How Cover Letters Are Drafted and Revised in the AI Job Search System

The AI Job Search system generates cover letters through a deterministic four-phase workflow—drafting, review, revision, and finalization—that produces a one-page XeLaTeX PDF grounded in immutable candidate profiles and writing style guides.

The open-source MadsLorentzen/ai-job-search repository orchestrates this process via the /apply command, implementing a strict "draft-review-revise-compile" loop that ensures factual accuracy and stylistic consistency. Every cover letter is constructed from source-of-truth documents including the candidate profile, behavioral guidelines, and writing style constraints.

The Four-Phase Cover Letter Workflow

The system executes a multi-step pipeline defined in .claude/commands/apply.md, progressing from initial LaTeX generation through rigorous validation to final PDF output.

Phase 1: Drafting the Initial LaTeX Source

The drafter agent begins by ingesting three canonical source files: 01-candidate-profile.md, 04-job-evaluation.md, and 03-writing-style.md. It loads the active cover letter template defined in .claude/skills/job-application-assistant/06-cover-letter-templates.md, which defaults to the XeLaTeX class cover.cls.

Using the language of the job posting, the system generates a new file at cover_letters/cover_<company>_<role>.tex. The structure follows a strict template architecture:

• Salutation (e.g., Dear Hiring Manager,)
• Opening paragraph establishing role interest
• Bullet list of relevant achievements
• Closing paragraph
• Signature block

The full LaTeX source is held in memory without intermediate disk reads during drafting, ensuring atomic document construction as implemented in .claude/commands/apply.md.

Phase 2: Content and Technical Review

A reviewer agent receives the draft inline alongside the original job posting and CV draft. The reviewer validates four critical dimensions:

• Content relevance: All posting requirements must be explicitly addressed
• Factual grounding: Dates, metrics, and achievements must match 01-candidate-profile.md, cv/main_example.tex, and CLAUDE.md
• Tone and style: The letter must conform to 02-behavioral-profile.md and 03-writing-style.md constraints (no em-dashes, no clichés, active voice)
• Technical correctness: LaTeX structural integrity, specifically avoiding the "known template pitfall" where itemized lists are incorrectly nested inside \lettercontent{} blocks as documented in 06-cover-letter-templates.md

The reviewer returns Part A (structured JSON edits) and Part B (narrative suggestions) according to the specification in .claude/commands/apply.md.

Phase 3: Applying Structured and Narrative Edits

The drafter processes feedback through two distinct mechanisms:

Part A Edits: Applied deterministically using the Edit tool with exact string replacement. Each edit specifies file, old_string, new_string, and reason parameters.

Part B Suggestions: Applied using contextual judgment to:

• Insert missing keywords and company-specific angles
• Fix LaTeX structural errors (e.g., extracting bullet lists from \lettercontent{} and wrapping them in required \fontspec[Path=OpenFonts/fonts/raleway/]{Raleway-Medium} blocks)
• Enforce style rules regarding voice and punctuation

Phase 4: Compilation and Visual Validation

After revision, the system compiles the document using XeLaTeX:

xelatex -interaction=nonstopmode cover_<company>_<role>.tex

The compilation loop repeats until the output satisfies three hard constraints defined in .claude/commands/apply.md:

1. Single-page output (verified via pdfinfo page count)
2. Visible signature block in the rendered PDF
3. Font consistency: Bullet lists must render in Raleway-Medium matching the body text

# Verify page count (must be exactly 1)

pdfinfo cover_AcmeCorp_DataEngineer.pdf | grep Pages

Technical Implementation Details

The system relies on immutable source files to prevent hallucination. During drafting, the agent references 06-cover-letter-templates.md to avoid known LaTeX pitfalls, specifically the restriction that \lettercontent{} macros cannot contain itemize environments. Instead, bullet lists require explicit font specification:

{\raggedright\fontspec[Path=OpenFonts/fonts/raleway/]{
Raleway-Medium}\fontsize{11pt}{13pt}\selectfont
\begin{itemize}
  \item {Designed a real-time ETL system processing 10 TB/day.}
  \item {Reduced query latency by 40\% using materialised views.}
\end{itemize}\par}

The reviewer's Part A output follows a strict JSON schema for programmatic application:

[
  {
    "file": "cover_letters/cover_AcmeCorp_DataEngineer.tex",
    "old_string": "Dear Hiring Manager,",
    "new_string": "Dear Dr. Smith,",
    "reason": "personalized salutation based on hiring manager research"
  }
]

Key Source Files

File Path	Function
.claude/commands/apply.md	Orchestrates the drafting, review, revision, and compilation workflow
.claude/skills/job-application-assistant/06-cover-letter-templates.md	Defines the LaTeX template, XeLaTeX compile command, and known structural pitfalls
cover_letters/cover.cls	Custom LaTeX document class requiring XeLaTeX compilation
cover_letters/cover_example.tex	Reference implementation for structural guidance and CI smoke testing
.claude/skills/job-application-assistant/03-writing-style.md	Provides style constraints (active voice, prohibition of em-dashes)
.claude/skills/job-application-assistant/02-behavioral-profile.md	Governs tone and voice validation criteria

Finalization and Record Keeping

Once the PDF passes visual inspection—confirming single-page output and proper font rendering—the system optionally runs an ATS check on the CV (cover letters are rarely parsed by ATS systems) and records the application in job_search_tracker.csv. The finalized LaTeX source and compiled PDF are presented to the user for final review before submission, as specified in the workflow steps of .claude/commands/apply.md.

Summary

• The AI Job Search system uses a deterministic four-phase workflow triggered by the /apply command to generate cover letters.
• Drafting pulls from immutable source files including 01-candidate-profile.md and 06-cover-letter-templates.md to create cover_letters/cover_<company>_<role>.tex.
• Review validates content accuracy, factual grounding against source documents, and LaTeX technical correctness.
• Revision applies structured JSON edits (Part A) and contextual narrative improvements (Part B), fixing known template pitfalls like improper itemize nesting.
• Compilation requires XeLaTeX and enforces strict visual constraints: single-page output, visible signature blocks, and Raleway-Medium font consistency.
• The system guarantees factual grounding by prohibiting drafters from reading additional files during generation, ensuring all claims trace back to pre-validated source documents.

Frequently Asked Questions

What LaTeX engine does the AI Job Search system use for cover letters?

The system requires XeLaTeX specifically, as the cover.cls template uses system fonts (Raleway-Medium) via fontspec that are incompatible with standard pdfLaTeX. The compilation command xelatex -interaction=nonstopmode cover_<company>_<role>.tex is defined in 06-cover-letter-templates.md and executed during the revision phase until the output meets visual validation criteria.

How does the system ensure factual accuracy in generated cover letters?

Factual grounding is enforced through source document immutability: the drafter reads only 01-candidate-profile.md, the master CV, and job evaluation files during initial drafting. The reviewer then cross-references every date, metric, and achievement against these canonical sources plus CLAUDE.md. The drafter cannot perform additional file reads during generation, preventing hallucination of qualifications not present in the source materials.

What is the "known template pitfall" mentioned in the cover letter workflow?

The pitfall involves incorrectly nesting \begin{itemize} environments inside the \lettercontent{} macro. The template in 06-cover-letter-templates.md explicitly prohibits this structure because it breaks font inheritance. Bullet lists must instead be wrapped in explicit \fontspec blocks specifying the Raleway-Medium font path, placed outside \lettercontent{} macros but within the document flow. The reviewer flags this error during Phase 2, and the drafter corrects it during Phase 3.

Can the system handle personalized salutations for specific hiring managers?

Yes. During the Review phase, if the candidate provides hiring manager research, the reviewer generates a Part A JSON edit targeting the salutation line. The edit specifies the exact old_string (e.g., Dear Hiring Manager,) and new_string (e.g., Dear Dr. Smith,), which the drafter applies deterministically using the Edit tool before recompiling the document.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}