Benthic 1.2.2

See what Benthic is doing, and everything an AI assistant does with it.

• Live view in Grimpo. Grimpo now opens on a Live tab: the check that is running and the references it is working on, requests to the databases as they go out and come back, the services used today, and a ring around Grimpo that fills as a check progresses.
• Every AI call on record. When an AI assistant uses Benthic over MCP, each call now appears in the app and in Grimpo: what it did, whether it finished, how long it took and how much text went back to the assistant. The record stays on your Mac and survives restarts, and checks an assistant started are marked in History.
• Plugins from Grimpo. Plugin routes and each of your own plugins can be switched on and off in Grimpo; Benthic restarts when you say so.
• A restart that knows it worked. Restarting from Settings no longer reports a failure after a restart that succeeded.

Source code: the commit behind v1.2.1 was made from the 1.1.9 source by mistake, so the code of 1.2.1 was missing from this repository. This release's commit carries the complete source of 1.2.1 and 1.2.2.

Download the DMG below or from https://benthic.isoglu.com/download/. Benthic 1.0.1 to 1.2.1 offer this update inside the app (Update now); from 1.1.2 on, the app installs only updates signed with the Benthic release key. Benthic is free and not notarised by Apple, so a new installation needs one approval on first launch in System Settings › Privacy & Security (Open Anyway). Benthic.mcpb adds Benthic to Claude Desktop. benthic-zotero-1.2.2.xpi is the Zotero plug-in: in Zotero 7 or 8, open Tools › Plugins and choose Install Plugin From File.

Benthic 1.2.1

Find the passage in your own PDFs that backs a sentence, and see how a LaTeX thesis cites its sources.

• Evidence in your own PDFs. A claim without a citation in the writing signals now has "Search own PDFs": Benthic looks through the PDFs already downloaded for this check and shows the passage that comes closest, with its page and the words that matched. Below the threshold it says nothing rather than pointing at a source that does not carry the claim.
• LaTeX citation graph. A LaTeX check now draws the keys of your .bib next to the main file, coloured by verdict: cited and confirmed, cited but not confirmed, missing from the .bib, never cited. A click jumps to the source in the report.
• What a quotation shares. Where a quotation is close but not identical, "In the source:" now marks the words it shares with the original, so the difference is visible instead of described.
• The Word file stays. An uploaded .docx is kept with the run, so the annotated Word document can be downloaded again later, not only while the window is open. The last 25 files are kept.
• Cleaner .bib, better imports. The cleaned .bib reads the entry type from the entry itself, fills missing fields from the raw entry and lists the fields that disagree with the record; BibTeX recognises inbook, thesis, proceedings, booklet, manual and other types it used to skip; EndNote XML finds authors nested under contributors.
• For AI assistants. Over MCP a check now reports field discrepancies, references that mix real authors with an invented title, secondary citations and claims without a citation; two new tools export the cleaned .bib and the annotated Word document.

Download the DMG below or from https://benthic.isoglu.com/download/. Benthic 1.0.1 to 1.1.9 offer this update inside the app (Update now); from 1.1.2 on, the app installs only updates signed with the Benthic release key. An installation of Benthic 1.2.0 (21 October 2026) now offers this release itself: until now it ignored every 1.1.x, because 1.1.9 sorts below 1.2.0. Benthic is free and not notarised by Apple, so a new installation needs one approval on first launch in System Settings › Privacy & Security (Open Anyway). Benthic.mcpb adds Benthic to Claude Desktop. benthic-zotero-1.2.1.xpi is the Zotero plug-in: in Zotero 7 or 8, open Tools › Plugins and choose Install Plugin From File.

Benthic 1.1.9

One field for checking, finding and fetching sources, and new checks taken from a seminar on academic writing.

• One field for everything. Check, Find sources and Download are now one view. Paste a reference list, DOIs, a statement from your paper or a search string, or drop a whole paper: Benthic recognises what it is and highlights the matching button, and the other two stay one click away. A paragraph is searched sentence by sentence, and a database search string such as "market segmentation" AND churn goes to OpenAlex as written.
• Search log. Every search keeps its date, database, exact search string, number of results and the works you kept, exported per project for the methods section.
• Cited by. For a confirmed source, Benthic lists newer works that cite it, most cited first: the forward half of the snowball method.
• Structure of a paper. A thesis check now points out runs of paragraphs that each retell a single source, long paragraphs whose only citation comes at the very end and sources that first appear in the conclusion, and it shows the research question next to the opening of the conclusion. These are hints with a location, never a score.
• Translated borrowing. Sentences written in another language than their source can be translated on your Mac (macOS 15 or later) and compared with the source, so a sentence translated word for word without quotation marks shows up too.
• Source matrix. Each project exports a spreadsheet with authors, year, title, journal, DOI and verdict filled in, plus empty columns for the source's research question, theory, method, key finding, limitations and its use for your own question.
• Source types and course rules. The list health shows the mix of journal articles, books, preprints, reports and web pages. A house-rules file can now carry course rules: a minimum number of sources, source types the course does not allow and a note from the lecturer.
• More books found. After Open Library and the German National Library, Benthic asks the union catalogues of the hbz (lobid) and of GBV and SWB (K10plus), by title and year first, so the right edition of a textbook comes up.

Download the DMG below or from https://benthic.isoglu.com/download/. Benthic 1.0.1 to 1.1.8 offer this update inside the app (Update now); from 1.1.2 on, the app installs only updates signed with the Benthic release key. If you installed Benthic 1.2.0 on 21 October 2026, download 1.1.9 once from the website: 1.2.0 does not offer a lower version number. Benthic is free and not notarised by Apple, so a new installation needs one approval on first launch in System Settings › Privacy & Security (Open Anyway). Benthic.mcpb adds Benthic to Claude Desktop. benthic-zotero-1.1.9.xpi is the Zotero plug-in: in Zotero 7 or 8, open Tools › Plugins and choose Install Plugin From File.

Benthic 1.1.8

Plugins now have their own place in the settings.

• Plugins in the settings. Settings › Sources and access › Plugins opens the plugins folder with one click, shows whether each plugin is active or why it failed, and restarts Benthic so a new plugin takes effect. The Extra routes switch is there too.

Download the DMG below or from https://benthic.isoglu.com/download/. Benthic 1.0.1 to 1.1.7 offer this update inside the app (Update now); from 1.1.2 on, the app installs only updates signed with the Benthic release key. If you installed Benthic 1.2.0 on 21 October 2026, download 1.1.8 once from the website: 1.2.0 does not offer a lower version number. Benthic is free and not notarised by Apple, so a new installation needs one approval on first launch in System Settings › Privacy & Security (Open Anyway). Benthic.mcpb adds Benthic to Claude Desktop. benthic-zotero-1.1.8.xpi is the Zotero plug-in: in Zotero 7 or 8, open Tools › Plugins and choose Install Plugin From File.

Benthic 1.1.7

Benthic now loads plugins you add yourself.

• Your own plugins. Put a plugin into ~/Library/Application Support/Benthic/plugins and restart Benthic. A plugin can add a download route that runs after open access, for example your university's link resolver, once you switch on Extra routes in the settings. Until now a plugin had to be built into the app. A plugin is code that runs inside Benthic, so add only plugins you wrote yourself or trust. How to write one: docs/extending.md.

Download the DMG below or from https://benthic.isoglu.com/download/. Benthic 1.0.1 to 1.1.6 offer this update inside the app (Update now); from 1.1.2 on, the app installs only updates signed with the Benthic release key. If you installed Benthic 1.2.0 on 21 October 2026, download 1.1.7 once from the website: 1.2.0 does not offer a lower version number. Benthic is free and not notarised by Apple, so a new installation needs one approval on first launch in System Settings › Privacy & Security (Open Anyway). Benthic.mcpb adds Benthic to Claude Desktop. benthic-zotero-1.1.7.xpi is the Zotero plug-in: in Zotero 7 or 8, open Tools › Plugins and choose Install Plugin From File.

Benthic 1.1.6

Every check report now carries a signed seal that anyone can verify, institutions can hand out their rules as one file, and a thesis check shows signs of manipulation.

• A seal anyone can check. Every PDF report carries a signed seal with a QR code on its cover and its number in every footer. The QR code opens https://benthic.isoglu.com/v, which shows whether the report is unchanged since it was made and looks up each DOI again at Crossref and DataCite, in the reader's own browser. A thesis file dropped there is compared with the report by its fingerprint. The seal proves that a report is unchanged, not who made it.
• House rules from your institution. A library or writing center can hand out one file with its name, proxy link, contact address, OpenAlex key, required citation style and ranking lists. Load it under Settings › Sources and access; Benthic takes nothing else from it, and the house style then decides the style check.
• Signs of manipulation. A thesis check shows invisible characters inside words, letters from another script that look Latin, text hidden in a Word file (hidden, white or tiny) and tortured phrases, the odd synonyms a paraphrasing tool leaves behind. Each finding shows where it is, to check in the file; it is never a score.

Download the DMG below or from https://benthic.isoglu.com/download/. Benthic 1.0.1 to 1.1.5 offer this update inside the app (Update now); from 1.1.2 on, the app installs only updates signed with the Benthic release key. If you installed Benthic 1.2.0 on 21 October 2026, download 1.1.6 once from the website: 1.2.0 does not offer a lower version number. Benthic is free and not notarised by Apple, so a new installation needs one approval on first launch in System Settings › Privacy & Security (Open Anyway). Benthic.mcpb adds Benthic to Claude Desktop. benthic-zotero-1.1.6.xpi is the Zotero plug-in: in Zotero 7 or 8, open Tools › Plugins and choose Install Plugin From File.

Benthic 1.1.5

Benthic now makes sure a downloaded PDF is the paper you cited, says which version of it you have, compares every detail of a reference with the record, and finds older PubMed articles by their title.

• The right PDF, or none. Before Benthic checks a quotation or borrowed wording against a downloaded PDF, it looks for the cited DOI or title on the first pages. A file that turns out to be a different paper is not saved and not used, and Benthic names the paper it actually is.
• Which version you are reading. Preprints, working papers, accepted manuscripts, technical reports, summaries and paywall previews are named as such. A quotation missing from a summary, a preview or a slide deck reads "Not in this copy" instead of counting as not found.
• Quotations found in another source. When a quotation is not in the cited paper but appears word for word in another paper of the same check, Benthic says where it really comes from.
• Every detail compared. First author, author order, volume, issue and pages are compared with the record and shown next to the verdict, without changing it, and so is a cited page outside the article's page range. Names in other spellings, such as Müller and Mueller, count as the same.
• One DOI, one work. In a reference list or a course folder, Benthic points out a DOI printed with different details and two works given the same pages in one volume.
• Better suggestions for a missing DOI. Corrections, replies and retraction notices are no longer offered as the work itself, and a journal article wins over its working paper or dataset of the same title.
• PubMed by title. The title search now asks Europe PMC, which holds all of PubMed, so older medical articles without a DOI are found and linked to their PubMed page. The notes for 1.1.4 already announced this search; it now runs.
• Fixes. Smith 2020a and Smith 2020b no longer merge in the check of a thesis, the report's list of databases now names every database Benthic asks, and the depth gauge of the first start no longer stalls above the surface.

Download the DMG below or from https://benthic.isoglu.com/download/. Benthic 1.0.1 to 1.1.4 offer this update inside the app (Update now); from 1.1.2 on, the app installs only updates signed with the Benthic release key. If you installed Benthic 1.2.0 on 21 October 2026, download 1.1.5 once from the website: 1.2.0 does not offer a lower version number. Benthic is free and not notarised by Apple, so a new installation needs one approval on first launch in System Settings › Privacy & Security (Open Anyway). Benthic.mcpb adds Benthic to Claude Desktop. benthic-zotero-1.1.5.xpi is the Zotero plug-in: in Zotero 7 or 8, open Tools › Plugins and choose Install Plugin From File.

Benthic 1.1.4

Six bibliographic databases in the check cascade, annotated Word documents and cleaned .bib files for theses, and imports from EndNote and Citavi.

• Six databases for every check. Alongside Crossref, OpenAlex, DataCite and the Internet Archive, Benthic now queries PubMed and Semantic Scholar by title when a medical or computer-science paper is cited without a DOI or PMID.
• Annotated Word files. When you check a .docx thesis, Benthic can export a copy with native Word margin comments right on the cited sentences, unreferenced entries, year mismatches and uncited statistical claims, without touching your formatting.
• Cleaned .bib files and an interactive LaTeX file graph. For LaTeX projects and .bib files, Benthic exports a cleaned .bib file that keeps your \cite{key} identifiers, fills in verified DOIs and comments out retracted or unconfirmed entries. The project structure view now renders an interactive SVG graph of \input and \include files.
• Writing signals for theses. Document checks now point out secondary citations ("quoted in", "zit. nach") and empirical or statistical statements that carry no citation nearby.
• Clearer evidence in full texts. When searching a downloaded PDF for a claim, Benthic highlights overlapping words and shows the page badge and a one-click copy button for the passage with its citation.
• EndNote XML and Citavi. Reference checks and the local library now read EndNote XML (.xml) as well as Citavi 6 projects (.ctv6 and .ctv6archive).

Download the DMG below or from https://benthic.isoglu.com/download/. Benthic 1.0.1 to 1.1.3 offer this update inside the app (Update now); from 1.1.2 on, the app installs only updates signed with the Benthic release key. Benthic is free and not notarised by Apple, so a new installation needs one approval on first launch in System Settings › Privacy & Security (Open Anyway). Benthic.mcpb adds Benthic to Claude Desktop. benthic-zotero-1.1.4.xpi is the Zotero plug-in: in Zotero 7 or 8, open Tools › Plugins and choose Install Plugin From File.

Benthic 1.1.3

A welcome for new users and a guided tour, and the intro's sound now ends
properly.

• A welcome on the first start. Setting up Benthic is now a short dive
  with a depth gauge: language, contact, download folder and library, each a
  little deeper.
• A guided tour. Two minutes on the real interface, from a live sample
  check down to the floor of the Challenger Deep at 10,935 m. Take it again
  any time from ⌘K or the settings.
• The intro's last chord rings out. The sound at the end of the intro no
  longer cuts off when the app appears.

Download the DMG below or from https://benthic.isoglu.com/download/. Benthic 1.0.1 to 1.1.2 offer this update inside the app (Update now); from 1.1.2 on, the app installs only updates signed with the Benthic release key. Benthic is free and not notarised by Apple, so a new installation needs one approval on first launch in System Settings › Privacy & Security (Open Anyway). Benthic.mcpb adds Benthic to Claude Desktop. benthic-zotero-1.1.3.xpi is the Zotero plug-in, unchanged apart from its version number: in Zotero 7 or 8, open Tools › Plugins and choose Install Plugin From File.

Benthic 1.1.2

A security update after a review of 1.1.1: Benthic now guards its local service
and its updates more strictly. The app also plays an intro when it starts.

• Web pages can no longer use the app. Benthic's local service answers only
  the app, its AI connection and the Zotero plug-in. A web page open in your
  browser can no longer read your settings, start checks or change your library.
  The settings show API keys only masked.
• Signed updates. Every update now carries a signature, and the app
  installs it only if the signature matches the key built into Benthic.
• Careful with foreign data. Names of downloaded PDFs, links from metadata,
  very large or packed files and spreadsheet exports can no longer write outside
  the download folder, open other apps, stall Benthic or run formulas. Links in
  references are opened only when they lead to the public internet.
• An intro when the app starts. While Benthic starts, it dives from the
  surface down to the lit deepest point, with sound, and lands on the logo in
  the sidebar. The first start shows the whole dive, later starts a short
  version. Escape skips it; with reduced motion turned on, there is none.
• No stray link at the top. The "Skip to content" link from 1.1.0 is hidden
  again and only appears when you press Tab.

Download the DMG below or from https://benthic.isoglu.com/download/. Benthic 1.0.1, 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 offer this update inside the app (Update now); from 1.1.2 on, the app installs only updates signed with the Benthic release key. Benthic is free and not notarised by Apple, so a new installation needs one approval on first launch in System Settings › Privacy & Security (Open Anyway). Benthic.mcpb adds Benthic to Claude Desktop. benthic-zotero-1.1.2.xpi is the Zotero plug-in, unchanged apart from its version number: in Zotero 7 or 8, open Tools › Plugins and choose Install Plugin From File.