Nomad
A Next.js app that turns an engineering query into a structured starting map: papers, researchers, topic clusters, a reading roadmap, and source-linked project directions.
Working software and automated tests
Turned broad literature queries into source-linked maps by combining multi-query OpenAlex retrieval and deterministic ranking; 88 tests pass across nine suites.
results and contributions
| Tests | 88 passing |
|---|---|
| Test suites | 9 |
| Topic fixtures | 2 of 5 |
| Primary source | OpenAlex |
| Views | Map + explorer |
The automated suite covers deduplication, relevance diagnostics, scoring, project-idea constraints, roadmap, trend, and clustering across 9 files and 88 tests, using two frozen OpenAlex captures.
figures and hardware
Open any image at full size. Source links identify the retained revision.
design evolution
Earlier iterations and the changes they motivated.
| Work | Engineering question | Approach | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-query retrieval | One query under-covers a field. | Generate query variants, then normalize, deduplicate, and filter the OpenAlex results. | Broader candidate coverage before ranking. |
| Inspectable ranking | Opaque or impact-implying ranks mislead the reader. | Rank on keyword, metadata, and citation signals as explicit reading-order cues, with optional embeddings. | A source-linked map, graph, roadmap, and quality report. |
| Repeatable evaluation | Live OpenAlex changes make results non-reproducible. | Froze OpenAlex captures as fixtures behind an 88-test suite across 9 files. | 88 automated tests across 9 files, using 2 frozen topic fixtures. |
design problem
A single query to a scholarly database returns a noisy, partial slice of a field. A useful starting map needs multi-query coverage, de-duplicated candidates, inspectable ranking signals, and explicit limits without pretending citation counts predict future impact.
My contribution. Built the query-variant retrieval, OpenAlex normalization/deduplication/filtering, ranking and clustering, the classic map and v2 explorer (graph, mind map, trend radar, quality report), and the deterministic test and fixture suite.
methods and scope
The 88 tests cover deterministic components using frozen fixtures. Retrieval precision and ranking quality have not been evaluated against independently judged relevance labels.
project record
| Evidence | Working software and automated tests |
|---|---|
| Status | Complete |
| Timeline | 2026 |
| Role | Full-stack design, retrieval pipeline, deduplication and ranking, evaluation fixtures, and test suite |
| Tools | Next.js, TypeScript, OpenAlex API, Vitest |