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what is citation-network fr?

idlhy0218/citation-network — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

44PythonAudience · researcherComplexity · 2/5Setup · moderate

tl;dr

Citation Network Builder pulls your Zotero paper library, finds citation links via OpenAlex, and writes linked notes into Obsidian so you can visualize the citation network.

vibe map

mindmap
  root((Citation Network))
    What it does
      Reads Zotero library
      Finds citations via OpenAlex
      Writes Obsidian notes
    Tech stack
      Python
      Zotero API
      OpenAlex API
      Obsidian
    Use cases
      Literature review
      Citation visualization
      Auto updating notes
    Requirements
      Zotero API key
      DOI on papers
      Obsidian vault path

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what do people make with this?

VIBE 1

Turn a Zotero paper collection into a linked citation graph inside Obsidian.

VIBE 2

Visualize which papers in your literature review cite each other using Obsidian's Graph View.

VIBE 3

Keep citation notes automatically updated as you add more papers to a Zotero folder.

what's the stack?

PythonZotero APIOpenAlex APIObsidian

how it stacks up fr

idlhy0218/citation-networkajay150313/agentsre-langchaineatwhiteporridge/outlook-k12
Stars444444
LanguagePythonPythonPython
Setup difficultymoderateeasyhard
Complexity2/52/54/5
Audienceresearcherdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

how do i run it?

Difficulty · moderate time til it works · 30min

Requires a Zotero API key and an existing Obsidian vault path configured in a .env file.

No license information is provided in the README.

in plain english

Citation Network Builder connects three tools researchers already use: Zotero for storing papers, OpenAlex for finding citation links, and Obsidian for taking notes. It reads your paper library from Zotero, looks up how those papers cite each other using the free OpenAlex academic database, and then writes or updates linked notes inside your Obsidian vault so you can see the citation network visually. The workflow has three steps. First, the tool pulls paper details and folder structure from your Zotero library. Second, it queries OpenAlex using each paper's DOI to figure out which papers cite which. Third, it creates or updates a markdown note for each paper inside Obsidian, with wiki-links connecting papers that cite one another. Obsidian's built-in Graph View then lets you see the citation network as a visual map, with arrows showing which paper cites which. Setting it up requires Python 3.9 or newer, a Zotero account with an API key, and an installed copy of Obsidian. After cloning the repository and installing the Python dependencies, you copy an example environment file and fill in your Zotero user ID, Zotero API key, and the path to your Obsidian vault. A test command confirms both the Zotero and OpenAlex connections are working before you run it for real. You can then run the tool interactively, picking a folder from a tree menu of your Zotero collections, or specify a folder name directly on the command line. This is intended for researchers, students, or anyone doing literature review who already organizes papers in Zotero and takes notes in Obsidian. Papers need a DOI attached in Zotero for citations to be found. Query results are cached locally so re-running the tool on the same folder is faster the second time, and any personal notes you add below the auto-generated section in a paper's note are preserved on future runs.

prompts (copy fr)

prompt 1
Walk me through setting up the .env file for Citation Network Builder with my Zotero credentials.
prompt 2
Explain how the Zotero, OpenAlex, and Obsidian workflow fits together in this tool.
prompt 3
How do I filter Obsidian's Graph View to only show the citation notes this tool generates?
prompt 4
What do I need to check if OpenAlex isn't finding citations for papers in my Zotero folder?

Frequently asked questions

what is citation-network fr?

Citation Network Builder pulls your Zotero paper library, finds citation links via OpenAlex, and writes linked notes into Obsidian so you can visualize the citation network.

What language is citation-network written in?

Mainly Python. The stack also includes Python, Zotero API, OpenAlex API.

What license does citation-network use?

No license information is provided in the README.

How hard is citation-network to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is citation-network for?

Mainly researcher.

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