bibquest 0.1.2

A tool to automatically fetch BibTeX entries from ADS, arXiv, and INSPIRE-HEP based on citation keys found in LaTeX log files or documents.

Often while writing scientific documents, it's tedious to constantly switch between your text editor and various tabs to copy BibTeX entries. Instead of interrupting your writing flow, simply use citation keys in your document and let $\mathrm{\large B{\scriptsize{IB}}Q{\scriptsize{UEST}}}$ fetch all the bibliography entries automatically once you're done writing.

Installation

Method 1:

pip install bibquest

Method 2:

git clone https://github.com/sahiljhawar/BibQuest.git
cd BibQuest

With pip

pip install .

or, if using uv

uv venv
. .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install .

The above methods will make sure that the bibquest command is available in your terminal.

Usage

Method 1: From .bcf file (recommended)

Compile your LaTeX document once, then use the generated .bcf file:

bibquest example/document.bcf example/bibliography.bib

Method 2: From LaTeX log file

Compile your LaTeX document once, then use the generated log file:

bibquest example/document.log example/bibliography.bib

Method 3: From TeX source file

Scan your TeX source file directly:

bibquest --scan-tex example/document.tex example/bibliography.bib

Terminal Output

Options

• --delay 2.0 - Set delay between requests (default: 1.0 seconds)
• --append - Append to existing bibliography file (default behavior)
• --verbose - Show verbose output

Supported Sources

• arXiv: arXiv:2301.12345 or 2301.12345
• INSPIRE-HEP: Author:2023abc
• NASA ADS: ADS identifiers (fallback method)

Note

• In arXiv, it uses the arXiv ID instead of the bib key for the entry. This is because arXiv does not let you search with the bib key.
• Try not to use ADS as they rate limit requests. In general as well it is better not to use ADS and instead use arXiv or INSPIRE-HEP. See the ads2inspire.