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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/chrisgrieser/alfred-bibtex-citation-picker/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

The workflow manages PDFs located in a configured folder, matching them to BibTeX entries by citekey. You can open PDFs directly from Alfred and use the auto-file feature to rename and organize new PDFs in one step.

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Setup

Set the pdf_folder workflow variable to the absolute path of the directory where your PDFs are stored (e.g., ~/Documents/Papers). PDFs are matched to entries by filename. The filename must:
  • Start with the citekey (without @)
  • Optionally be followed by an underscore _ and any additional text (typically the title)
  • Have a .pdf extension
Valid examples for citekey Grieser2020:
  • Grieser2020.pdf
  • Grieser2020_A Study of Examples.pdf
The citekey itself must not contain underscores, as the underscore is used as the delimiter between citekey and title in the filename.

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Visual Indicator

Entries that have a matching PDF in pdf_folder display a 📕 emoji in the citation picker list.

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Open PDF

Keyboard shortcut: Hyper↵ (= ⌘⌥⌃⇧↵) Opens the matched PDF with your default PDF reader. The workflow searches pdf_folder recursively for any file matching {citekey}*.pdf (case-insensitive) and opens the first result.
The Hyper key is an artificial “fifth” modifier key equivalent to pressing ⌘⌥⌃⇧ simultaneously. You can create it using Karabiner Elements, BetterTouchTool, or the Hyperkey app.

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Auto-File PDF

The auto-file feature renames and moves a PDF you have selected in Finder to the correct location within pdf_folder, named after the citekey and title. Trigger options:
  • Via scp in Alfred → select Auto-file PDF with the target entry chosen
  • Via Alfred Universal Action when a PDF file is selected in Finder
What the auto-file feature does:
  1. Reads the target citekey from the selected picker entry.
  2. Extracts the author prefix from the citekey (everything before the year digits) and the first letter of the citekey for subfolder organization.
  3. Reads the title from the matching entry in the .bib file.
  4. Constructs the destination path: {pdf_folder}/{first_letter}/{author_prefix}/{citekey}_{safe_truncated_title}.pdf
    • The title is truncated to 50 characters and sanitized (special characters replaced or removed).
  5. Moves the Finder-selected PDF to the computed path, creating subdirectories as needed.
  6. Opens the destination folder in Finder so you can verify the result.
Example: For citekey Grieser2023 with title “A Study of Examples”, the PDF is filed at: 
{pdf_folder}/G/Grieser/Grieser2023_A Study of Examples.pdf
If a PDF file already exists at the computed destination path, the auto-file operation is aborted and the existing file’s location is revealed in Finder. Delete the existing PDF first, then run auto-file again.

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Filter by PDF

Add pdf to any search query to show only entries that have a PDF filed via the auto-file feature. This filter can be combined with other search terms. Examples:
QueryResult
pdfAll entries with an auto-filed PDF
pdf grieserEntries by Grieser with a PDF
pdf 2020 #sociology2020 sociology entries with a PDF

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Attachment Field (📎)

The 📎 indicator is distinct from 📕. It appears when a BibTeX entry has a file, local-url, or attachment field pointing to a file path — regardless of whether the PDF is in pdf_folder. Use ⌃⌥⌘↵ to open the attachment directly. See Bibliography Actions for full details on how attachment paths are resolved.

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