Bibtex Entry View

bibtex entry view, a plugin for obsidian

requirements

• Obsidian 1.13 or later.
• Desktop only.

what it carries out

renders bibkey codeblock

• If the plugin finds the bibkey in the .bib file, the codeblock (first codeblock above) is replaced with the entry view of the bibkey (second codeblock).
• If the plugin cannot render the entry, the codeblock is rendered in red colored text and strikethrough (fourth codeblock), with the reason:
  • (Provide a correct key): the codeblock is empty, or the bibkey is not in the .bib file.
  • (No bib file selected): no .bib file is chosen in the settings. (v. 0.2.5)
  • (Bib file not found: {path}): the chosen .bib file is missing, e.g. renamed or deleted. (v. 0.2.5)

suggests the match

• Suggested list will be shown while typing {bibkey} as shown above. (v. 0.2.0)
• Each keyword should be at least two letters long.
• Separate keywords with spaces. An entry matches when every keyword is part of a word in the entry, e.g. rey 2015.
• The keywords are matched against the bibkey and the fields in Customize search and autocomplete in the settings. (v. 0.2.5)
  • By default: author, editor, year, title, subtitle.
  • This is independent of the rendering order, so a field hidden from the codeblock can still be searched.
• Each suggestion shows the bibkey, the author (or editor) and year, and the title. A long author list is cut with …, but the year always stays visible. (v. 0.2.5)

What's in the .bib file which is generated by jabref.

@InBook{ReynoldsKJ-2015a-socialidentity,
  author           = {Reynolds, Katherine J.},
  booktitle        = {International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences},
  citationkey      = {ReynoldsKJ-2015a-socialidentity},
  edition          = {2nd},
  editor           = {James D. Wright},
  pages            = {313--318},
  publisher        = {Elsevier},
  title            = {Social Identity in Social Psychology},
  year             = {2015},
  abstract         = { ... },
  creationdate     = {2024-07-22T13:12:48},
  doi              = {10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.24064-6},
  modificationdate = {2025-06-23T21:48:18},
}

@Book{WrightJD-2015e-encyclopediasocialbehavioralsciences,
  citationkey      = {WrightJD-2015e-encyclopediasocialbehavioralsciences},
  edition          = {2nd},
  editor           = {James D. Wright},
  publisher        = {Elsevier},
  title            = {International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences},
  year             = {2015},
  creationdate     = {2025-06-23T18:01:38},
  modificationdate = {2025-06-23T21:48:59},
}

what the plugin renders in the codeblock

• In the first line,
  • it shows the bibkey in the accent color of obsidian.
• In the second line,
  • If the Bibtex entry has author field, it shows the author field name and its value right after the bibkey.
  • If the Bibtex entry does not have author field but an editor field, it shows the editor field name and its value right after the bibkey.
  • All kinds of name are in "von last, jr, first" format, e.g. van Beethoven, Ludwig, King, Jr., Martin Luther. Parts a name does not have are left out, e.g. Reynolds, Katherine J.. (v. 0.2.5)
• In the third line and so on,
  • it sorts all the other field names and their values by the order of Customize field rendering order in the settings and shows them.
  • Fields not in that list are hidden.

so, how a user can use it

before using it

• Put the .bib file anywhere in the vault.
• Or, import one in the settings. It is saved in the root of the vault.
• Or, make a symbolic link to user's own .bib file in the vault.

settings tab example

choose a .bib file in the current vault

• Initially, no .bib file is selected.
• A user needs to choose the .bib file or the symbolic link in the vault.

Or, import a .bib file from outside the vault into the vault.

• If a file with the same name is already in the vault, the plugin asks before overwriting it. (v. 0.2.5)

customize rendering

• A user can choose fields and their order to render, one per line.
• Changes are applied to open notes right away.

customize search (0.2.5)

• A user can choose fields to include in search, one per line.
• The bibkey is always searched. entrytype can be added to search by entry type, e.g. book.

in a note

• Write a codeblock in the following format

```bibkey
{bibkey}
```

• Or, type ```bibkey followed by a space and keywords on one line. When a suggestion is chosen, it is rewritten into the format above. (v. 0.2.5)

known bug or malfunctioning

• It seems that the plugin does not show suggestions irregularly when using a plugin Various Complements. Looking into this problem. (@ v. 0.2.0)

what is planned to add next

• adding a command to manually update the entry indices when updating the target .bib file of the symbolic link.
• fuzzy search for autocompletion suggestion

support

• If you like this project, please support.

license

MIT