This is the error message lua error > lua error on line 112 in file c_09-02_Evans.tex: C stack overflow stack traceback: [C]: in function 'type' ...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ini.lua:373: in function <...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ini.lua:367> [C]: in function 'tostring' ...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ini.lua:342: in function <...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ini.lua:317> [C]: in function 'tostring' ...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ini.lua:342: in function <...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ini.lua:317> [C]: in function 'tostring' ...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ini.lua:342: in function <...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ini.lua:317> [C]: in function 'tostring' ... [C]: in function 'tostring' ...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ini.lua:342: in function <...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ini.lua:317> [C]: in function 'tostring' ...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ini.lua:342: in function <...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ini.lua:317> [C]: in function 'tostring' ...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ini.lua:342: in function <...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ini.lua:317> [C]: in function 'tostring' ...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ini.lua:730: in function 'pdfshareobjectreference' ...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/lpdf-ano.lua:664: in function 'prerollreference' ...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/node-ref.lua:601: in function 'setreference' ...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/node-ref.lua:847: in function <...eXt/tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv/node-ref.lua:844> (...tail calls...) the cause is the line: \cite[Evans, Carman, and Thorndike 2010] the problem: \cite[{{Evans, Carman, and Throndike 2010}}] is not fix the oddity: the file is full of entries like \cite[A, B, and C 2017] and worse. If I comment out the offending line, the file processes as it should. My test file does not duplicate the problem: it just shows another one ( that may or may not be relevant): \definedescription[BibItem][ width=broad, margin=1.5pc, indenting={no}, indentnext=no, alternative=hanging, hang=1, headcommand=\gobbleoneargument, align=right, before={\directsetup{tightspace}\bgroup\language[packed]}, after={\egroup}, ] \definereferenceformat [cite] [type=title,left={},right={}] \definereferenceformat [bibpage] [type=page] %\setupinteraction[state=start] \starttext \dorecurse{10}{\cite[A],\\ \cite[A and B],\\ \cite[{{A, B, and C}}]\blank} \page \startbibitem[A] A \stopbibitem \startbibitem[A and B] A and B \stopbibitem \startbibitem[{{A, B, and C}}] A, B, and C \stopbibitem \stoptext The file processes but does not show the “A, B, and C” when interaction is activated. Alan