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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.

Once your .bib path is configured, you are one keypress away from inserting a citation anywhere on your Mac. This guide walks through the shortest path from a fresh install to your first pasted citation.

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Step 1: Trigger the picker

Press the hotkey you assigned during setup, or type the keyword ct in Alfred. The citation picker works system-wide — you can invoke it from any text field in any application without switching windows.

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Step 2: Search your library

Start typing as soon as the picker opens. You can match entries by:
  • Title — any word or phrase from the title
  • Author or editor last name — partial names are fine (grie matches Grieser)
  • Year — four-digit year
  • Journal or collection name
  • Citekey — prepend @, e.g. @Grieser2020
  • Keyword / tag — prepend #, e.g. #sociology

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Smart query examples

QueryWhat it matches
grieser 2020Author “Grieser” and year 2020
@Grieser2020The specific citekey Grieser2020
#sociologyEntries tagged with “sociology”
2020 #cognition grieserYear 2020, tag “cognition”, author “Grieser” — all combined
grie #cogn 2020Same result using short prefix queries
* grieserEntries by “Grieser” that have an attached literature note
pdf grieserEntries by “Grieser” that have an auto-filed PDF
You do not need to spell out full words. The workflow matches prefixes, so short queries like grie #cogn return the same result as grieser #cognition as long as the prefix is unambiguous.

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Step 3: Insert the citation

Highlight the entry you want and press ↵. The workflow pastes the formatted citation directly into the text field that was focused when you triggered the picker. For the default Pandoc format, a single citation looks like [@Grieser2020].

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Output by format

[@Grieser2020]
Supports page numbers ([@Grieser2020, p. 23]) and multiple citations in one bracket ([@Smith2019; @Grieser2020]).

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Adding a second citation to the same bracket

Press ⌥↵ instead of ↵ to add another citation without closing the bracket. The picker reopens immediately so you can search for the next entry. This is how you build multi-citation strings like [@Smith2019; @Grieser2020] in Pandoc format.
⌥↵ chains citations together inside a single pair of delimiters. Press plain ↵ only when you are done adding citations for that inline reference.

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What to explore next

Citation Formats

See the full list of supported formats — Pandoc, LaTeX, org mode, iA Writer, eta templates, wikilinks, tags, bare citekeys, and more.

Citation Actions

Learn every keyboard shortcut: page numbers, inline citations, full bibliography paste, URL opening, entry preview, and more.

Add New Entries

Select a DOI, ISBN, or DOI URL anywhere on your Mac and add it to your BibTeX library in seconds via Alfred’s Universal Action.

Workflow Settings

Configure your library paths, literature note folder, PDF folder, CSL style file, and other workflow variables.

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