Replace JabRef publication export with a deterministic Python tool

[memming]

Problem

Publication pages (publications.html, publications_apa.html) are generated from bib_export/catniplab.bib via bib_export/p.sh, which drives the JabRef desktop app in CLI mode. This is fragile:

• CLI -o export hangs when no JabRef GUI instance is running (blocks on the single-instance remote handshake; 0% CPU), and silently writes nothing when a GUI instance is running (job handed to the running instance, which does not export). Observed JabRef 5.15 / macOS, 2026-08-08.
• Depends on GUI-registered custom export formats (CATNIP / CATNIP-APA) stored in the un-versioned Java prefs backend — lost on upgrade/machine change.

JabRef here is only a templating engine over BibTeX. Replace it with a small, deterministic, testable Python tool (no GUI).

Deliverable

A Python tool (run via uv) that reads catniplab.bib and writes publications.html (CATNIP searchable/sortable table) + publications_apa.html (APA hanging-indent list, year-desc). Then point p.sh at it.

Spec + golden testcase (already on the branch)

Branch: feat/python-pub-export

• bib_export/PUBLICATION_EXPORT_SPEC.md — full reverse-engineered rendering contract (author formatting table vs APA, \begin{field} conditionals, HTMLChars -> named entities, eprint archivePrefix mapping, page dashes, ordering, suggested deps, CLI, acceptance test).
• bib_export/spec_testcase/ — matched input.bib -> expected/*.html pair extracted from the last clean co-generation (commit c3994a0), plus a layouts/ snapshot and README.

Acceptance criteria

• Generate from spec_testcase/input.bib (footer date pinned to 05/06/2026) and match spec_testcase/expected/*.html — byte-exact ideally, else whitespace-normalized structural + text equality.
• Hard cases pass: accented authors (Sagodi/Sokol/Gallego/de Polavieja), arXiv vs bioRxiv eprint links, DOI links, @inproceedings/@inbook/@misc, volume+number+pages, url-only entries.
• Resolve the 1-entry discrepancy (171 rendered of 172; identify which entry JabRef drops — match or fix, and document).
• Deterministic (freeze footer date); idempotent; runs offline via uv.
• p.sh calls the Python tool; drop the JabRef launch/wait logic.

Guardrails

Publishing rules unchanged: regenerate -> test (docker.sh) -> explicit user confirmation -> commit + push to master (public site).

🤖 Generated with Claude Code