Aspects of the invention include a computer-implemented method for generating promise identifiers for documents. Aspects include processing a document including a reference, wherein processing includes performing natural language processing (NLP) the document, and identifying the reference included in the document. Aspects also include generating a promise identifier for the reference in the document, and responsive to processing the document, resolving the promise identifier for the reference by providing data of the reference associated with the promise identifier. Aspects of the invention also include a computer program product and system for generating promise identifiers for documents.