CSL variable `first-reference-note-number` does not work

[YDX-2147483647]

first-reference-note-number is a CSL number variable. For note styles (as opposed to in-text styles), the number of a preceding note containing the first reference to the item should be assigned by the CSL processor.

In the example below, the CSL style displays first-reference-note-number for every citation, but Typst never assigns the variable.

<citation>
  <layout suffix=".">
    <text variable="title"/>
    <text value=", "/>
    <text variable="first-reference-note-number"/>
  </layout>
</citation>

@article{a, title = {A} }
@article{b, title = {B} }

A@a, B@b, A@a, A@a.

Full code

#set page(height: auto)
#set footnote(numbering: "①")
#show footnote.entry: it => {
  counter(footnote).display(at: it.note.location())
  [ ]
  it.note.body
}
#set enum(numbering: "①")

A@a, B@b, A@a, A@a.

= Expected output

+ A, 1.
+ B, 2.
+ A, 1.
+ A, 1.

#bibliography(
  title: [Actual output],
  bytes("
@article{a, title = {A} }
@article{b, title = {B} }
"),
  style: bytes(
    ```xml
    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
    <style xmlns="http://purl.org/net/xbiblio/csl" version="1.0" class="note">
      <info>
        <title/>
        <id/>
      </info>
      <citation>
        <layout suffix=".">
          <text variable="title"/>
          <text value=", "/>
          <text variable="first-reference-note-number"/>
        </layout>
      </citation>
      <bibliography>
        <layout>
          <text value="(irrelevant)"/>
        </layout>
      </bibliography>
    </style>
    ```.text,
  ),
)

The CSL test suite contains several tests for first-reference-note-number, but according to the following logic, none of them can be tested in this repo.

hayagriva/tests/citeproc.rs

Lines 483 to 486 in 5a71313

	let can_test = case.bib_entries.is_none()
	&& case.bib_section.is_none()
	&& case.citations.is_none()
	&& case.citation_items.as_ref().is_none_or(|cites| {

This issue affects the gb-7714-2015-note style.

Additional tests

It looks like that the behaviour of first-reference-note-number and position differs from Typst and Hayagriva.

In the following test, the output of Hayagriva doesn't match the expectation either, but at least first-reference-note-number is not empty.

CSL test case

>>===== MODE =====>>
citation
<<===== MODE =====<<


>>===== RESULT =====>>
(omitted)
<<===== RESULT =====<<


>>===== CSL =====>>
<style 
      xmlns="http://purl.org/net/xbiblio/csl"
      class="note"
      version="1.0">
  <info>
    <id />
    <title />
    <updated>2009-08-10T04:49:00+09:00</updated>
  </info>
  <citation>
    <layout suffix=".">
      <text variable="title" suffix=", "/>
      <text variable="locator"/>
      <text value=", "/>
      <text variable="first-reference-note-number"/>
      <text value=" — Position: "/>
      <group delimiter=", ">
        <choose><if position="first"><text value="first"/></if></choose>
        <choose><if position="ibid"><text value="ibid"/></if></choose>
        <choose><if position="ibid-with-locator"><text value="ibid-with-locator"/></if></choose>
        <choose><if position="subsequent"><text value="subsequent"/></if></choose>
        <choose><if position="near-note"><text value="near-note"/></if></choose>
      </group>
    </layout>
  </citation>
</style>
<<===== CSL =====<<



>>===== CITATION-ITEMS =====>>
[
	[{ "id": "a" }],
	[{ "id": "b" }],
	[{ "id": "a" }],
	[{ "id": "a" }],
	[{ "id": "b" }]
]
<<===== CITATION-ITEMS =====<<


>>===== INPUT =====>>
[
	{
		"id": "a", 
		"title": "A"
	},
	{
		"id": "b", 
		"title": "B"
	}
]
<<===== INPUT =====<<


>>===== VERSION =====>>
1.0
<<===== VERSION =====<<

Equivalent Typst code

#set page(height: auto)

A@a, B@b, A@a, A@a, B@b.

#bibliography(
  bytes("
@article{a, title = {A} }
@article{b, title = {B} }
"),
  style: bytes(
    ```xml
    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
    <style
          xmlns="http://purl.org/net/xbiblio/csl"
          class="note"
          version="1.0">
      <info>
        <id />
        <title />
        <updated>2009-08-10T04:49:00+09:00</updated>
      </info>
      <citation>
        <layout suffix=".">
          <text variable="title" suffix=", "/>
          <text variable="locator"/>
          <text value=", "/>
          <text variable="first-reference-note-number"/>
          <text value=" — Position: "/>
          <group delimiter=", ">
            <choose><if position="first"><text value="first"/></if></choose>
            <choose><if position="ibid"><text value="ibid"/></if></choose>
            <choose><if position="ibid-with-locator"><text value="ibid-with-locator"/></if></choose>
            <choose><if position="subsequent"><text value="subsequent"/></if></choose>
            <choose><if position="near-note"><text value="near-note"/></if></choose>
          </group>
        </layout>
      </citation>
      <bibliography>
        <layout>
          <text value="(irrelevant)"/>
        </layout>
      </bibliography>
    </style>
    ```.text,
  ),
)

Expected output:

A, 1 — Position: first.
B, 2 — Position: first.
A, 1 — Position: subsequent, near-note.
A, 1 — Position: ibid, subsequent, near-note.
B, 2 — Position: subsequent, near-note.

Output of Typst v0.15.1:

A, — Position: first.
B, — Position: first.
A, — Position: subsequent.
A, — Position: ibid, subsequent.
B, — Position: subsequent.

Output of cargo test --features csl-json local for Hayagriva:

A, 1 — Position: first.
B, 1 — Position: first.
A, 1 — Position: subsequent, near-note.
A, 1 — Position: ibid, subsequent, near-note.
B, 1 — Position: subsequent, near-note.

Update on 2026-07-21

When testing against the CSL test suite, the note_number passed to Hayagriva is always Some(1). As a result, Hayagriva always resolves first-reference-note-number to 1.

hayagriva/tests/citeproc.rs

Line 575 in 5a71313

Some(1),

Changing Some(1) to Some(n + 1) would make the output of Hayagriva matches the expectation.
However, citeproc-pass.txt doesn't change, because all relevant test cases are excluded by tests/citeproc.rs.

diff --git a/src/csl/mod.rs b/src/csl/mod.rs
index 6221859..0005d64 100644
--- a/src/csl/mod.rs
+++ b/src/csl/mod.rs
@@ -2532,7 +2532,7 @@ impl<'a> CiteProperties<'a> {
 /// citation or bibliography entry.
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, Default, PartialEq, Eq, Hash)]
 struct CertainCiteProperties {
-    /// The number of the footnote this citation appears in.
+    /// The number of the footnote this citation appears in, starting at 1.
     ///
     /// We can determine this because it depends on citation order only. May be
     /// none if the current style is in-text.
diff --git a/tests/citeproc.rs b/tests/citeproc.rs
index c827311..ad81d69 100644
--- a/tests/citeproc.rs
+++ b/tests/citeproc.rs
@@ -541,7 +541,7 @@ where
     let mut driver: BibliographyDriver<'_, csl_json::Item> = BibliographyDriver::new();
     let mut output = String::new();
     if let Some(cites) = &case.citation_items {
-        for cite in cites {
+        for (n, cite) in cites.into_iter().enumerate() {
             driver.citation(CitationRequest::new(
                 cite.iter()
                     .map(|i| {
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ where
                 &style,
                 None,
                 locales,
-                Some(1),
+                Some(n + 1),
             ));
         }
     } else {