Catalyst reactant cradles first appeared in Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, although they were not identified as such until Pablo Hidalgo's reference title, Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary, published on December 18, 2015 to complement the release of the film the same day. In the 2019 reference book, Star Wars: How Not to Get Eaten by Ewoks and Other Galactic Survival Skills, author Christian Blauvelt identified the device as merely a "reactant cradle."
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary
- Star Wars: How Not to Get Eaten by Ewoks and Other Galactic Survival Skills