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Citation system

Import references from BibTeX, pick a style, insert citations, and keep the bibliography in sync.

Product stage
Development build
Last reviewed
2026-08-27
Successful result
The change is visible in the active project.

What this accomplishes

Store references in a citation database, cite them inline, and export with the bibliography intact.

Export details are in export to PDF and DOCX.

Current availability

This page documents behaviour verified in Miton development builds. Miton is still pre-release and is not publicly downloadable; invited beta users will receive a signed desktop build with automatic updates.

Before you start

  • A Miton development build, an active project and Writer open.
  • A connected model; keep the source material or existing document in the same project.

The citation database

References live in a SQLite database, each with a unique key, its source data, and a style. This database is shared across every project on the machine today, not scoped per project — a reference you import is available from any project you open afterwards.

Importing references

Import from a BibTeX file via the citation picker’s import action. Each BibTeX entry becomes a reference using its own key. There’s no built-in RIS or CSV import or export today.

The four built-in styles

Four citation styles ship today: APA 7th, MLA 9th, Chicago, and Harvard. Pick the default in Settings → Editor; there’s no custom style template and no fifth built-in style.

Inserting a citation

Press Cmd+Shift+C (or use the slash menu’s citation item) to open the citation picker, search the database, and insert a reference at the cursor. The bibliography updates to match.

The bibliography

The bibliography is generated from the document’s cited references, formatted in the chosen style, and updates as you insert or remove citations.

What the citation system does not cover

  • RIS or CSV import/export — BibTeX import is what’s supported today.
  • Custom citation styles — only the four built-in styles are available.
  • Per-project citation databases — the database is currently shared across every project.
  • Automatic DOI lookup — there’s no built-in web lookup for a reference by DOI.

What success looks like

Import your references once, pick a style, insert citations inline, and the bibliography stays in sync without you typing it by hand.

Common failures and recovery

  • Confirm the intended document and project are active.
  • Keep the original text when reviewing a model-proposed change.
  • Check the model connection and retry only the failed action, not the complete document.

Return to the Writer overview to choose the next document task.