---
name: figure-table-planner
description: Plan the smallest set of diagnostic, comparison, paper, and appendix figures or tables needed to support verified mathematical-modeling decisions and claims.
---

# Purpose

Make every visual evidence-bearing. Prefer fewer useful visuals over a decorative inventory.

# Inputs

- method card and decision ledger;
- run summaries and final result analysis;
- robustness evidence;
- solution package and frozen numbers in submission mode;
- existing figures/tables.

# Figure Types

- Type 1 diagnostic: internal debugging; never in the paper.
- Type 2 comparison: main vs usable baseline or a genuinely tested alternative; optional in paper.
- Type 3 paper: directly supports a main claim; required only when the claim benefits materially from a visual.
- Type 4 appendix: supplementary evidence referenced from the main text.

# Workflow

1. List verified claims that need visual or exact tabular support.
2. Reuse an existing artifact when it already communicates the claim.
3. For each proposed visual record:
   - ID and Qx;
   - type;
   - source artifact and frozen claim IDs when applicable;
   - one core claim;
   - chart/table form;
   - target section;
   - status and render needs.
4. Ask the human to confirm judgment-bearing Type 3 claims through one compact choice card when they are not already in the decision ledger.
5. Save `methods/Qx/qx_figure_table_plan.md` only when durable planning is needed. In lean exploration, a compact in-conversation plan is sufficient.

# Planning Heuristics

- Use tables for exact values, parameters, and small comparisons.
- Use plots for trends, distributions, sensitivity, or many-item comparisons.
- Use diagrams for mechanisms, dependencies, and workflows.
- A main-vs-baseline figure needs compatible metrics and the same evaluation setup.
- Do not create a multi-method comparison merely to imply breadth.

# Rules

- Type 1 never enters the paper.
- Type 3 uses final validated sources and a human-confirmed core claim.
- Do not use unresolved exploratory figures as paper evidence.
- Do not fabricate data, captions, or claims.
- Do not fill plans with placeholder sentinels; pause for one human choice instead.
- Every visual must have a source and purpose.

# Verification

- Each planned visual supports a verified claim.
- Types, sources, sections, and statuses are explicit.
- Type 3 claims trace to human decisions and frozen evidence.
- No unnecessary or decorative visual remains.