on your computer, and the latex-typst track’s install lesson sets both up. The two builds compare like this:

A copy that builds on your computer keeps working whatever happens to any website, and the last two rows are why this lesson builds there: a private file for your details, and checks that run on every build.

One source, a driver per variant, and a private file

A variant must never be a copy of the resume, because copies drift and a fix made in one never reaches the other. Meera keeps one source, resume.tex, and a short driver filedriver file: A short LaTeX file that declares the document class, sets the options of one variant, such as its name, and then reads the shared source. Building it gives that variant's PDF. per variant that declares the document class, names the variant and reads the source. The few lines that differ between variants sit inside etoolbox’s \ifdefstring tests, which read the name. Her phone number lives in private-contact.tex, which the source reads only if it exists:

% Meera Iyer's resume: one source for every variant. A driver file declares the class, names the variant in
% \ResumeVariant and reads this file; the lines that differ between variants are the \ifdefstring blocks.
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\usepackage[margin=18mm]{geometry}
\usepackage{etoolbox}
\usepackage[hidelinks]{hyperref}
\hypersetup{pdftitle={Meera Iyer: resume (\ResumeVariant)}, pdfauthor={Meera Iyer}}
% The phone number lives in private-contact.tex, which is never committed or shared; without it the PDF says so.
\IfFileExists{private-contact.tex}{\input{private-contact.tex}}{\newcommand{\Phone}{phone on request}}
\pagestyle{empty}
\raggedright
\hyphenpenalty=10000
\exhyphenpenalty=10000
\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}
\newcommand{\Section}[1]{\par\bigskip{\large\bfseries #1}\par\smallskip\hrule\medskip}
\newcommand{\Entry}[3]{\textbf{#1}, #2, #3\par}
\newenvironment{Bullets}{\begin{itemize}\setlength{\itemsep}{1pt}}{\end{itemize}}
\begin{document}
{\LARGE\bfseries Meera Iyer}\par\medskip
\ifdefstring{\ResumeVariant}{data}{Data analyst intern}{Backend developer intern} \textperiodcentered{} Pune
\textperiodcentered{} \Phone{} \textperiodcentered{} \href{mailto:meera.iyer@example.com}{meera.iyer@example.com}
\textperiodcentered{} \href{https://github.com/meera-iyer-example}{github.com/meera-iyer-example}\par
\Section{Education}
B.Tech.\ Computer Science, Example Institute of Technology, 2023--2027 (expected) \textperiodcentered{} CGPA 8.4/10\par
\Section{Experience}
\Entry{Software Engineering Intern}{Example Payments, Bengaluru}{2026}
\begin{Bullets}
  \item Built a retry queue in Python for failed payout webhooks, cutting manual reconciliation from 3 hours to
        20 minutes a week.
  \ifdefstring{\ResumeVariant}{data}{%
  \item Wrote the SQL behind a weekly report of failed payouts by bank, read by the operations team.}{%
  \item Wrote 46 unit tests for the configuration loader and a workflow that runs them on every pull request.}
\end{Bullets}
\Section{Projects}
\Entry{Canteen queue tracker}{Flask, SQLite}{2025}
\begin{Bullets}
  \item One of three students; built the token queue and its tests. The average lunch-hour wait fell from 14 to 6
        minutes over four weeks.
\end{Bullets}
\Section{Skills}
Python, SQL, PostgreSQL, Flask, SQLite, Docker, Git, Linux
\end{document}

% The backend variant of the resume. It declares the class because Overleaf's main document
% must have a \documentclass declaration.
\documentclass[a4paper,10pt]{article}
\newcommand{\ResumeVariant}{backend}
\input{resume}

% Never committed or shared: .gitignore lists this file.
\newcommand{\Phone}{+91 01234 56789}

Each driver declares the class because Overleaf’s main document must have a \documentclass declaration, and on Overleaf the driver is the file you choose as the main document. Step through one build:

The program builds both variants with latexmk, compares their text, and builds again without the private file:

import difflib

from session import files, run, shell

# Two variants of one resume with latexmk: each driver file names its variant and reads resume.tex, and
# private-contact.tex adds the phone number. Then the same build without the private file, as on a computer or a
# CI runner that never had it.
files("resume/resume.tex", "resume/meera-iyer-backend-resume.tex", "resume/meera-iyer-data-resume.tex",
      "resume/private-contact.tex", "resume/gitignore.txt=.gitignore")
run("""
latexmk -pdf -interaction=nonstopmode -halt-on-error meera-iyer-backend-resume.tex meera-iyer-data-resume.tex
""", keep=[r"^Latexmk: applying rule", r"^Output written", r"^Latexmk: All targets"])
run("""
pdfinfo meera-iyer-backend-resume.pdf | grep -E '^(Title|Pages):'
pdfinfo meera-iyer-data-resume.pdf | grep -E '^(Title|Pages):'
""")


def lines(pdf):
    """The lines of a PDF's text as poppler extracts them, with each wrapped line joined to the one it continues."""
    out = []
    for line in shell(f"pdftotext {pdf} -")[1].splitlines():
        if not line.strip():
            continue
        if out and (line[0].islower() or line[0].isdigit() or out[-1].endswith("·")):
            out[-1] += " " + line
        else:
            out.append(line)
    return out


backend, data = lines("meera-iyer-backend-resume.pdf"), lines("meera-iyer-data-resume.pdf")
print("# The lines in which the two texts differ:")
same = 0
for op, a, b, c, d in difflib.SequenceMatcher(None, backend, data, autojunk=False).get_opcodes():
    if op == "equal":
        same += b - a
        continue
    for line in backend[a:b]:
        print(f"#   backend: {line}")
    for line in data[c:d]:
        print(f"#   data:    {line}")
print(f"# The other {same} lines are the same in both, in the same order.")
print()
run("mv private-contact.tex ~/private-contact.tex")
run("latexmk -g -pdf -interaction=nonstopmode -halt-on-error meera-iyer-backend-resume.tex", keep=[r"^Output written"])
run("""
pdftotext meera-iyer-backend-resume.pdf - | head -2
cat .gitignore
""")

$ latexmk -pdf -interaction=nonstopmode -halt-on-error meera-iyer-backend-resume.tex meera-iyer-data-resume.tex
Latexmk: applying rule 'pdflatex'...
Output written on meera-iyer-backend-resume.pdf (1 page, 87253 bytes).
Latexmk: applying rule 'pdflatex'...
Output written on meera-iyer-backend-resume.pdf (1 page, 87253 bytes).
Latexmk: All targets (meera-iyer-backend-resume.pdf) are up-to-date
Latexmk: applying rule 'pdflatex'...
Output written on meera-iyer-data-resume.pdf (1 page, 86708 bytes).
Latexmk: applying rule 'pdflatex'...
Output written on meera-iyer-data-resume.pdf (1 page, 86708 bytes).
Latexmk: All targets (meera-iyer-data-resume.pdf) are up-to-date
[… 133 lines left out]
$ pdfinfo meera-iyer-backend-resume.pdf | grep -E '^(Title|Pages):'
Title:           Meera Iyer: resume (backend)
Pages:           1
$ pdfinfo meera-iyer-data-resume.pdf | grep -E '^(Title|Pages):'
Title:           Meera Iyer: resume (data)
Pages:           1
# The lines in which the two texts differ:
#   backend: Backend developer intern · Pune · +91 01234 56789 · meera.iyer@example.com · github.com/meera-iyer-example
#   data:    Data analyst intern · Pune · +91 01234 56789 · meera.iyer@example.com · github.com/meera-iyer-example
#   backend: • Wrote 46 unit tests for the configuration loader and a workflow that runs them on every pull request.
#   data:    • Wrote the SQL behind a weekly report of failed payouts by bank, read by the operations team.
# The other 11 lines are the same in both, in the same order.

$ mv private-contact.tex ~/private-contact.tex
$ latexmk -g -pdf -interaction=nonstopmode -halt-on-error meera-iyer-backend-resume.tex
Output written on meera-iyer-backend-resume.pdf (1 page, 86837 bytes).
[… 35 lines left out]
$ pdftotext meera-iyer-backend-resume.pdf - | head -2
Meera Iyer
Backend developer intern · Pune · phone on request · meera.iyer@example.com ·
$ cat .gitignore
# Copied into the project as .gitignore by the sessions: these files never reach the repository.
private-contact.tex
*.pdf
*.aux
*.log
*.fls
*.fdb_latexmk
*.out

The two texts differ in exactly the two marked lines, each PDF carries its variant in its title, and without the private file the page says “phone on request”. A variant only chooses among true lines, as the tailoring lesson requires; it never adds a claim.

A PDF carries more than its page

Before a PDF leaves your computer, check what travels inside it. pdfTeX records the name of an included PDF file, path and all. A phone photo keeps the location where it was taken. A build records the moment it ran, so two builds of one source are two different files, unless the SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH variable gives pdfTeX a fixed time to record instead. A Word copy converted from LaTeX can lose parts of the resume, and a PDF made for screen readers needs tags that some packages cannot yet produce. Each has a check:

Paths, photos and the public variant: what a PDF carries, measured Pro: opens with a Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass

A reproducible build in CI, pinned and checked Pro: opens with a Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass

A Word copy and a tagged PDF, measured Pro: opens with a Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass

Practise: check the files you are about to commit

Write the check that stops a private file, a phone number or an absolute path from reaching the repository:

import re


def tracked_problems(files):
    """What a resume repository would carry that it should not: the private file, phone numbers, absolute paths."""
    # Replace this comment and the line below with the rules of the prompt.
    return []

from tracked import tracked_problems

RESUME = "\\usepackage[hidelinks]{hyperref}\n\\hypersetup{pdftitle={Meera Iyer: resume (\\ResumeVariant)}}\n"
DRIVER = "\\documentclass[a4paper,10pt]{article}\n\\newcommand{\\ResumeVariant}{backend}\n\\input{resume}\n"


def test_a_clean_repository():
    """finds nothing in the lesson's resume.tex and driver"""
    assert tracked_problems({"resume.tex": RESUME, "meera-iyer-backend-resume.tex": DRIVER}) == []


def test_the_private_file_tracked():
    """reports the private file, and the phone number in it"""
    files = {"resume.tex": RESUME, "private-contact.tex": "\\newcommand{\\Phone}{+91 01234 56789}\n"}
    assert tracked_problems(files) == [
        "private-contact.tex: the private file is tracked",
        "private-contact.tex:1: a phone number",
    ]


def test_a_phone_in_a_comment():
    """reports a phone number in a comment, which is committed like any line"""
    files = {"resume.tex": RESUME + "% call me: 012-345-678-90\n"}
    assert tracked_problems(files) == ["resume.tex:3: a phone number"]


def test_absolute_paths():
    """reports absolute paths in \\includegraphics and \\input, and not a relative one"""
    header = "\\includegraphics[height=10mm]{/Users/meera/Desktop/logo.pdf}\n\\input{~/private/contact}\n\\includegraphics{logo.pdf}\n"
    assert tracked_problems({"header.tex": header, "resume.tex": RESUME}) == [
        "header.tex:1: an absolute path",
        "header.tex:2: an absolute path",
    ]


def test_no_title_and_short_numbers():
    """reports a missing PDF title once, last, and ignores numbers shorter than 10 digits"""
    files = {"b.tex": "CGPA 8.4/10, 2023--2027\n", "a.tex": "\\includegraphics{C:\\Users\\meera\\logo.png}\n"}
    assert tracked_problems(files) == ["a.tex:1: an absolute path", "no PDF title"]

Then test yourself on local builds, variants and what a PDF carries; each round starts with your weakest:

Interview questions

Warm-up (fresher to mid-level): How do you keep two versions of a LaTeX resume in step?

With one source and a driver file per version. The driver names the version and reads the source, and the few lines that differ sit inside tests of that name, so a fix in the source reaches both PDFs. Private details live in a file that is read if present and never committed.

Three questions of this module’s bank go further:

Key takeaways

• latexmk builds on your computer what Overleaf builds online, from the same source.
• One source, a driver per variant and a private file keep variants in step and the phone number out of the repository.
• A PDF can carry an included file’s path, a photo’s location and the time of its build; check each before you share.