Scriptable app script to create and update a code completion file in Textastic for Pandoc-style citations in markdown files and keys for citation commands in (La)TeX (including BibTex, BibLaTeX, and natbib).

1. As a Siri Shorcut
2. As a standalone script for use in Scriptable

Siri Shortcut

This version is a Siri Shortcut that can be run without opening Scriptable and can also be used as an Personal Automation. The shortcut will walk you through installation the first time.

Installation

1. Enable shared/untrusted shortcuts as described on Apple's website if you haven't already done so.
2. Get the shared Updated Textastic Citations shortcut here: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/d353ef84b59a438cb6ea88dd5dacb947.
3. On first run, the shortcut will walk you through the necessary installation steps:
   • Creating the necessary file #Textastic/CodeCompletion/citations.json in Textastic's document folder in On My iPad, and automatically creating the Bookmark needed in Scriptable.
   • Optionally creating a Bookmark to a default .bib file to use when running the script without input from the Share Sheet. This is a necessary step if you want to use the shortcut as a Personal Automation that can run automatically when you open Textastic to update citation completions. If you choose No at this step, the shortcut in 4. can be used to set a default bibliography.
4. Optionally, get an additional shortcut that can be used to update which .bib file should be used by default: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/268f3715ddbb4df59f65b608dbc4c0fe. You could also create your own that updates the Textastic Citations bib File Bookmark.

Usage

If you specified a default bibliography during installation:

1. Run the Update Textastic Citations shortcut. If using Textastic 9, restarting Textastic is no longer necessary. If using a previous version of Textastic, you will need to restart it.
2. While editing markdown files, Textastic should now offer completions for in-text citations from the .bib file after typing @. When editing .tex files, completions should be triggered for keys in the various citation commands.

If you want to update the completions after updating the file bookmarked as the default one, just run the shortcut from the Shortcuts app, widget, etc. If using Textastic 8, restart Textastic.

If you want to temporarily update the completions without changing the default bibliography, you can run the shortcut from the Share Sheet and pass a single .bib file or selected entries as text. You can reset the completions to the default bibliography by running the shortcut without passing any options.

To change the default .bib file used for updates, run the shortcut referenced in 4. above (you could also make your own shortcut that just modifies the Textastic Citations bib File bookmark, or delete the same bookmark in Scriptable under Siri & Shortcuts.

Use the shortcut as a Personal Automation

Once installed, the shortcut can be used as a Personal Automation to automatically update citation completions when Textastic is started. This requires a default bibliography to be set.

The usefulness of this probably quite low, but look at what you can do!

1. In the Shortcuts app, switch to the Automation tab and create a new Personal Automation.
2. Choose the Settings->Open App trigger.
3. Choose Textastic as the App to use as the trigger, then tap Next.
4. Add the Run Shortcut action.
5. Choose Update Textastic Citations as the shortcut to run.
6. Optionally, tap Show More and unset Show While Running, then tap Next.
7. Optionally, unset Ask Before Running and respond to the alert, then tap Done

After that, whenever Textastic is run, the shortcut will update citation completions based on the default bibliography.

Be warned, it will also run and show a notification every time you switch to Textastic from a different app, your home screen, or the app switcher. Every time.

Standalone script for use in Scriptable

This version only requires Scriptable and Textastic. It needs to open the Scriptable app when run in order to make use of the needed Bookmarks. It requires manual installation as described below.

Installation

1. Copy the script standalone/Textastic Citation Completions.js to Scriptable.
2. Create a bookmark named "Textastic" in Scriptable that points to the local document root in Textastic.
3. Optionally create an additional bookmark named "Textastic Citations" that points to a .bib file to use when no input is passed to the script. This can be used to update citations from a frequently used .bib file.

Usage

1. Use the Share Sheet to pass a single .bib file or selected entries as text.

• If a default bibliography has been set, the script can also just be run in Scriptable.

2. Restart Textastic for it to load the updated completions. This is necessary any time the .bib file is updated.
3. While editing markdown files, Textastic should now offer completions for in-text citations from the .bib file after typing @. When editing .tex files, completions should be triggered for keys in the various citation commands.

Possible future improvements

• Support CSL JSON as input.
• Support CSL YAML as input.