Citewatch

Make every release citable, without surprises.
Checks .zenodo.json and CITATION.cff as you type, keeps versions in step, shows your DOI, and warns when Zenodo is not switched on before you release.

At a glance

$(book) zenodo.23269419 · 0.1.3       your concept DOI and the newest archived version
$(warning) zenodo.23269419 · 0.1.3    amber: Zenodo is not switched on for this repository
$(book) No DOI yet                    citation files present, nothing archived yet

Hover for the DOIs, what is archived and what your files say. Click to copy the DOI or a badge, open the record, or set the version everywhere.

Why

Zenodo's GitHub integration turns each release into an archived, citable version with its own DOI. When something is wrong it fails quietly: the release is published on GitHub, and the DOI never appears. The usual causes are small:

• the repository was never switched on in Zenodo, so no webhook fired;
• .zenodo.json has a licence Zenodo does not know, such as Apache-2.0 instead of apache-2.0, or misses a required field;
• package.json says one version, CITATION.cff another, and the archive records the wrong one;
• an ORCID with a typo, which fails its check digit.

Citewatch catches each of them in the editor, before the tag.

What it checks

As you type, in .zenodo.json and CITATION.cff, with a squiggle on the line:

Both files also get schema validation and completion: .zenodo.json from Citewatch's schema, CITATION.cff from the official Citation File Format 1.2.0 schema (YAML validation needs the YAML extension).

Where the DOI comes from

In order: the DOI in CITATION.cff's identifiers, then a Zenodo DOI badge in README.md, then a Zenodo search for a record with exactly your title and one of your creators, so another project with the same name is never mistaken for yours. Versions come from Zenodo's public API, newest first.

Is Zenodo switched on?

Zenodo's switch installs a webhook on the repository. Citewatch reads the repository's webhooks through the GitHub account you are signed in to in VS Code (it never asks on its own; choose Sign in to GitHub from the status bar menu), which needs admin access to the repository. Off means a release now would get no DOI, and the status bar turns amber.

Install

Requirements: VS Code 1.85 or newer.

1. In VS Code, open Extensions, search Citewatch, and click Install.
2. Or download the .vsix from Releases and use Extensions → ··· → Install from VSIX….

Open a project with a CITATION.cff or .zenodo.json; the status bar item appears. In a workspace that holds many repositories, Citewatch follows the file you are editing to its own project.

Commands

Settings

Privacy

Zenodo is asked, without any token, for public data only: whether a licence id exists, a record's versions, and a title search. GitHub is asked, with your VS Code GitHub session, for one thing: the repository's webhooks. Nothing is sent anywhere else, there is no telemetry, and Citewatch never creates a release, a record or a webhook. It edits a file only when you run Set Version Everywhere.

Caveats

• Unofficial. Not affiliated with Zenodo, CERN or GitHub. It uses Zenodo's and GitHub's public REST APIs, which may change.
• GitHub and Zenodo's GitHub integration only. GitLab and manual Zenodo uploads are not covered.
• Reading webhooks needs admin access; without it, the switch shows as unknown, never as off.

Documentation

• Architecture: layers, how a summary is built, the checks
• Development: building, testing, releasing
• Troubleshooting: when the status bar or a check is wrong
• Security: exactly what is read and sent

License

MIT. The bundled Citation File Format schema is CC-BY-4.0; see NOTICE.