Citė - For Research

Citė - For Research: Project Analysis Inspiration Citė appears to be inspired by the challenges researchers face when searching for academic papers and managing citations. Traditional academic search engines can be cumbersome, and citation management often requires dedicated software. The project leverages Perplexity's Sonar API to create a more streamlined and modern approach to academic research, making it accessible through a web interface without requiring specialized software installation.

What it does Citė is a research paper search and citation management platform that:

Allows users to search for academic papers using the Perplexity Sonar API with advanced filtering options (by year, author, and field) Enables users to save and manage citations in their browser's localStorage Provides a profile management system where researchers can store information about themselves, their interests, and track publications/citations Offers a clean, modern interface for interacting with academic content Supports copying citations in a formatted style for easy use in academic writing How we built it The project is built using a modern web development stack:

Frontend: React with TypeScript, styled with Tailwind CSS

Key components include: Search.tsx - For paper search functionality Citations.tsx - For managing saved citations Profile.tsx - For user profile management Navbar.tsx - For navigation between app sections Backend: Node.js with Express, using TypeScript

The index.ts file handles API requests and proxies them to the Perplexity Sonar API Deployment: The project is configured for deployment on Vercel with separate builds for client and server as specified in vercel.json

Data Storage: The application uses the browser's localStorage to store user data (profile, citations) for privacy and simplicity

Challenges we ran into Based on the codebase, some challenges as the developers likely encountered include:

Integrating with the Perplexity Sonar API and handling its response format for academic paper data Managing application state across multiple components without a dedicated state management library Implementing a clean and responsive UI for both search results and citation management Setting up the serverless deployment configuration for Vercel to handle both frontend and backend components Designing an offline-first architecture that stores user data locally rather than requiring server-side databases Accomplishments that we're proud of The project demonstrates several notable accomplishments:

A clean, responsive UI built with Tailwind CSS that provides a modern research experience Successful integration with the Perplexity Sonar API for real-time academic paper searches Implementation of a privacy-focused approach with local storage to keep user data on their device A well-structured TypeScript codebase with clear component separation and type definitions A deployment-ready configuration that allows for easy hosting on Vercel What we learned Through this project, the team likely learned:

How to build a full-stack TypeScript application with React and Express Techniques for integrating with third-party APIs like Perplexity Sonar Implementation of responsive UI designs using Tailwind CSS Browser storage strategies for offline-first applications Setting up serverless deployment configurations for full-stack applications What's next for Citė - For Research Potential next steps for the project could include:

Adding support for more citation formats (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) Implementing collaborative features to allow researchers to share collections of papers Enhancing the search functionality with more advanced filters and sorting options Adding export options for citation lists to common bibliography formats Implementing user authentication for cloud storage of citations and profiles Adding visualization tools for research trends and citation networks Expanding the API integration to include other academic databases beyond Perplexity The project shows strong potential as a tool to simplify the academic research process and make scholarly content more accessible.

Built With

• browserstorage
• express.js
• react
• sonar
• sonarapi
• typescript