create-bibtex

name	create-bibtex
description	Create BibTeX entries from PDF papers and add to main.bib
argument-hint	<path/to/pdf-or-directory>
disable-model-invocation	false

Create BibTeX Entry Command

Create BibTeX entries for academic PDFs and add to the main bibliography.

Preferred method: Extract DOI from PDF and use the fetchbib skill to fetch accurate BibTeX directly from doi.org. Falls back to title-based search, then manual PDF extraction only when both fail.

Input

$ARGUMENTS

Reference

@.claude/reference/bibtex-format.md

Instructions

Step 1: Determine Target Path

If $ARGUMENTS empty: Ask user for path (e.g., lit_review/papers/00-background/file.pdf or lit_review/papers/).

If $ARGUMENTS provided: Use path; resolve relative paths from project root.

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Step 2: Identify PDFs to Process

Single file: Verify exists and is .pdf; report error and stop if not.

Directory: Recursively find all .pdf files using {path}/**/*.pdf.

Build list of PDF paths. Report count; if zero, inform user and stop.

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Step 3: Load Existing BibTeX Entries

1. Read paper/main.bib
2. Extract from each entry: BibTeX key, first author surname (normalized), year
3. Create lookup set for duplicate checking

Report count of existing entries.

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Step 4: Check Each PDF Against Existing Entries

Parse each filename for author and year:

Filename formats:

• Author et al. - YYYY - Title.pdf
• Author and Author2 - YYYY - Title.pdf
• Author - YYYY - Title.pdf

Extraction:

1. First author surname: text before et al., and, or first -
2. Year: 4-digit number after first -
3. Normalize surname: remove accents, remove hyphens

Check for match: If normalized author+year exists in main.bib → skip ("Entry already exists"); otherwise → process.

Report counts: skipped (existing) and to process (new).

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Step 5: Process Each New PDF

5a. Try DOI-Based Fetch First (Preferred Method)

Always attempt DOI extraction first - this yields the most accurate BibTeX:

1. Search for DOI in the PDF:

   .claude/skills/pdf-extraction/scripts/pdf_extract.sh search "{pdf_path}" "doi"
   

2. If DOI found, use fbib:

   fbib "{extracted_doi}"
   

3. If fbib returns valid BibTeX: Use it directly, but regenerate the BibTeX key per Step 5c below to match project conventions.

4. If DOI not found or fetch fails: Try title-based search (Step 5a-ii) before falling back to manual extraction (Step 5b).

5a-ii. Title-Based Search Fallback

If no DOI was found or fbib fetch failed:

1. Extract first page to get the paper title:

   .claude/skills/pdf-extraction/scripts/pdf_extract.sh first "{pdf_path}" 1
   

2. Run a title-based search:

   fbib "Full Paper Title"
   

3. If fbib returns valid BibTeX: Use it directly, but regenerate the BibTeX key per Step 5c below to match project conventions.

4. If title search also fails: Fall through to full manual extraction (Step 5b).

5b. Fallback: Extract PDF Metadata Manually

Only use this if both DOI-based fetch and title-based search fail. Use the pdf-extraction skill for minimal token usage:

1. Extract first page (contains title, authors, abstract, venue info):

   .claude/skills/pdf-extraction/scripts/pdf_extract.sh first "{pdf_path}" 1
   

2. If venue not found, search for it:

   .claude/skills/pdf-extraction/scripts/pdf_extract.sh search "{pdf_path}" "journal"
   .claude/skills/pdf-extraction/scripts/pdf_extract.sh search "{pdf_path}" "conference"
   

3. Only extract additional pages if critical info still missing

Never read the entire PDF. Extract minimally, verify you have: title, authors, year, venue.

5b. Determine Entry Type

Indicators	Entry Type
Journal name, volume/issue	@article
"Proceedings of", conference	@inproceedings
arXiv URL, "preprint"	@misc
Technical/institutional report	@techreport
ISBN, book publisher	@book
Dissertation, thesis	@phdthesis

5c. Generate BibTeX Key

Per @.claude/reference/bibtex-format.md:

1. First author surname (normalized)
2. 4-digit year
3. First significant title word (skip "The", "A", "An", "On", "Using")

Format: {Author}{Year}{Keyword} (e.g., FernandezPichel2025Evaluating)

If key exists: append lowercase letter (a, b, c...).

5d. Format Entry

Per @.claude/reference/bibtex-format.md:

• Tab indentation
• Title in double braces {{...}}
• Authors as Lastname, Firstname and Lastname2, Firstname2
• 3-letter lowercase month
• Trailing comma after last field

URL priority: DOI URL first (https://doi.org/{DOI}); else other reliable URL; else omit.

arXiv: Use howpublished = {arXiv [Preprint]} (not publisher or note).

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Step 6: Append to main.bib

1. Read current paper/main.bib
2. Append each new entry (blank line before each)
3. Write updated content

Verify file written successfully.

---

Step 7: Report Results

BibTeX Creation Summary
=======================
PDFs found: {total}
Skipped (entry exists): {skipped}
New entries created: {created}
  - Via fbib (DOI): {doi_count}
  - Via fbib (title search): {title_count}
  - Via manual extraction: {manual_count}

New entries:
- {Key1} ({filename1}) [fbib-doi]
- {Key2} ({filename2}) [fbib-title]
- {Key3} ({filename3}) [manual]

Warnings (if any):
- {filename}: {warning}

Possible warnings: "DOI fetch failed, used manual extraction", "Could not extract DOI", "Non-standard filename", "Could not determine venue", "Month not available"

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Step 7.5: Auto-Compact (After Every 5 Papers)

After processing every 5 PDFs, run:

/compact Compacting after processing 5 papers. PRESERVE: (1) Task: creating BibTeX entries using /create-bibtex command, (2) files processed with BibTeX keys created, (3) files remaining to process, (4) any warnings/errors. DISCARD: All extracted PDF text content. Replace PDF extractions with: "Processed: [filename] → [BibTeX key created]".

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Edge Cases

Non-standard Filename

For files not matching Author - Year - Title format: read PDF to extract metadata; use organization name if author is organization; report warning.

Missing Information

Missing	Action
DOI	Omit field; use alternate URL if available
Month	Omit field
Pages	Omit field
Volume/Issue	Omit fields
Venue	Use @misc; add note

Accented Characters

• Keys: Remove accents (é→e, ü→u, ñ→n)
• Author names: Preserve as-is
• Titles: Preserve; wrap in double braces

Unreadable PDF

Report error "Could not read PDF: {filename}", skip file, continue.