clibib

A Python-based CLI tool to fetch BibTeX entries from a URL, ISBN, DOI, PMID, arXiv, alphaxiv, huggingface papers, or even just the paper title!

Installation

pip install clibib

Usage

# Fetch BibTeX from a DOI
clibib 10.1038/nature12373

# From an arXiv ID
clibib 2301.07041

# From a URL
clibib https://academic.oup.com/bib/article/25/1/bbad467/7512647

# From an ISBN
clibib 978-0-13-468599-1

# Save BibTeX to a file
clibib -o ~/bibs 10.1038/nature12373

# Title search (less reliable — prefer DOI, arXiv ID, or URL when possible)
clibib "Attention is all you need"

# Only output the best match
clibib --first "Attention is all you need"

Note: Title-based searches rely on CrossRef and Zotero databases, which can return incomplete or incorrect matches. For reliable results, use a DOI, arXiv ID, or URL. If you only have a title, search the web for the paper's DOI first.

Agent Skill

clibib includes an Agent Skill for fetching citations through natural language or the /clibib slash command. Works with any agent that supports the open standard — Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, OpenHands, GitHub Copilot, and others.

Install (Claude Code example):

cp -r skill/clibib ~/.claude/skills/clibib

Usage:

Get me the bibtex for 10.1038/nature12373
/clibib 2301.07041

See skill/README.md for full details.

Development

pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest