liber – local-first reference manager for academic research

liber is a local-first reference manager designed to help researchers organise academic papers, bibliographic references and personal notes. It combines a command-line interface with a browser-based application, allowing literature collections to be managed without relying on an external service.

The software stores each paper in its own directory, containing a BibTeX record and optionally a PDF document and Markdown notes. Rather than storing everything in an opaque database, liber uses ordinary files that can be inspected, backed up and managed with other tools.

A central index tracks bibliographic metadata, making it possible to locate papers and maintain an organised collection as a research project grows. The command-line interface is suitable for scripting and terminal-based workflows, while the web interface provides a graphical alternative for managing references and associated documents.

This is free and open source software.

Key Features

• Manage research literature through command-line and browser-based interfaces.
• Extract titles, authors, publication years, keywords and DOI information from BibTeX records.
• Automatically generate citation keys using author, year and title information.
• Search references by title, author, keyword, publication year or tag.
• Combine multiple search filters using AND logic.
• Browse and sort papers by citation key, title, author or publication year.
• Add references by uploading BibTeX files or pasting bibliographic text.
• Attach, replace and remove PDF documents associated with papers.
• Create and edit Markdown notes for individual references.
• Edit BibTeX records directly through either interface.
• Organise papers using custom tags and a global tag registry.
• Rename citation keys while automatically updating associated files.
• Export complete bibliographies or filtered collections to BibTeX.
• Remove references while optionally retaining their associated files.
• Configure custom library directories for managing separate collections.

Website: github.com/LukasKarner/liber
Support:
Developer: Lukas Karner
License: GNU General Public License v3.0

liber is written in Python. Learn Python with our recommended free books and free tutorials.

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