bibtui
A quiet, powerful home for your references.
bibtui is a fast, keyboard-driven terminal app for researchers who work with
BibTeX. Open your .bib file, search thousands of references instantly, fetch
open-access PDFs with a single keystroke, and track what you've read — without
leaving the terminal. No database, no sync daemon, no account.
📖 Read the full documentation →
Quick start
# Run without installing — opens the built-in file browser
uvx --prerelease=allow bibtui
# Or open a specific library directly
uvx --prerelease=allow bibtui myrefs.bib
# Or install permanently
uv tool install --prerelease=allow bibtui
Why
--prerelease=allow? bibtui depends onbibtexparserv2, still in beta on PyPI. Once it ships a stable v2, the flag is no longer needed.
What you can do
- Find anything, instantly — search title, author, journal, keywords and
cite key as you type, with field prefixes like
a:,t:,k:,y:. - Download PDFs automatically — one keystroke fetches the open-access PDF from arXiv, Copernicus, OpenAlex or Unpaywall and links it to the entry.
- Import by DOI — paste a DOI and the metadata is fetched for you.
- Organise — keywords, read states, priorities and star ratings, all stored
in your
.bibfile. - Collaborate with Git — your library is plain text, so a research group can share and review it like code. Learn how →
- Run anywhere — laptop, SSH, or an HPC cluster. Full Textual theming, keyboard and mouse.
Documentation
| Guide | |
|---|---|
| Installation | Get bibtui running |
| Getting started | The everyday workflow |
| Searching your library | Field prefixes and sorting |
| Fetching PDFs | Automatic open-access downloads |
| Working as a team | Share a library with Git |
| Configuration | Settings, themes, CSL styles |
Contributing
Bug reports, ideas and pull requests are welcome — see the development guide and open an issue.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.
1 maintainer
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