# validate-bib

Cross-references lecture citations against bibliography files. Catches missing keys, duplicate entries, and metadata mismatches.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · ★ 1671
- Author: pedrohcgs
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow/tree/HEAD/.claude/skills/validate-bib/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-09-27
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/validate-bib

## What it does

The skill audits citation keys in lecture materials against `Bibliography_base.bib`. It scans `.tex`, `.qmd`, and `.md` files. The tool flags missing keys, unused entries, and typos within an edit distance of two. A summary report is saved to `quality_reports/bib_audit_structural.md`.

Flag `--semantic` adds deeper checks. It catches duplicate records under different keys and verifies DOIs against the Crossref API. Network requests are capped at 50 per run with responses cached in `.doi_cache.json`.

Critical issues trigger an exit code 1 in semantic mode. This behavior turns the check into a reliable CI gate before publishing. The skill never modifies `.bib` files directly, offering recommendations instead.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow --skill validate-bib -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/validate-bib/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/validate-bib/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow --skill validate-bib -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/validate-bib/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow --skill validate-bib -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/validate-bib/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow validate-bib
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/validate-bib/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow --skill validate-bib -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow --path .claude/skills/validate-bib
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/validate-bib/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow --skill validate-bib -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow/tree/HEAD/.claude/skills/validate-bib/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- find citations present in lecture slides but omitted from .bib
- detect duplicate bibliography entries created under distinct keys
- verify DOI metadata against Crossref records
- flag citation syntax inconsistencies within .tex and .qmd files

## Example prompts
- Run validate-bib to audit citations across all slides
- Check bibliography entries with validate-bib --semantic
- Audit citations offline using validate-bib --semantic --skip-doi

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: d1be41625d59c356.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE d1be41625d59c356
````text
---
name: validate-bib
description: Validate bibliography entries against citations in all lecture files. Structural checks (missing/unused entries, malformed fields) by default; `--semantic` adds citation-drift detection, DOI verification, and style-consistency checks.
argument-hint: "[--semantic] [--skip-doi] [--cite-claim]"
allowed-tools: ["Read", "Grep", "Glob", "Write", "Bash", "WebFetch"]
---

# Validate Bibliography

Cross-reference citations in lecture files against bibliography entries. Two modes:

- **Default (structural):** missing entries, unused entries, malformed fields, typo candidates.
- **`--semantic`:** adds citation-drift detection (duplicate entries for the same paper), DOI verification via crossref, and citation-style consistency within each file.

Report saved to `quality_reports/bib_audit_[structural|semantic].md`.

## Mode 1: Structural (default)

### Steps

1. **Read the bibliography file** and extract all citation keys.

2. **Scan lecture files for citation keys:**
   - `.tex`: `\cite{`, `\citet{`, `\citep{`, `\citeauthor{`, `\citeyear{`, `\textcite{`, `\parencite{`
   - `.qmd` / `.md`: `@key`, `[@key]`, `[@key1; @key2]`
   - Extract all unique citation keys used.

3. **Cross-reference:**
   - **Missing entries (CRITICAL):** cited in lectures, absent from `.bib`.
   - **Unused entries (informational):** in `.bib` but never cited.
   - **Typo candidates:** keys within edit-distance 2 of a `.bib` key (e.g., `Smith2020` vs `Smth2020`).

4. **Check entry quality:**
   - Required fields present (author, title, year, journal/booktitle).
   - Author field properly formatted.
   - Year in 1900–current.
   - No malformed characters / encoding issues.
   - `doi` field normalized (no leading `https://doi.org/`).

5. **Write report** to `quality_reports/bib_audit_structural.md`.

### Files scanned

```
Slides/*.tex
Quarto/*.qmd
guide/*.qmd
master_supporting_docs/**/*.tex
```

### Bibliography location

`Bibliography_base.bib` at repo root by default; override via CLAUDE.md.

## Mode 2: Semantic (`--semantic`)

Everything in Mode 1, plus:

### 2a. Citation drift detection

Multiple `.bib` entries describing the same paper under different keys. Symptoms:

- `Smith2020` + `Smith2020a` with identical DOI or title.
- `CallawaySantAnna2021` + `CS2021` both pointing to the same paper.
- Collaborator-merged `.bib` files.

**Detection heuristics (any → FLAG):**

| Check | Signal |
|---|---|
| Same DOI across keys | Hard-duplicate (CRITICAL) |
| Same title (case-insensitive, punct-stripped) | Likely duplicate (CRITICAL) |
| Same author+year+journal | Probable duplicate (MEDIUM) |
| Title Jaccard > 0.85 on tokens ≥ 4 chars | Soft-duplicate (LOW) |

For each flagged pair: list both keys, where each is cited, and recommend a canonical key (prefer most-cited, then alphabetically first).

### 2b. DOI verification (optional; network)

For each entry with a `doi`, fetch `https://api.crossref.org/works/{doi}` and compare:

- First-author last name
- Year
````
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