CLAUDE.md - Personal Website Overview

Project Overview

This is Emanuel Tewolde’s personal academic website (emanueltewolde.com) built using Jekyll and hosted on GitHub Pages. The site is based on the Academic Pages template, a fork of the Minimal Mistakes Jekyll theme.

Website Owner

Emanuel Tewolde - 4th year PhD student in Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University

Research focus: Algorithmic game theory, reinforcement learning, AI safety, coordination, cooperation, and alignment
Advisor: Vincent Conitzer
Supported by: Cooperative AI PhD Fellowship

Technical Stack

Framework: Jekyll (Ruby-based static site generator)
Theme: Academic Pages (forked from Minimal Mistakes)
Hosting: GitHub Pages
Domain: emanueltewolde.com (via CNAME file)
Ruby Dependencies: Managed via Gemfile/Bundler
JavaScript: Minimal - mainly for UI enhancements (jQuery, plugins)

Repository Structure

Configuration Files

_config.yml - Main Jekyll configuration with site metadata, author info, collections, and build settings
_config.dev.yml - Development configuration override
Gemfile - Ruby dependencies (github-pages, jekyll plugins)
package.json - npm build scripts for JavaScript minification

Content Collections

The site uses Jekyll collections to organize different types of content:

Publications (`_publications/`)

8 academic papers (2021-2025)
Format: Markdown files with YAML front matter
Fields: title, authors, venue, status, dates, file links, arXiv URLs
Example: 2025-04-01-LearnPhiEQs.md (EC 2025 paper)

Working Papers (`_workingpapers/`)

3 working papers (2025)
Similar format to publications but for unpublished work
Example: 2025-05-01-Concordia.md (Concordia LLM evaluation paper)

Teaching (`_teaching/`)

9 teaching experiences (2014-2025)
Format: Course information with dates and descriptions
Latest: “Cooperative AI” course (2025) as Head TA

Talks (`_talks/`)

Academic presentations and tutorials
Currently has 4 sample entries

Portfolio (`_portfolio/`)

Project showcase (minimal content currently)

Pages (`_pages/`)

Key pages include:

about.md - Homepage with bio, research interests, and dynamic content sections
cv.md - Curriculum vitae page
publications.md - Publications listing
teaching.html - Teaching experience
Various archive and utility pages

Layout & Design (`_layouts/`, `_includes/`, `_sass/`)

Layouts: Templates for different page types (single, archive, talk)
Includes: Reusable components (header, footer, author profile, navigation)
Sass: Styling with variables, mixins, and component styles

Assets

files/ - PDFs (CV, papers, posters)
images/ - Profile photos and icons
assets/ - CSS, JavaScript, fonts
_site/ - Generated static site (build output)

Data (`_data/`)

navigation.yml - Site navigation (currently commented out)
authors.yml - Author information
ui-text.yml - UI text strings

Key Features

Dynamic Content Generation

The homepage (about.md) dynamically displays:

Working papers section (if any exist)
Publications (reverse chronological)
Teaching experience (reverse chronological)

Build Process

Jekyll processes Markdown + YAML front matter
Sass compilation for CSS
JavaScript minification via npm scripts
Output to _site/ directory

SEO & Analytics

Google Analytics integration
Sitemap generation
SEO optimization via jekyll-seo-tag

Development Workflow

Local Development

bundle install          # Install Ruby dependencies
bundle exec jekyll serve # Run local server
npm run build:js        # Build JavaScript assets

Content Management

Publications and manuscripts: Add entries to _publications/ and set publication_type to conference, journal, or manuscript.
Teaching: Add new .md files to _teaching/
Active preprints: Add entries to _workingpapers/ with publication_type: preprint.
Workshop papers use publication_type: workshop and receive a separate W number.
Category codes and legend labels are defined in _data/publication_types.yml.
Files: Upload PDFs to files/ directory

Currently, main navigation is commented out in _data/navigation.yml, making the site a single-page layout focused on the about page.

Blog Posts and Mentoring

Add blogurl: 'https://...' to any publication or working paper to show a [blog post] link beside its other resource links and include it in the homepage Blog Posts list.
Optionally set blogtitle to use a different title in the Blog Posts list.
Set blogdate to the publication date; paper-related blog entries receive a separate B number and appear newest first at the bottom of the homepage.
Add posts unrelated to a paper in _data/blog_posts.yml. Paper-related posts appear newest blog date first, followed by standalone posts in their data-file order.
Fill the two placeholder records in _data/mentoring.yml with student names, research topics, and subsequent positions/institutions. Each record becomes one list item at the bottom of the homepage.

Site Icons

Browser and search icons are linked in _includes/head/custom.html: /favicon.ico, /images/favicon-96x96.png, and /images/apple-touch-icon.png.
These are square portrait icons based on images/profile.png; changing the profile photo alone does not regenerate them.
Google must recrawl the deployed homepage and icon before search results can update; favicon display is not guaranteed.

Content Conventions

Author ordering notation: “- αβ -“ indicates alphabetical ordering
Equal contribution: “==” superscripts
File naming: YYYY-MM-DD-descriptive-name.md
YAML front matter required for all content files

Dependencies & Security

Uses GitHub Pages compatible gems
All dependencies managed through Gemfile
No custom plugins that would break GitHub Pages compatibility
Regular Jekyll and theme updates via gem updates

Notes

The site is currently a work in progress, particularly the working papers section
Navigation is simplified to focus content on the main about page
Academic focus with emphasis on publications and teaching
Clean, professional design suitable for academic portfolio

Emanuel Tewolde