# Citations & bibliography

Find a source, inspect its metadata, add it to the right bibliography, cite it at the cursor, and clean a library without losing the original.

A citation is a chain: the claim points to a key, the key points to a bibliography entry, and the entry points to a real source. Oleafly keeps that chain visible so a quick lookup does not become a mysterious reference later.

![Oleafly's References panel. Switch between References, Citations, and Symbols; filter the current view from the search field.](https://cdn.oleafly.com/images/screenshots/desktop/docs/references-panel-dark-window-v2.png#view=0,45,344,703)

## Cite while you write

![Cite from project opens the bibliography picker. Search by key, author, or title; Find and add a new citation opens online lookup.](https://cdn.oleafly.com/images/screenshots/desktop/docs/llama-citation-picker-dark-window-v2.png#view=415,77,365,467)

In the LaTeX toolbar, choose **Cite from project** (the `@` icon). Search the current bibliography by key, author, or title and select an entry.

You can also run **Add citation** from the ⌘K or Ctrl+K command palette. Oleafly inserts syntax for the active project:

- `\cite{key}` in LaTeX;
- `@key` in Typst, adding a bibliography declaration when needed;
- `[@key]` in Markdown.

## Find and add a new reference

Choose **Find and add a new citation** from the picker. Start with any of these:

- a DOI such as `10.1145/3592979`;
- an arXiv ID such as `1706.03762`;
- an ISBN-10 or ISBN-13;
- a PubMed ID (PMID);
- a URL containing one of those identifiers;
- a paper title.

DOI, arXiv, ISBN, and PubMed lookups use their public catalogs. A title search returns possible matches with authors, year, and venue so you can choose rather than accept a guess.

Review the returned BibTeX, then choose **Add to .bib and cite**. Oleafly:

1. adds a collision-free key to the active bibliography;
2. reuses an existing entry when the DOI already exists;
3. inserts the citation at the current cursor;
4. refreshes the file tree and References panel immediately.

The metadata is editable. Correct the record before it becomes part of the manuscript.

## How Oleafly chooses the bibliography

LaTeX projects follow the declarations in the effective main document:

- `\addbibresource{references.bib}` for `biblatex`;
- `\bibliography{references}` for BibTeX workflows.

Paths resolve with the same extension and relative-path behavior the TeX toolchain expects. A declaration that points to a missing file is reported at that source line instead of silently writing somewhere else.

When no bibliography is declared, Oleafly uses the first `.bib` in the project. If none exists, it creates `references.bib` and makes it available in the file tree and citation picker.

For a project with several libraries, inspect the selected target before adding a record.

## Import a whole reference library

Open **Connect sources** and choose an exported library:

| Source format | File |
| --- | --- |
| BibTeX | `.bib` |
| RIS | `.ris` |
| EndNote XML | `.xml` |
| Zotero RDF | `.rdf` |

Oleafly maps the records to BibTeX, deduplicates matching DOIs against the target library and the current batch, creates collision-free keys, and appends the result in one write. A library import does not insert a citation at the cursor.

After import, search the new entries in the citation picker and verify a sample against the original catalog.

## Clean a reference library

The References panel can preview a cleanup before changing files.

1. Open the project and choose **Clean library**.
2. Select the `.bib` file when the project has more than one.
3. Read the action list and the before/after diff.
4. Inspect every proposed key rename, removed DOI duplicate, and advisory.
5. Apply only after the preview matches your intent.

The cleaner renames keys to a consistent author-year-title pattern and updates citations across project source files. It removes a DOI duplicate only when the kept entry preserves every field from the removed one. Conflicting DOI records and similar titles are flagged for review, not merged on a hunch.

Comments and BibTeX string definitions are preserved. Applying checks that the library still matches the preview and writes a backup before changing files. Large diffs show the first 500 lines in the preview; the complete files are still used when changes are applied.

:::caution[Review before applying]
Two editions, translations, preprint and journal versions, or papers with similar titles may be intentionally separate. Read the advisory and compare the actual sources before merging anything manually.
:::

## Complete and navigate references

Inside LaTeX citation commands such as `\cite{}`, `\citep{}`, `\citet{}`, `\parencite{}`, and `\textcite{}`, autocomplete searches every project `.bib` file.

- F12 or modifier-click jumps from a citation key to its entry.
- ⇧F12 lists every use of a source.
- F2 renames a key across source and bibliography files.
- Hover shows the target; unresolved or ambiguous keys are marked before compile.

[Code intelligence](/docs/code-intelligence/) explains the full navigation model.

## Bibliography builds and Biber

For `biblatex`, Oleafly reruns its matched Biber step when the compiler has not produced a usable `.bbl`. Biber messages, including a missing `.bib` path, appear in the compile log and editor diagnostics.

If references remain undefined:

1. Check the bibliography declaration and path.
2. Open **Logs** and find the first Biber or bibliography message.
3. Confirm that the citation key exists exactly once.
4. Recompile after the `.bib` file is saved.

See [Compiling & logs](/docs/compiling/) and [LaTeX engines & packages](/docs/latex-engines/) for engine-specific recovery.

## Standalone reference tools

You can prepare references without opening a project:

- [Citation Generator](/docs/tools/citation-generator/) accepts identifiers, titles, structured fields, or BibTeX.
- [Bibliography Generator](/docs/tools/bibliography-generator/) builds and validates a list.
- [Citation Generators by Style](/docs/tools/citation-styles/) compares eight styles.
- Focused tools handle [DOIs](/docs/tools/doi-to-bibtex/), [ISBNs](/docs/tools/isbn-to-bibtex/), [PubMed IDs](/docs/tools/pubmed-to-bibtex/), [arXiv](/docs/tools/arxiv-citation-generator/), and [web addresses](/docs/tools/url-to-bibtex/).

Manual editing and citation formatting stay local. Identifier and title lookup need a connection. [Offline mode](/docs/settings/general/#offline-mode) blocks those lookups while existing bibliography completion and navigation continue to work.

## Find evidence, then verify it

[Find Citations](/docs/tools/find-citations/) searches scholarly indexes or scans the open draft for passages that may need support. Read the paper before citing it and keep each claim within what the methods and results establish.