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Document JabKit native binary as recommended install method #644

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Document JabKit native binary as recommended install method
koppor Jul 20, 2026
e1acc8b
Use curl -f so a missing download fails instead of saving an error page
koppor Jul 20, 2026
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27 changes: 27 additions & 0 deletions en/jabkit.md
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Expand Up @@ -6,6 +6,33 @@

## Installing and Running

### Native binary (recommended)

JabKit is available as a native binary for Linux (amd64/arm64) and macOS (Apple Silicon). It is a self-contained executable: no Java runtime is required, and it starts instantly. Download it from the [JabRef builds server](https://builds.jabref.org/main/) and unpack it:

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[vale] reported by reviewdog 🐶
[write-good.Passive] 'is required' may be passive voice. Use active voice if you can.

Raw Output:
{"message": "[write-good.Passive] 'is required' may be passive voice. Use active voice if you can.", "location": {"path": "en/jabkit.md", "range": {"start": {"line": 11, "column": 142}}}, "severity": "WARNING"}

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[vale] reported by reviewdog 🐶
[write-good.TooWordy] 'It is' is too wordy.

Raw Output:
{"message": "[write-good.TooWordy] 'It is' is too wordy.", "location": {"path": "en/jabkit.md", "range": {"start": {"line": 11, "column": 91}}}, "severity": "WARNING"}

```bash
# Linux (amd64)
curl -fL https://builds.jabref.org/main/linux-amd64/tools/jabkit-native_linux.tar.gz | tar xz
./jabkit/jabkit --help

@Siedlerchr Siedlerchr Jul 20, 2026

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no chmod+x needed?

@koppor koppor Jul 20, 2026

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It's un-tar.d - and tar keeps executable flags

@Siedlerchr Siedlerchr Jul 20, 2026

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don't let AI speak for you :-P

@koppor koppor Jul 20, 2026 •
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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

(generatd by Claude)

You are right that the command as written cannot work today — the main URLs only come into existence once JabRef/jabref#16291 is merged and a main build has run (hence the note in the PR description to merge this only after that PR). What you downloaded was the builds-server HTML error page saved as a .zip. Two follow-ups:

  1. The docs now use curl -f (commit e1acc8b), so a missing file fails with curl: (22) The requested URL returned error: 404 instead of silently saving an HTML page.
  2. I labeled jabref#16291 with dev: binaries so its artifacts got uploaded, and ran the documented commands against the PR build (same commands, pull-16291 in place of main):
$ curl -fL https://builds.jabref.org/pull-16291/linux-amd64/tools/jabkit-native_linux.tar.gz | tar xz
$ ls -l jabkit/jabkit
-rwxr-xr-x 1 koppor koppor 131729672 jabkit        # exec bit preserved, no chmod needed
$ ./jabkit/jabkit -p check consistency test.bib; echo $?
0
$ curl -fLO https://builds.jabref.org/pull-16291/macOS-silicon/tools/jabkit-native_macos-silicon.zip
$ unzip jabkit-native_macos-silicon.zip && ls -l jabkit/jabkit && file jabkit/jabkit
-rwxr-xr-x 1 koppor koppor 147558936 jabkit
jabkit/jabkit: Mach-O 64-bit arm64 executable

So archive layout (jabkit/jabkit at the root), executable bit, and the binary itself all work as documented once the artifacts exist. If you want to try it on your Mac before the merge, the pull-16291 URL above is live now.

```

```bash
# Linux (arm64)
curl -fL https://builds.jabref.org/main/linux-arm/tools/jabkit-native_linux_arm64.tar.gz | tar xz
./jabkit/jabkit --help
```

```bash
# macOS (Apple Silicon)
curl -fLO https://builds.jabref.org/main/macOS-silicon/tools/jabkit-native_macos-silicon.zip
unzip jabkit-native_macos-silicon.zip

@Siedlerchr Siedlerchr Jul 20, 2026

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Seems like you did not try it.

``
curl -LO https://builds.jabref.org/main/macOS-silicon/tools/jabkit-native_macos-silicon.zip
gives me a 3kb zip file which is an invalid zip file. I change extnesion to HTML and it loolks like this

Image

@koppor koppor Jul 20, 2026

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It's not in main yet - because we are in the PR JabRef/jabref#16291

./jabkit/jabkit --help
```

On other platforms (e.g. Windows, Intel macOS), use one of the options below.

### JBang and Docker

The easiest way to run JabKit is using [npx](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v8/commands/npx) and [jbang](https://www.jbang.dev/):

```bash
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