Nassila

Nassila (ناسيلا) is a Windows desktop app that helps you clean and check a reference list before you submit — not a full reference manager, but a quality pass on citations you already have.

Verify your references. Ground your claims.
The last check before you submit — bibliography, registries, and source-backed writing.

Import or paste your bibliography, fix common errors, verify rows against Crossref / PubMed / OpenAlex, flag predatory journals, remove duplicates, and export in thousands of CSL styles.

Download (Windows)	v1.2.1 · Latest release
Sanad models (HF)	nassila-sanad-e4b · nassila-sanad-12b — setup on the website
Website & docs	nassila-web.vercel.app — How-to · User guide · Changelog
Documentation (repo)	How-to guide · User guide · Brand · Changelog
License	MIT

End users: install from Releases (v1.2.1) or visit the website. Developers: clone this repo and see Getting started.

The name Nassila is coined, inspired by the idea of a sanad (سند): a clear chain from what you write to where it came from.

What's new in v1.2.1

• Audit in-progress panel — cited-sources table grows during the run; detail panel stays locked until the audit finishes.
• DOI↔title conflict — manual-only — verify no longer auto-patches conflict rows; choose keep-title (find DOI) or keep-DOI (update title).
• Shortcuts — Ctrl/Cmd+Enter runs audit; Copy evidence and Jump to Bibliography on findings.
• Icon polish (I2) — toast, network, dropdown, toolbar, and source-link affordances.

Full notes: CHANGELOG.md · v1.2.1 release notes.

Who is this for?

• Students and researchers preparing a thesis or manuscript reference list
• Anyone exporting from Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote who wants validation and registry checks before submission
• Editors who need a quick predatory-journal screen and duplicate detection on a batch of references

What it does

1. Import or paste — BibTeX, RIS, CSL-JSON, plain text, DOCX/PDF reference sections, or manager exports
2. Validate — missing fields and style-specific issues (works offline)
3. Autocorrect — DOI formats, capitalization, page ranges, medRxiv/bioRxiv DOI canonicalization, and more
4. Verify references — one action: resolve each row to Crossref, PubMed, or OpenAlex (L1), then compare your metadata to the canonical record (L2), with safe auto-patches when registries agree (up to 200 prioritized rows per run)
5. Predatory journal scan — match journal titles against bundled and updatable predatory/pseudo-journal lists
6. Deduplicate and export — formatted bibliography in APA, IEEE, Vancouver, Chicago, Harvard, MLA, Nature (bundled), or any style from the Zotero CSL repository
7. Manuscript loop (Ouroboros) — upload or paste a manuscript, verify cited references (L1/L2), fetch open-access source text where available, and optional Sanad passage grounding (L3) — manuscript guide

Privacy: list editing and validation work offline. Registry verification, DOI lookup, predatory-list sync, and manuscript source fetch use the network only when you run those actions.

Highlights

Area	Capability
Parsing	BibTeX, RIS, CSL-JSON, plain text, URL-only webpages, DOCX/PDF reference extraction (PDF uses column-aware layout)
Resolution	DOI, ISBN, PMID, URL → Crossref, PubMed, Open Library
Verification	Unified L1+L2 registry check (main-process IPC in packaged app), up to 200 rows per run
Integrity	Predatory/suspicious journal flags, duplicate groups with merge
Manuscript	Ouroboros loop: L1/L2 verify, OA source fetch, optional Sanad L3 (HF models)
Output	CSL formatting, undo/redo, dark/light mode, EN/AR UI

Getting started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• npm 9+

Install and run locally

npm install
npm run dev

Build the Windows installer

npm run icon:raster   # once: generates build/icon.png
npm run build
npm run build:win     # → dist/Nassila Setup <version>.exe

Other targets: npm run build:mac, npm run build:linux, npm run build:unpack (unpacked Windows folder for testing).

Tests

npm test

Tech stack

Electron · React 19 · TypeScript · Tailwind · citeproc-js · Zustand · Vitest