reference data models

Data Models

All site data files live in _data/. This page documents the schema of each YAML file with field descriptions and examples.

---

socials.yml

Defines social media links displayed in the navbar and on the about page. Managed by the jekyll-socials plugin.

File: _data/socials.yml

Field	Type	Required	Description
email	string	Yes	Author's email address.
github_username	string	No	GitHub username (renders a link to github.com/{username}).
scholar_userid	string	No	Google Scholar user ID (renders a link to the profile).
linkedin_username	string	No	LinkedIn username.
x_username	string	No	X (formerly Twitter) username.

Additional social platforms are supported by the jekyll-socials plugin. See the plugin documentation for the full list of supported keys.

Example:

email: user@example.com
github_username: octocat
scholar_userid: ABCDEF12345
linkedin_username: octocat
x_username: octocat

---

cv.yml

Defines the full curriculum vitae data rendered on the CV page. The top-level key is cv, containing personal information and a sections map where each key is a CV section.

File: _data/cv.yml

Root fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
cv.name	string	Yes	Full name.
cv.label	string	No	Professional title or label (e.g., "Scientist").
cv.email	string	No	Contact email.
cv.location	string	No	Location (e.g., "Princeton, NJ").
cv.image	string	No	Path to a profile image.
cv.summary	string	No	Short professional summary.
cv.social_networks	array	No	List of social network objects (see below).
cv.address	object	No	Mailing address (see below).
cv.sections	object	Yes	Map of section names to arrays of entries.

social_networks entry

Field	Type	Description
network	string	Network name (e.g., X, GitHub, LinkedIn).
username	string	Username on that network.

address

Field	Type	Description
street	string	Street address.
city	string	City.
region	string	State or region.
postalCode	string	Postal/ZIP code.
countryCode	string	ISO country code.

Sections

The sections object maps section names to arrays of entries. Standard section names include:

Education

Field	Type	Description
institution	string	University or school name.
location	string	City, country.
url	string	Institution website URL.
area	string	Field of study.
studyType	string	Degree type (e.g., PhD, Master's).
start_date	string	Start year.
end_date	string	End year.
score	string	GPA or grade.
courses	string	Notable courses.
highlights	array of strings	Bullet points.

Experience

Field	Type	Description
company	string	Employer or organization name.
position	string	Job title.
location	string	Work location.
start_date	string	Start date (year or YYYY-MM).
end_date	string	End date.
summary	string	Role description.
highlights	array of strings	Bullet points.

Volunteer

Field	Type	Description
company	string	Organization name.
position	string	Volunteer role.
location	string	Location.
start_date	string	Start date.
end_date	string	End date.
summary	string	Description.
highlights	array of strings	Bullet points.

Awards

Field	Type	Description
title	string	Award name.
authors	array of strings	Awarding body or authors.
date	string	Date received.
awarder	string	Awarding organization.
url	string	Link to award details.
summary	string	Description.

Publications

Field	Type	Description
title	string	Publication title.
authors	array of strings	Author names.
publisher	string	Journal or publisher.
releaseDate	string	Publication date.
url	string	Link to publication.
summary	string	Abstract or description.

Skills

Field	Type	Description
name	string	Skill category name.
level	string	Proficiency level.
icon	string	Font Awesome icon class.
keywords	string	Comma-separated skill keywords.

Languages

Field	Type	Description
name	string	Language name.
summary	string	Proficiency description.

Interests

Field	Type	Description
name	string	Interest area name.
icon	string	Font Awesome icon class.
keywords	string	Comma-separated keywords.

Certificates

Field	Type	Description
name	string	Certificate name.
date	string	Date obtained.
issuer	string	Issuing organization.
icon	string	Font Awesome icon class.

Projects

Field	Type	Description
name	string	Project name.
summary	string	Project description.
highlights	array of strings	Key achievements.
start_date	string	Start date.
end_date	string	End date.

References

Field	Type	Description
name	string	Reference person's name.
icon	string	Font Awesome icon class.
reference	string	Testimonial text.

---

coauthors.yml

Maps co-author last names to their metadata for linking in bibliography entries. Each key is a lowercase last name.

File: _data/coauthors.yml

Entry schema

Field	Type	Description
{lastname}	array	Array of co-author objects with that last name.
{lastname}[].firstname	array of strings	All known first name variants (full name, initials, etc.).
{lastname}[].url	string	Link to the co-author's profile or Wikipedia page.

Example:

"einstein":
  - firstname: ["Albert", "A.", "A. E."]
    url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein

"bach":
  - firstname: ["Johann Sebastian", "J. S."]
    url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach

  - firstname: ["Carl Philipp Emanuel", "C. P. E."]
    url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach

Note: The same last name can have multiple entries (different people), as shown with bach above.

---

repositories.yml

Configures which GitHub repositories and users are displayed on the Repositories page.

File: _data/repositories.yml

Field	Type	Description
github_users	array of strings	GitHub usernames whose pinned repos are displayed.
repo_description_lines_max	integer	Maximum lines of description shown per repo card.
github_repos	array of strings	Specific repositories to display (owner/repo format).

Example:

github_users:
  - torvalds
  - alshedivat

repo_description_lines_max: 2

github_repos:
  - alshedivat/al-folio
  - jekyll/jekyll
  - twbs/bootstrap

---

venues.yml

Defines publication venue metadata for use in bibliography entries. Each key is a venue abbreviation.

File: _data/venues.yml

Field	Type	Description
{abbrev}	object	Venue entry keyed by abbreviation.
{abbrev}.url	string	(optional) URL to the venue's website.
{abbrev}.color	string	(optional) Hex color code for styling venue badges.

Example:

"AJP":
  url: https://aapt.scitation.org/journal/ajp
  color: "#00369f"

"PhysRev":
  url: https://journals.aps.org/

"Vision":
  color: "#009f36"

---

citations.yml

Auto-generated file containing Google Scholar citation data. Updated automatically by the update-citations.yml GitHub Actions workflow (runs Monday, Wednesday, Friday). Not intended for manual editing.

File: _data/citations.yml

Top-level structure

Field	Type	Description
metadata.last_updated	string	ISO date of last update (e.g., 2026-02-25).
papers	object	Map of Google Scholar paper IDs to citation data.

Paper entry

Field	Type	Description
{paper_id}	object	Paper entry keyed by Scholar ID.
{paper_id}.citations	integer	Total citation count.
{paper_id}.title	string	Paper title.
{paper_id}.year	string	Publication year.

Example:

metadata:
  last_updated: '2026-02-25'
papers:
  qc6CJjYAAAAJ:-Viv1fr_sjoC:
    citations: 137
    title: The special theory of relativity
    year: '1905'

---

Related pages

• Configuration — How these data files are referenced in _config.yml
• Dependencies — Plugins that process these data files
• Overview — Repository structure