[Beta]

Research toolkit for human + AI agent workflows

A Python library that gives AI agents a reliable, deterministic interface to build and maintain a research library. Two layers: a reference store for epistemic objects, and a knowledge layer of synthesis notes, concept pages, and reading paths derived from them. Local-first, no GUI, no human workflows.

Use AI agents confidently [agent-native-functions]
Increase reference quality [CSL-JSON · two-stage-model]
Explore and filter readings [staging → library]
Turn a library into living understanding [wiki · synthesis-notes · concept-pages]
Work offline, own your library [local-first · portable · no-GUI]
Get started GitHub

Get started

Runs in your terminal, alongside your coding agent. One install command, one init command.

01

Install with uv — not on PyPI yet, so this pulls straight from GitHub

uv tool install git+https://github.com/abrahambahez/loretools
or download a prebuilt binary (no Python required) →
02

Point it at a library — required once per machine, nothing is created automatically

lore init /path/to/library
03

Optional: give your agent the CLI reference and the reading workflows — download loretools-skills-en-vX.Y.Z.zip from the Releases page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/. Includes loretools-references for the CLI, plus structural-reading and analytical-reading for mapping and close-reading a text once it's in the library.

Research workflow — core

01

Extract

human "Pull the metadata from this PDF"
agent Got it — title, authors, year, DOI extracted locally. No network needed.
cli lore extract paper.pdf
02

Lookup

human "Is this actually published? Get me the real DOI"
agent Confirmed via Crossref — DOI, container title, and authors filled in.
cli lore lookup '{"DOI":"10.1000/xyz"}'
03

Stage

human "Hold this for review — don't commit yet"
agent Saved to staging with the file attached. Nothing in the library yet.
cli lore staging stage '<json>' --file paper.pdf
04

Merge

human "These look good — add them to the library"
agent Done. Duplicates removed, citekeys assigned, files archived.
cli lore staging merge
05

Search & Filter

human "What do I have on boundary objects from 2019?"
agent 3 references. star1989 has a file attached — want me to open it?
cli lore refs filter --query "boundary objects" --year 2019
06

Files

human "Attach this PDF to the reference"
agent PDF archived under vaswani2017. Linked and ready to read.
cli lore files attach vaswani2017 paper.pdf

Envisioned — not built yet

Generate synthesis notes across your collection [synthesize · arguments · tensions · open-questions]
Extend the core with search, cloud, and sync adapters [plugin-ecosystem · loretools-search · loretools-cloud · loretools-sync]
Build a living wiki from your library [wiki · concept-pages · linked-to-citekeys]
See how ideas connect and where the gaps are [citation-graph · influence-chains · gap-detection]
Sync and curate a library with your team [multi-device · shared-collections · peer-coordination]
Get curated reading paths across your collection [reading-paths · importance-scoring · progressive-disclosure]

Beyond the reference

We envision a transition from isolated reference metadata to shared epistemic objects that enable deeper conversations.