soap-tui 0.2.32

soap — a reference manager (CLI + TUI)

soap

soap is a terminal reference manager for papers, books, and PDFs. Add a local file, DOI, arXiv ID, ISBN, directory, or URL; fetch metadata; review uncertain records; then browse, search, tag, and open your library from a keyboard-driven TUI.

Quick start

Install

soap needs uv and Python 3.14 or newer — except via Homebrew, which delivers a self-contained binary that needs neither.

Homebrew (recommended — no Python required)

brew tap GhifariArsa/soap
brew install soap-tui

Or in one command: brew install GhifariArsa/soap/soap-tui. Homebrew installs a self-contained binary (embedded CPython 3.14 via PyApp), so no Python or pip is needed. Coverage is Apple-Silicon macOS + Linux (arm64/x86_64); there is no Intel-macOS binary, so brew install on an Intel mac fails fast with a clear message. Upgrade with brew upgrade soap-tui. The tap and its Intel-mac note live at GhifariArsa/homebrew-soap.

From source

The simplest way to try the project is from a checkout:

git clone https://github.com/GhifariArsa/soap.git
cd soap
uv run soap init

For a published release, install the soap-tui package with uv:

uv tool install soap-tui

Standalone binaries are also published for macOS (arm64) and Linux (arm64 and x86_64) with each GitHub Release. The installer verifies the download before placing soap in ~/.local/bin:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GhifariArsa/soap/main/install.sh | sh

The installer requires a published release. Use SOAP_VERSION=v0.1.0 to pin a release or SOAP_INSTALL_DIR to change the install directory. Before the first release, use the checkout or PyPI instructions above.

Add and review one paper

From the repository, prefix commands with uv run; an installed copy uses soap directly.

# An arXiv ID resolves metadata and best-effort downloads its PDF.
uv run soap add 1706.03762

# Fresh `soap init` routes adds through the review queue.
uv run soap inbox review

# Then browse the library.
uv run soap

For a local PDF, supply an identifier or metadata yourself:

uv run soap add ~/papers/paper.pdf --doi 10.1145/3292500.3330701
# Or work completely offline:
uv run soap add ~/papers/paper.pdf --no-fetch \
  --title "Attention Is All You Need" \
  --author "Vaswani, Ashish" --year 2017

soap add --help and soap inbox review --help show the complete option lists.

The workflow

1. Initialize once. soap init creates the library, its SQLite index, and a shell export for SOAP_DIR.
2. Add sources. Use soap add with a file, directory, DOI, arXiv ID, ISBN, or URL. Repeat --author, --tag, or --collection when needed; use --recursive for a directory.
3. Review. soap inbox review or the TUI's r action lets you accept, correct, edit, or skip each needs_review record. The CLI also supports deleting a record. --confirm provides the same guided field correction during add.
4. Browse. Run soap with no subcommand. Use the sidebar for all documents, the review inbox, read status, tags, and collections; use / to search.
5. Open and mark. enter/o opens the first attached file (or the recorded URL) with the operating system's default handler. m cycles unread → reading → read.

Metadata lookups use Crossref, arXiv, or Open Library as appropriate. arXiv and direct-PDF URLs download a PDF on a best-effort basis; an open-access DOI may do the same. A paywall or failed download does not prevent metadata from being saved. soap does not parse PDF contents.

Usage

soap init

soap init

The default library is ~/.soap. SOAP_DIR changes the default, and --path <dir> overrides both. init creates config.yaml, inbox/, documents/, and soap.db, and writes a quoted SOAP_DIR export to the detected shell config (or prints a safe export line when no shell can be detected).

Useful options:

Option	Use
--path <dir>	Initialize a different library.
--shell auto|zsh|bash|fish	Choose the shell config to update.
--force	Reinitialize an existing library; destructive, but backs up the old database.

A fresh library sets always_review: true in config.yaml. Re-running init does not overwrite an existing configuration.

soap add

soap add SOURCE...

SOURCE can be a local file, directory, URL, DOI, or bare arXiv ID. ISBN metadata can be supplied with --isbn. Identifiers can also be passed explicitly with --doi or --arxiv.

The options most people need are:

Option	Use
--title, --author, --year, --type	Override metadata. --author is repeatable.
--tag, --collection	Add repeatable tags or collections.
--no-fetch	Skip network metadata lookups.
--recursive	Include files below a directory source.
--confirm	Correct the core fields inline before saving.
--edit, -e	Edit the generated info.yaml in $EDITOR.
--dry-run	Preview the add without writing anything.
--force	Add even when a duplicate is detected.
--path <dir>	Use a library other than $SOAP_DIR or ~/.soap.

soap inbox review

soap inbox review

The CLI presents one record at a time:

• a — accept it as-is
• c — correct title, authors, year, type, or venue; Enter keeps a value
• e — open the complete info.yaml in $EDITOR
• s — skip it for later
• d — delete it and its attached files, after confirmation
• q — quit the walk

The TUI review screen uses the same review core. In that screen, enter/a files, c corrects, e opens $EDITOR, s skips, and q/esc finishes the review.

TUI keymap

Run soap with no subcommand to open the TUI. Press ? at any time for the in-app keyboard reference; the following is the compact map for the main screen.

Keys	Action
j / k, g / G	Move; jump to top / bottom.
Ctrl-D / Ctrl-U	Half-page down / up.
Tab / Shift-Tab, h / l	Cycle panes; focus left / right.
Enter / o	Open the selected file or URL.
/	Search title, author, tag, or DOI; Enter/Tab moves to the list.
e	Edit the selected document's metadata in $EDITOR.
t	Edit tags. In the tag editor, Enter/comma adds, Tab completes, Ctrl-S saves, and Esc cancels.
m	Cycle read status: unread → reading → read.
r	Review the inbox.
Ctrl-R	Refresh from disk.
? / Ctrl-P	Keyboard reference / command palette.
Ctrl-T	Cycle themes.
q	Quit.

Tags and themes

Tags are edited from the selected document with t and can be used as sidebar filters. The TUI ships with aqua-slate, one-dark, and catppuccin-mocha themes. Ctrl-T cycles them, and the choice is saved in config.yaml. User themes live in $SOAP_DIR/themes/.

See the theme format and the example theme for customization details.

Your library on disk

The library path is resolved in this order:

1. --path <dir> where that option is available (init, add, and inbox review)
2. $SOAP_DIR
3. ~/.soap

Its important files look like this:

$SOAP_DIR/
├── config.yaml
├── soap.db                         # rebuildable SQLite index
├── inbox/                          # library directory created by init
└── documents/
    └── <citekey>/
        ├── info.yaml               # authoritative document record
        └── paper.pdf               # attached file(s), if any

info.yaml is the source of truth. Every change writes the document file first, then synchronizes the SQLite index; the index is only a fast, denormalized view of the files and metadata. The TUI and CLI therefore read and mutate the same library, and the on-disk record remains readable and version-controllable without the index.

The review inbox is a needs_review status, not a second copy of the document: records and their attachments stay under documents/<citekey>/ until they are filed, skipped, or deleted. A new citekey names both the document folder and its info.yaml. Correcting a record during review keeps that citekey; only a new add derives a key.

More

• Usage reference
• TUI keymap
• Release and publishing guide
• GitHub Releases
• Project homepage

Development

Run the tests with:

uv run pytest

The package distribution is named soap-tui; the installed command is soap.