CatalystLab: AI-powered research brainstorming and parallel literature discovery platform

Think at the edge of knowledge

AI-powered research brainstorming and literature discovery for serious researchers.
20 instruments · 9 academic sources · Free forever plan

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📖 Table of Contents

• Overview
• Live Demo
• Features
• 20 Research Instruments
• 9 Literature Sources
• Pricing
• Tech Stack
• Project Structure
• Getting Started
• Environment Variables
• Firebase Setup
• Deployment
• Contributing
• License

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🔭 Overview

CatalystLab is an AI-powered research SaaS platform built for graduate students, PhD researchers, and academics who need to think deeper, faster, and more creatively about their research.

It does two things simultaneously:

THINK — 20 structured AI brainstorming instruments that help researchers pressure-test ideas, find contradictions, explore assumptions, generate hypotheses, and discover research gaps — all powered by Gemini 2.5 Flash.

DISCOVER — Every time you run an instrument, CatalystLab automatically extracts your research concepts and searches 9 free academic databases in parallel, surfacing relevant literature without any extra effort from you. The science finds you.

"Nothing like this exists in any research tool I've used."

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🌐 Live Demo

Environment	URL
Production	catalystlab.tech
Preview	catalyst-lab.vercel.app

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✨ Features

Core

• 🧠 20 AI research instruments across 3 thinking zones
• 📚 Automatic literature discovery from 9 free academic sources
• ⚡ Parallel API fan-out — all 9 sources searched simultaneously
• 🔍 AI keyword extraction — Gemini reads your input and builds optimal search queries
• 💾 Session saving — all instrument runs saved to Firebase Firestore
• 📤 14 citation export formats — BibTeX, APA, MLA, IEEE, RIS, and more

Platform

• 🔐 Firebase Authentication — Google OAuth + magic link email
• 🌑 Dark mode only — calm, focused research environment
• 📱 Fully responsive — mobile, tablet, and desktop
• ⌨️ Command palette — ⌘K to navigate anywhere instantly
• 🎯 Free trial system — 5 runs/day on free plan, unlimited on paid

Design

• Zero generic AI aesthetics — no purple gradients, no glass morphism everywhere
• Typography-first hierarchy — Inter + JetBrains Mono
• Smooth micro-interactions — intentional, not decorative
• 3-panel instrument layout — input · output · literature side by side

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⚗️ 20 Research Instruments

💡 Zone A — Ideas

Instrument	What it does
Thought Collider	Crash two ideas. Find the breakthrough at the intersection.
Research Multiverse	Flip assumptions. Explore parallel hypothesis universes.
Concept Alchemy	Combine research concepts. Discover unexpected reactions.
The Oracle	The 10 most important unanswered questions in your field.
Socratic Engine	The AI that only asks questions. You find the answer.
Constraints Game	Creativity loves constraints. Solve within radical limits.
Dream Board	Pin fragments. AI finds the emerging pattern.
Thought Experiment	Build a hypothetical. See where it leads.

🔬 Zone B — Analysis

Instrument	What it does
Pressure Chamber	How strong is your idea under adversarial stress?
Contradiction Finder	Papers that disagree. Gaps that need filling.
Assumption Archaeology	Excavate the hidden assumptions beneath your research.
Hypothesis Tournament	5 hypotheses enter. One survives.
Signal vs Noise	Is this trend real or hype? Find out before you commit.
Persona Swap	See your research through radically different eyes.

🔭 Zone C — Discovery

Instrument	What it does
Temporal Telescope	See past, present, and three possible futures of your field.
Mind Mesh	Your subconscious knowledge network, made visible.
Analogical Lab	Your problem is already solved — in a different field.
Frontier Map	Satellite view of the edge of your field's knowledge.
Living Review	A literature review that updates itself automatically.
Emergence Engine	Submit one observation. Watch a breakthrough emerge.

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📡 9 Literature Sources

CatalystLab queries all of these simultaneously on every instrument run:

Source	Coverage	API Key
Semantic Scholar	200M+ papers, all disciplines	Not required
OpenAlex	250M+ works, fully open	Not required
arXiv	2.3M+ preprints (CS, Physics, Bio, Math...)	Not required
PubMed	36M+ biomedical citations	Not required
CORE	World's largest open access collection	Free key optional
Crossref	150M+ works, strong on DOIs	Not required
Europe PMC	42M+ abstracts, 9M+ full text	Not required
DOAJ	9M+ fully open access articles	Not required
Unpaywall	PDF enrichment pass on DOIs	Not required

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💰 Pricing

Plan	Price	Runs/day	Sources
Free	$0 forever	5	3 sources
Researcher	$9/month	Unlimited	All 9 sources
Lab Pro	$19/month	Unlimited	All 9 + BYO API key
Institution	$49/month	Unlimited	All 9 + team features

All paid plans include a 7-day free trial. No credit card required for the free plan.

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🛠️ Tech Stack

Category	Technology
Framework	Next.js 14 (App Router, TypeScript)
Styling	Tailwind CSS
Authentication	Firebase Authentication
Database	Firebase Firestore
Hosting	Firebase App Hosting
AI	Google Gemini 2.5 Flash
Icons	Lucide React
Fonts	Inter + JetBrains Mono
State	React Context + Zustand

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📁 Project Structure

CatalystLab/
├── app/
│   ├── (main)/              # Authenticated app shell
│   │   ├── layout.tsx       # Sidebar + TopBar + BottomNav
│   │   ├── dashboard/       # Home dashboard
│   │   ├── instruments/     # Instrument list + [slug] detail
│   │   ├── reports/         # Saved sessions
│   │   ├── search/          # Standalone literature search
│   │   ├── reviews/         # Living literature reviews
│   │   └── settings/        # User settings + API keys
│   ├── auth/callback/       # Firebase auth callback handler
│   ├── login/               # Sign in page
│   ├── pricing/             # Pricing page
│   ├── privacy/             # Privacy policy
│   ├── terms/               # Terms of service
│   ├── not-found.tsx        # 404 page
│   ├── layout.tsx           # Root layout
│   ├── globals.css          # Global styles + design tokens
│   └── page.tsx             # Landing page
├── components/
│   ├── Sidebar.tsx          # Desktop navigation sidebar
│   ├── TopBar.tsx           # Top bar with search + user
│   ├── BottomNav.tsx        # Mobile bottom navigation
│   ├── CommandPalette.tsx   # ⌘K command palette
│   └── AuthProvider.tsx     # Firebase auth context
├── lib/
│   ├── firebase.ts          # Firebase app initialization
│   ├── gemini.ts            # Gemini 2.5 Flash client
│   ├── trialSystem.ts       # Free tier rate limiting
│   ├── export.ts            # 14 citation export formats
│   └── apis/                # 9 academic API clients
│       ├── index.ts         # Fan-out + dedup + ranking
│       ├── semanticScholar.ts
│       ├── openAlex.ts
│       ├── arxiv.ts
│       ├── pubmed.ts
│       ├── core.ts
│       ├── crossref.ts
│       ├── europePmc.ts
│       ├── doaj.ts
│       └── unpaywall.ts
├── hooks/                   # Custom React hooks
├── stores/                  # Zustand state stores
├── middleware.ts            # Auth route protection
├── firebase.json            # Firebase configuration
├── firestore.rules          # Firestore security rules
├── firestore.indexes.json   # Firestore composite indexes
└── next.config.ts           # Next.js configuration

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🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• npm or yarn
• A Google account (for Firebase)
• A Gemini API key (free at aistudio.google.com)

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/myself-aas/CatalystLab.git
cd CatalystLab

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Set up environment variables

cp .env.example .env.local

Fill in your values in .env.local (see Environment Variables below).

4. Run the development server

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

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🔑 Environment Variables

Create a .env.local file in the project root:

# Firebase Configuration
# Get these from: Firebase Console → Project Settings → Your apps → Web app
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_API_KEY=
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_AUTH_DOMAIN=catalystlab.tech
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID=catalystlab
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_STORAGE_BUCKET=catalystlab.appspot.com
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_MESSAGING_SENDER_ID=
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_APP_ID=

# App
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=http://localhost:3000
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_NAME=CatalystLab

Note: The Gemini API key is entered by each user through the Settings page and stored securely in their Firestore account — it is never stored in environment variables or exposed server-side.

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🔥 Firebase Setup

1. Create a Firebase project

1. Go to console.firebase.google.com
2. Click Add project → name it catalystlab
3. Link to your existing Google Cloud project if you have OAuth set up

2. Enable Authentication

1. Firebase Console → Authentication → Get started
2. Enable Google provider
3. Enable Email/Password (for magic links)
4. Go to Settings → Authorized domains → add catalystlab.tech

3. Create Firestore database

1. Firebase Console → Firestore Database → Create database
2. Start in test mode (rules are in firestore.rules)
3. Select region: asia-southeast1 (Singapore)

4. Deploy Firestore rules

npm install -g firebase-tools
firebase login
firebase deploy --only firestore:rules

5. Get your Firebase config

Firebase Console → Project Settings → Your apps → Web app → copy the config object into your .env.local.

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📦 Deployment

Deploy to Firebase App Hosting (recommended)

# Install Firebase CLI
npm install -g firebase-tools

# Login
firebase login

# Deploy
firebase deploy --only hosting

Your app will be live at https://your-project.web.app

Connect custom domain (catalystlab.tech)

1. Firebase Console → Hosting → Add custom domain
2. Enter catalystlab.tech → follow verification steps
3. Add the DNS records Firebase provides to your domain registrar
4. Wait for SSL certificate (up to 1 hour after DNS propagates)

Automated deployment via GitHub Actions

Every push to main automatically deploys to Firebase:

1. Go to your repo → Settings → Secrets → Actions
2. Add FIREBASE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT (get from Firebase Console → Project Settings → Service Accounts → Generate new private key)
3. Push to main → GitHub Action builds and deploys automatically

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

# Create a feature branch
git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name

# Make your changes
# ...

# Commit
git commit -m "feat: add your feature description"

# Push and open a pull request
git push origin feature/your-feature-name

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.

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🙋 Support

Channel	Link
Website	catalystlab.tech
Email	support@catalystlab.tech
Issues	GitHub Issues
Privacy Policy	catalystlab.tech/privacy
Terms of Service	catalystlab.tech/terms

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👨‍💻 Author

Ashif Ahmed Shuvo

Machine Learning Enthusiast · AI & Food Engineering Researcher

AI & ML expert with a B.Sc. in Food Engineering, specializing in precision and sustainable agriculture and agricultural automation. Experienced in computer vision for object detection & recognition, IoT-based smart farming solutions, and data-driven decision-making for monitoring and optimization. Passionate about integrating AI, remote sensing, and sensor-based technologies to enhance sustainable agriculture and horticulture research.

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🎓 Citation

If you use CatalystLab in your research, brainstorming process, or literature discovery, please cite the software as follows:

APA 7

Shuvo, Ashif A. (2026). CatalystLab: AI-Powered Research Brainstorming and Parallel Literature Discovery Platform (v1.3.7). Github. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19362937

BibTeX

@software{shuvo_catalystlab_2026,
  author = {Shuvo, Ashif Ahmed},
  title = {CatalystLab: AI-powered research brainstorming and parallel literature discovery platform},
  version = {1.3.7},
  year = {2026},
  month = {4},
  publisher = {Github},
  doi = {10.5281/zenodo.19362937},
  url = {https://github.com/myself-aas/CatalystLab},
  keywords = {Artificial intelligence, Literature Discovery, Gemini 2.5 Flash, Open Science, Academic Search, Bibliometrics},
  language = {enc},
  note = {Academic SaaS for Research Ideation},
  copyright = {MIT License}
}

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Built for researchers, by researchers · Bangladesh 🇧🇩

⭐ Star this repo if CatalystLab helps your research