Report Generation

Module 13.2: Report Generation

Estimated time: ~30 minutes

Prerequisite: Module 13.1 (Data Analysis)

Outcome: After this module, you will know how to generate complete reports from data, use templates for consistent reporting, and export to various formats.

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1. WHY — Why This Matters

You’ve done great analysis with Claude Code. Now you need to share it. The boss wants a PDF report. The client wants an executive summary. The team wants detailed findings.

Copying and pasting Claude’s responses into Word? Tedious and error-prone. Manually formatting charts? Time waster. Claude Code can generate complete, formatted reports — from raw data to polished deliverable. One prompt: “Generate a monthly sales report.”

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2. CONCEPT — Core Ideas

Report Generation Pipeline

[Data] → [Analysis] → [Narrative] → [Format] → [Export]
   ↓          ↓           ↓           ↓          ↓
 CSV/DB    Insights    Write-up    Markdown   PDF/HTML

Report Components

Component	Purpose	Claude’s Role
Title/Header	Identify report	Generate with date, author
Executive Summary	Key takeaways	Synthesize findings
Methodology	How analysis was done	Document approach
Findings	Detailed results	Data + narrative
Visualizations	Charts, tables	Generate and embed
Recommendations	Next steps	Business insights
Appendix	Supporting data	Raw tables, code

Output Formats

• Markdown: Universal, version control friendly
• HTML: Rich formatting, interactive charts
• PDF: Professional, printable (via pandoc)
• DOCX: For Word users (via pandoc)

Report Template

# [Report Title]
**Date**: [Date] | **Author**: [Author]

## Executive Summary
[3-5 bullet key findings]

## Methodology
[How analysis was performed]

## Key Findings
### Finding 1: [Title]
[Narrative + visualization]

## Recommendations
[Actionable next steps]

## Appendix
[Supporting data]

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3. DEMO — Step by Step

Scenario: Generate monthly sales report from sales.csv.

Step 1: Request Report

You: Generate a monthly sales report for December 2023 from sales.csv.
Include:
- Executive summary (3 key points)
- Revenue analysis by region and category
- Top performing products
- 2 visualizations
- Recommendations

Format as Markdown. Audience: executive team.
Save to reports/december-2023-sales.md

Step 2: Claude Generates Report

Claude: [Analyzes data, generates report]

Created: reports/december-2023-sales.md

# Monthly Sales Report: December 2023
**Generated**: 2024-01-05 | **Data Source**: sales.csv (3,245 transactions)

## Executive Summary
- **Record Revenue**: December achieved $890K, 40% above monthly average
- **Electronics Dominance**: Category drove 52% of monthly revenue
- **Regional Shift**: West region grew 25% MoM, now #2 market

## Revenue Analysis

### By Region
| Region | Revenue | MoM Change |
|--------|---------|------------|
| North  | $320K   | +15%       |
| West   | $280K   | +25%       |
| South  | $180K   | +10%       |
| East   | $110K   | +5%        |

![Regional Revenue](charts/regional_revenue_dec.png)

## Recommendations
1. **Stock Preparation**: Increase Electronics inventory for Q1
2. **West Region Focus**: Allocate more marketing budget
3. **Product Bundling**: Laptop + Headphones bundle opportunity

Step 3: Export to PDF

$ pandoc reports/december-2023-sales.md -o reports/december-2023-sales.pdf

Step 4: Iterate and Refine

You: The executive summary is too long. Make it more concise —
each point should be one line max.

Claude: [Revises executive summary to be more concise]

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4. PRACTICE — Try It Yourself

Exercise 1: Basic Report Generation

Goal: Generate a simple report from data.

Instructions:

1. Use any CSV dataset
2. Ask Claude to generate report with: summary, 3 findings, 1 chart
3. Save as Markdown
4. Review the structure

💡 Hint

Specify audience and format explicitly: “Format as Markdown. Audience: executive.”

✅ Solution

Prompt: "Generate a summary report from data.csv.
Include: executive summary (3 bullets), 3 key findings with one chart,
recommendations. Format: Markdown. Audience: executive.
Save to: reports/summary.md"

Exercise 2: Templated Reporting

Goal: Use consistent templates across reports.

Instructions:

1. Add a report template to CLAUDE.md
2. Ask Claude to generate report following template
3. Generate same report type for different data
4. Compare consistency

💡 Hint

Add template to CLAUDE.md: “Standard reports include: summary, methodology, findings, recommendations, appendix.”

✅ Solution

CLAUDE.md addition:

## Report Template
All reports must include:
1. Executive Summary (3-5 bullets)
2. Methodology (1 paragraph)
3. Key Findings (with visualizations)
4. Recommendations (numbered list)
5. Appendix (raw data reference)

Prompt: “Generate a report from [data] using our standard template.”

Exercise 3: Multi-Format Export

Goal: Export report to multiple formats.

Instructions:

1. Generate report in Markdown
2. Convert to HTML using pandoc
3. Convert to PDF using pandoc
4. Compare readability

💡 Hint

Use pandoc: pandoc input.md -o output.pdf and pandoc input.md -o output.html

✅ Solution

# Generate Markdown first (via Claude)
# Then convert:
pandoc report.md -o report.html
pandoc report.md -o report.pdf
pandoc report.md -o report.docx

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5. CHEAT SHEET

Report Prompt Template

"Generate a [type] report from [data].
Include: [components]
Format: [Markdown/HTML]
Audience: [technical/executive]
Save to: [path]"

Standard Components

• Executive Summary
• Methodology
• Key Findings (with visuals)
• Recommendations
• Appendix

Export Commands

# Markdown to PDF
pandoc report.md -o report.pdf

# Markdown to HTML
pandoc report.md -o report.html

# Markdown to DOCX
pandoc report.md -o report.docx

Audience Adaptation

Audience	Focus
Executive	High-level, business impact
Technical	Detailed methodology, code
General	Plain language, more context

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6. PITFALLS — Common Mistakes

❌ Mistake	✅ Correct Approach
No clear audience	Specify “audience: executive” or “technical”
Missing structure	Use template or specify components
Charts not saved	Ask Claude to save charts to files, then embed
Too much detail in summary	”Executive summary: 3 bullets, one line each”
No export format specified	”Format as Markdown” or “Generate HTML”
One giant prompt	Iterate: generate, review, refine
Forgetting appendix	Include raw data for reference

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7. REAL CASE — Production Story

Scenario: Vietnamese logistics company needed weekly performance reports for 12 regional managers. Manual process: analyst spent 2 days per week creating 12 reports.

Claude Code Solution:

CLAUDE.md template defined standard report structure: KPI summary, delivery performance, cost analysis, issues & recommendations.

Implementation:

for region in north south east west; do
  claude -p "Generate weekly report for $region from data/${region}.csv
  using our standard template. Save to reports/${region}-week-42.md"
  pandoc reports/${region}-week-42.md -o reports/${region}-week-42.pdf
done

Results:

• 2 days manual → 30 minutes automated
• Consistent format across all 12 regions
• Managers get reports Monday 8am instead of Wednesday
• Analyst now does strategic work instead of copy-paste

Quote: “Report generation was our analyst’s least favorite task. Now Claude does it while she focuses on insights that matter.”

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Next: Module 13.3: Log & Error Analysis →