Create Quarto Report

Set up and write a reproducible Quarto document for analysis reports, presentations, or websites.

When to Use

•Creating a reproducible analysis report
•Building a presentation with embedded code
•Generating HTML, PDF, or Word documents from code
•Migrating from R Markdown to Quarto

Inputs

•Required: Report topic and target audience
•Required: Output format (html, pdf, docx, revealjs)
•Optional: Data sources and analysis code
•Optional: Citation bibliography (.bib file)

Procedure

Step 1: Create Quarto Document

Create report.qmd:

yaml

---
title: "Analysis Report"
author: "Author Name"
date: today
format:
  html:
    toc: true
    toc-depth: 3
    code-fold: true
    theme: cosmo
    self-contained: true
execute:
  echo: true
  warning: false
  message: false
bibliography: references.bib
---

Step 2: Write Content with Code Chunks

markdown

## Introduction

This report analyzes the relationship between variables X and Y.

## Data

```{r}
#| label: load-data
library(dplyr)
library(ggplot2)

data <- read.csv("data.csv")
glimpse(data)
```

## Analysis

```{r}
#| label: fig-scatter
#| fig-cap: "Scatter plot of X vs Y"
#| fig-width: 8
#| fig-height: 6

ggplot(data, aes(x = x_var, y = y_var)) +
  geom_point(alpha = 0.6) +
  geom_smooth(method = "lm") +
  theme_minimal()
```

As shown in @fig-scatter, there is a positive relationship.

## Results

```{r}
#| label: tbl-summary
#| tbl-cap: "Summary statistics"

data |>
  summarise(
    mean_x = mean(x_var),
    sd_x = sd(x_var),
    mean_y = mean(y_var),
    sd_y = sd(y_var)
  ) |>
  knitr::kable(digits = 2)
```

See @tbl-summary for descriptive statistics.

Step 3: Configure Chunk Options

Common chunk-level options (use #| syntax):

code

#| label: chunk-name        # Required for cross-references
#| echo: false               # Hide code
#| eval: false               # Show but don't run
#| output: false             # Run but hide output
#| fig-width: 8              # Figure dimensions
#| fig-height: 6
#| fig-cap: "Caption text"   # Enable @fig-name references
#| tbl-cap: "Caption text"   # Enable @tbl-name references
#| cache: true               # Cache expensive computations

Step 4: Add Cross-References and Citations

markdown

See @fig-scatter for the visualization and @tbl-summary for statistics.

This approach follows @smith2023 methodology.

::: {#fig-combined layout-ncol=2}
![Plot A](plot_a.png){#fig-plotA}
![Plot B](plot_b.png){#fig-plotB}

Combined figure caption
:::

Step 5: Render the Document

bash

quarto render report.qmd

# Specific format
quarto render report.qmd --to pdf
quarto render report.qmd --to docx

# Preview with live reload
quarto preview report.qmd

Expected: Output file generated in the specified format.

On failure:

•Missing quarto: Install from https://quarto.org/docs/get-started/
•PDF errors: Install TinyTeX with quarto install tinytex
•R package errors: Ensure all packages are installed

Step 6: Multi-Format Output

yaml

format:
  html:
    toc: true
    theme: cosmo
  pdf:
    documentclass: article
    geometry: margin=1in
  docx:
    reference-doc: template.docx

Render all formats: quarto render report.qmd

Validation

• Document renders without errors
• All code chunks execute correctly
• Cross-references resolve (figures, tables, citations)
• Table of contents is accurate
• Output format is appropriate for the audience

Common Pitfalls

•Missing label prefix: Cross-referenceable figures need fig- prefix in label, tables need tbl-
•Cache invalidation: Cached chunks won't re-run when upstream data changes. Delete _cache/ to force.
•PDF without LaTeX: Install TinyTeX or use format: pdf with pdf-engine: weasyprint for CSS-based PDF
•R Markdown syntax in Quarto: Use #| chunk options instead of {r, echo=FALSE} style

Related Skills

•format-apa-report - APA-formatted academic reports
•build-parameterized-report - parameterized multi-report generation
•generate-statistical-tables - publication-ready tables
•write-vignette - Quarto vignettes in R packages