Get BibTeX from a DOI — fast.

QuickBib is a cross-platform utility that uses doi2bib3 to fetch BibTeX for DOIs and arXiv identifiers. Works as a GUI app and also as a CLI. Perfect for research workflows, manuscripts and automation.

Install on GNU/Linux Download for Windows Run on macOS (from source)

Why QuickBib?

Designed for researchers, writers and automation — QuickBib makes fetching and normalizing BibTeX simple.

Quickly obtain BibTeX

Uses doi2bib3 strategies (content negotiation, Crossref, arXiv resolution) to return high-quality BibTeX entries.

arXiv and Journal aware

Paste arXiv IDs, arXiv URLs, or Journal links — QuickBib detects them and resolves the DOI automatically.

GUI + CLI

Use the GUI app for quick lookups or integrate into scripts via the CLI and programmatic API.

Free software + Cross platform

QuickBib is free and open source software (FOSS) licensed under GPLv3. It runs on GNU/Linux, Windows and macOS — install from packages or download prebuilt releases (see below).

How to install

Choose the option that fits your platform.

GNU/Linux

Ubuntu 24.04+ (Official PPA)

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:apandada1/quickbib
sudo apt update
sudo apt install quickbib

Arch Linux (AUR)

yay -S quickbib

Install from source (any distro)

QuickBib depends on doi2bib3 for DOI resolution and PyQt6. Build and install with meson:

git clone https://github.com/archisman-panigrahi/quickbib.git
cd quickbib
meson setup builddir --prefix="$HOME/.local"
meson install -C builddir

# to uninstall
meson uninstall -C builddir

If you need doi2bib3, see its README (the backend provides the CLI doi2bib3 and a Python API).

Windows

Prebuilt installers for Windows are available on the Releases page. Download the Windows installer here: GitHub Releases

macOS

No prebuilt macOS installers: Apple requires developers to enroll in the Apple Developer Program (US$99/year) to sign and notarize macOS apps, otherwise, our prebuilt binary refuses to run — that’s plain extortion — so we ship the source instead. You can run QuickBib from source or build a macOS app using the packaging scripts if you dare. Pull requests and heroic ideas for a user friendly installer are very welcome.

Here is how to run from source (on macOS as well as GNU/Linux)

git clone https://github.com/archisman-panigrahi/quickbib.git
cd quickbib
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python3 -m quickbib

Quick examples

QuickBib accepts common identifiers and links — DOIs, DOI URLs, arXiv IDs/URLs, and journal article URLs. Below are examples of supported inputs and how you might use them programmatically.

Input examples

10.1038/nphys1170
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nphys1170
https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.08091
arxiv:2411.08091
2411.08091
https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/v6r7-4ph9

Programmatic (python)

from doi2bib3 import fetch_bibtex
bib = fetch_bibtex('https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2305943120')
print(bib)

For details on the programmatic API and options, see the doi2bib3 README.

There is also a command-line tool doi2bib3 that supports the same input types and is useful for scripting and automation.

FAQ

Is QuickBib free to use? Can I share it with a friend?

Yes! QuickBib is a free software (free as in freedom, as well as gratis) according to the Free Software Foundation's definition: What is free software? (FSF). It is free to download, use, redistribute, and modify under the terms of the GPLv3.

What license is QuickBib distributed under?

QuickBib and doi2bib3 are distributed under the GNU General Public License v3 (GPL-3.0-only).

Where do I report bugs or request features?

Feature requests, bug reports, and pull requests are welcome — please open an issue or submit a PR on the QuickBib GitHub repository. Contributions help improve QuickBib for everyone.