Citenook1Which of my papers measured sleep duration with wrist devices?
Three: Okafor 20241, Lindqvist 20252 and Ramos 20233. Ramos also used sleep diaries to check the device data3.
PDF3 papers · methods sections
For researchers
Quote the exact passage across hundreds of papers
Citenook is a private Mac app that answers questions from your papers, books and notes, and links every fact to the exact passage it came from, not a paraphrase. It works offline with a model on your Mac.
The problem
"Which paper reported that effect? What sample size did they use? Who disagrees with this?" You've read it, highlighted it, and now can't find it. AI chatbots summarize nicely but can invent citations, and you can't check a summary without the source.
Questions you can ask
Sample answers from made-up papers, to show how Citenook answers.
What sample size did Lindqvist use, and how were people chosen?
412 adults, chosen at random from two city health registers1.
PDFLindqvist 2025 · page 4 · Participants
Do any papers disagree with Okafor's main finding?
One does. Chen 2025 found no effect after adjusting for shift work1, and says Okafor didn't adjust for it2.
PDFChen 2025 · pages 7 and 9
What did I write in my notes about the limits of the 2023 study?
You noted a small sample and only one country, and planned to mention both in chapter 21.
MDReading notes · Ramos 2023
Click any number in a real answer and the paper opens at that passage, with the sentence highlighted and the page number.
Files researchers add
PDFPapers and reports
EPUBBooks
◆Obsidian and Markdown notes
XLSData tables
▶Recorded talks and YouTube lectures
♪Interviews, transcribed on your Mac
Keep your PDFs in a reference manager? Add the folder where it saves them, and new papers are read as you add them.
Built for careful reading
Only from your sources
Answers come from what you've added, and Citenook says so when your papers don't cover a question.
Page numbers
Every fact links to the passage, with the page for PDFs, so you can cite it properly.
Hard questions
Deep answer searches several times across many papers before it writes.
Offline and private
Unpublished data and interview transcripts can stay on your Mac with a model on your Mac.
A setup that works
- 1
One brain per project
A thesis chapter, a review or a grant: keep each one's papers together.
- 2
Add your PDF folder
Plus your notes vault, so answers can use your own thinking too.
- 3
Use Deep answer
For questions across many papers, like "who disagrees with this?".
- 4
Check, then cite
Open each source sentence before quoting it in your writing.
Questions
Can Citenook make up citations?
Its answers are written only from your files, and each fact links to the passage it came from, so you can check every one. Like any AI, it can misread a passage, which is why the source is one click away.
How many papers can I add?
Standard holds 3 brains and 1,000 files. Pro and Pro+ have no limit on brains or files.
Does it work with scanned or older PDFs?
Yes. PDFs without a text layer are read with your Mac's text recognition. Check important quotes against the page.
Can I use it for papers in other languages?
Yes, with a limit: words are matched in any language, but search by meaning works best in English for now.
What does it cost?
Free for 30 days with every feature and no card. Then $9.99, $19.99 or $29.99 a month. Pro adds unlimited files, Deep answer, recordings, web pages and YouTube. See pricing.
Every claim, one click from its source.
Every feature free for 30 days. No card needed.