Manual

bibo

Command line reference manager with a single source of truth: the .bib file. Inspired by beets.

bibo [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

Options

--version

Show the version and exit.

--database <database>

Required A path to a .bib file. Overrides the BIBO_DATABASE environment variable.

Environment variables

BIBO_DATABASE

Provide a default for --database

add

Add a new entry to the database.

Find a bib entry you would like to add. Copy it to the clipboard, and run the command. It will be opened in your editor for validation or manual editing. Upon saving, the entry is added to the database.

Don’t forget to set the EDITOR environment variable for this command to work properly.

bibo add [OPTIONS]

Options

--file <file>

Path to file to link to this entry.

--destination <destination>

A folder to put the file in.

--no-copy

Add the specified file in its current location without copying.

--doi <doi>

Add entry by DOI.

edit

Edit an entry.

Use FIELD_VALUE to set fields as follows: author=Einstein, or tags=interesting. Leave the value empty to open in editor. Set the key or type in the same way.

Don’t forget to set the EDITOR environment variable for this command to work properly.

bibo edit [OPTIONS] KEY [FIELD_VALUE]...

Options

--file <file>

Path to file to link to this entry.

--destination <destination>

A folder to put the file in.

--no-copy

Add the specified file in its current location without copying.

Arguments

KEY

Required argument

FIELD_VALUE

Optional argument(s)

list

List entries in the database.

A SEARCH_TERM matches an entry if it appears in the type, key, or any of the fields of the entry. If multiple search terms are provided an entry should match all of them. It is possible to match against a specific key, type, or field as follows: author:einstein, year:2018 or type:book. Note that search terms are case insensitive.

bibo list [OPTIONS] [SEARCH_TERM]...

Options

--raw

Format as raw .bib entries.

--bibstyle <bibstyle>

Bibtex bibliography style to use for citation formatting. For more information check https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Bibtex_bibliography_styles.

--format <format>

Custom format pattern. Use $ in front of a key, type, or field to create custom formatter. For example: --format '$author ($year) - $title'.

--verbose

Show verbose information.

Arguments

SEARCH_TERM

Optional argument(s)

open

Open an entry in the database if a file, url, or doi field exists (with precedence in this order).

A file will be open by the application defined by your system according to the file extension. For example, a PDF should be opened by a PDF reader and a folder should be opened by a file browser. URLs and DOIs should be opened in the web browser

A SEARCH_TERM matches an entry if it appears in the type, key, or any of the fields of the entry. If multiple search terms are provided an entry should match all of them. It is possible to match against a specific key, type, or field as follows: author:einstein, year:2018 or type:book. Note that search terms are case insensitive.

This command fails if the number of entries that match the search is different than one.

bibo open [OPTIONS] [SEARCH_TERM]...

Arguments

SEARCH_TERM

Optional argument(s)

remove

Remove an entry from the database or remove a field from an entry.

To remove an entry specify its key. To fields specify the key and list all fields for removal.

bibo remove [OPTIONS] KEY [FIELD]...

Arguments

KEY

Required argument

FIELD

Optional argument(s)