Bibtex Entry View

bibtex entry view, a plugin for obsidian

what it carries out

renders bibkey codeblock

• If the plugin find 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 find the bibkey in the .bib file, the codeblock is rendered in red colored text and canceled line (fourth codeblock).

suggests the match

• Suggested list will be shown while typing {bibkey} as follows. (v. 0.2.0)
• each keyword should be at least two letters long.
• The keywords for suggestion should be partial value of any fields to display and sort in the settings. (v. 0.2.1)

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 bibtexentry has author field, it shows the author field name and its value right after the bibkey.
  • If the bibtexentry 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 "last, first ..." format. (v. 0.2.2)
• In the third line and so on,
  • it sorts all the other field names and their values by the order of fields to display and sort in the settings and shows them.

so, how a user can use it

before use it

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

settings tab example

choose a .bib file

• Initially, the current .bib file is empty.
• A user needs to choose the .bib file or the symbolic link in the vault.
• Or, a user can import a .bib file from outside the vault into the vault.
  • Beware: This will overwrite any file that has the same name in the vault.

customize rendering

• A user can choose fields and their order to render.

in a note

• Write a codeblock in the following format

```bibkey
{bibkey}
```

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 indicies 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