Bibliography Management Web Application

[Rindrics]

Summary

Build a web application to manage a single .bib file as a database, enabling book review display across multiple personal blogs.

Motivation

• Centralize bibliographic data in a single references.bib file
• Support multiple blogs (Hugo, Astro) with blog-specific metadata
• Simplify the workflow of adding books from Google Books
• Maintain data integrity through validation and GitHub-based version control

Requirements

1. Search Window

• Local search: Search existing entries in references.bib by keyword
• Google Books search: Display search results in a side overlay
  • Show book cover, title, author, and other metadata
  • "Add to Library" button for each result

2. Add to Library Flow

When user clicks "Add to Library":

1. Fetch BibTeX data via Google Books API
2. Generate citation key in author-year-title format
3. Validate required fields (user-defined)
   • If missing fields: display input form for manual entry
4. Merge into existing references.bib
5. Push update to GitHub via GitHub App

3. Custom Metadata Management

• Maintain a separate JSON file (custom_info.json) for blog-specific metadata
• Join with references.bib by citation key
• Features:
  • Unified editing UI (user doesn't need to know about two separate files)
  • Freely add custom fields per blog/site
  • No backfilling: new fields don't propagate to existing records
  • Field name suggestion to prevent typos/inconsistencies

4. Future Extensions

• Support academic journal searches (e.g., Elsevier-specific journal search)
• Additional data sources beyond Google Books

Technical Considerations

• Data storage: File-based (Git) vs Document DB (see ADR-0002)
• GitHub App integration for authenticated pushes
• Search indexing strategy for efficient queries
• Schema validation for BibTeX entries

Acceptance Criteria

• User can search local library and Google Books
• User can add books from Google Books with validation
• User can edit blog-specific metadata through unified UI
• Changes are automatically pushed to GitHub
• Field name suggestions work correctly
• CI passes (format check + lint)

Child Issues

• Project Foundation (Makefile, CI) #1
• Data Files Setup #2
• Web UI Foundation #3
• Local Library Search #4
• Google Books Search and Import #5
• GitHub App Integration #6
• Custom Metadata Editor #7
• Field Name Suggestions #8
• Academic Journal Search #9

Related

• ADR-0001: Separate Blog Metadata from BibTeX
• ADR-0002: System Architecture