A simple solution for manual bibliography (like `\bibitem`)

[upper belfry]

?r

#let bibitem(body)=figure(kind: "bibitem", supplement: none, body)
#show figure.where(kind: "bibitem"): it=>box(width: 2em, it.counter.display("[1]"))+it.body+parbreak()
#show ref: it=>{
  let e=it.element
  if e.func()==figure and e.kind=="bibitem"{
    let loc=e.location()
    return link(loc, numbering("[1]", ..e.counter.at(loc)))
  }
  it
}

@ref1 @ref2

#heading(numbering: none)[References]
#bibitem[hello] <ref1>
#bibitem[world] <ref2>

[tame rover]

Very nice!

I was working on a library for this a while ago but stopped... But i did get some progress , i just didn't know how to make the best API for it

In my implementation i didn't use figures though

But figures indeed enable you to quickly make this kind of thing