Validate bibliography entries against citations in all source files. Find missing entries and unused references. Make sure to use this skill whenever the user has any concern about bibliography completeness or citation keys. Triggers include: "validate my bib", "check my citations", "find missing references", "I'm getting undefined citation errors", "are all my citations in the bib file", "check for unused references", "my bibliography is broken", "missing bib entries", "citation not found", or
SkillScore95Maintained
On-demandOn-demand: invoked explicitly — never occupies your agent's context until called.
◆Doc Ops pack
Last verified 8/8/2026
What it changes
Passed 20 of 21 test cases with the skill, and 18 of 21 without it.
Without skill86%
With skill95%
Checks it passed that the model alone missed
Assigns a CRITICAL severity level to missing bibliography entries.
Classifies the missing key albert2020 as a CRITICAL severity finding.
Explains that unused bibliography entries do not produce LaTeX compilation warnings.
3 fixed18 passed either way0 still failing1 broke
Pass-rate lift
+9 pp
Tokens
-31%
Agent turns
0%
Response time
-48%
Model gemini-3.6-flashMeasured 8/8/2026v421 of 22 cases passed with skill · 21 comparable
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
See it in action
One of 3 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
1 of 3
Prompt
During an automated audit of paper.tex against references.bib, three citation keys used in the LaTeX source were not found anywhere in the BibTeX file. What severity level should be assigned to these missing entries?
What was checked, without and with the skill
Checked
Without skill
With skill
Assigns a CRITICAL severity level to missing bibliography entries.
Missed
Passed
case-02 · gemini-3.6-flash · 8/8/2026 · answers are capped and redacted
What's inside
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
SKILL.md28 linessingle file
Validate Bibliography
Cross-reference all citations in manuscript files against bibliography entries.
Steps
Read the bibliography file(s): Find .bib files in the project.