Zotero MCP

Search, read, annotate, and add to your Zotero research library, local or web.

What can you do with Zotero MCP?

Search by title, author, tag, collection, full text, or meaning (semantic search with local, OpenAI, Gemini, or Ollama embeddings)
Read metadata, BibTeX, full text, and page ranges of PDFs, with page images where text extraction garbles math, figures, and tables
Annotate: highlights and area boxes placed on the exact words, figure, table, or equation; notes; PDF annotation extraction
Write: add papers by DOI, URL, ISBN, BibTeX, or file (with open-access PDFs), manage collections and tags, merge duplicates
Local or web: in local mode reads come straight from zotero.sqlite; writes go to the running Zotero 10+ or through the web API
Scite citation tallies and retraction alerts (optional)

Install

Add this to your client's MCP configuration (Claude Desktop: claude_desktop_config.json; Cursor: .cursor/mcp.json; VS Code and others use the same "mcpServers" shape).

PYPI package zotero-mcp-server

Claude Code

claude mcp add zotero-mcp -e 'ZOTERO_LOCAL=true' -e 'ZOTERO_API_KEY=<your zotero_api_key>' -e 'ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID=<ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID>' -e 'ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE=user' -e 'ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS=<ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS>' -- uvx zotero-mcp-server==0.15.1 serve

JSON configuration (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code)

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "zotero-mcp": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [
                "zotero-mcp-server==0.15.1",
                "serve"
            ],
            "env": {
                "ZOTERO_LOCAL": "true",
                "ZOTERO_API_KEY": "<your zotero_api_key>",
                "ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID": "<ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID>",
                "ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE": "user",
                "ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS": "<ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS>"
            }
        }
    }
}

Environment variables

ZOTERO_LOCAL Read from the local Zotero desktop app instead of the web API. Requires Zotero 7+ with the local API enabled in Settings > Advanced.
ZOTERO_API_KEY secret Zotero Web API key from https://www.zotero.org/settings/keys. Only needed when ZOTERO_LOCAL is false, or for write operations in hybrid mode.
ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID Zotero user or group library ID. Only needed when ZOTERO_LOCAL is false, or for write operations in hybrid mode.
ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE Whether ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID refers to a personal or a group library.
ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS Which optional tool groups to expose, as a comma-separated list. Every tool is sent to the model on each request, so optional capabilities are off by default. Use 'all' for the full surface, 'none' for core only, named groups (scite, duplicates, discovery, feeds, relations, libraries, search-admin, pdf-geometry) to add them, or a leading '-' to subtract.

Documentation

From the project's README on GitHub, refreshed weekly. Links open on GitHub.

Contents

Zotero MCP: Chat with your Research Library in Claude, ChatGPT, and more
Three ways in
What it does
Quick start
MCP server or agent skill?
Zotero Agent: chat inside Zotero
Documentation
Contributing
Support
License

Zotero MCP: Chat with your Research Library in Claude, ChatGPT, and more

Your Zotero library, in every AI agent.

Search, read, cite and annotate your papers from Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor, or a chat panel inside Zotero.

Install · Docs · Zotero Agent · Discord

Zotero Agent explaining a paper with page citations. A click on a citation opens the page and flashes the cited sentence.

Zotero MCP connects your Zotero research library with ChatGPT, Claude, and other AI assistants (e.g., Cherry Studio, Chorus, Cursor) via the Model Context Protocol. Search your library, read and annotate papers, add and organize items, and find research by meaning.

AI agents: read docs/for-agents.md first. It covers which route to use, setup, and the commands in one place.

Three ways in

One package, zotero-mcp-server, ships all three. Pick the one that fits where you work.

	MCP server	`zotero-cli` + agent skill	Zotero Agent
For	Chat apps that speak MCP but have no shell: Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Cherry Studio, Chorus	Agents with a shell: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, Amp, OpenCode	Chatting inside Zotero, next to the PDF you are reading
How	`zotero-mcp setup`	`zotero-mcp install-skill`	`zotero-cli plugin`, then install the `.xpi` in Zotero
Why	Works in any MCP client	98 tokens in context until it is needed, instead of ~17k	Knows the item, page and selection you have open; answers link to pages
Guide	Getting started	CLI and agent skill	Zotero Agent plugin

What it does

Search by title, author, tag, collection, full text, or meaning (semantic search with local, OpenAI, Gemini, or Ollama embeddings)
Read metadata, BibTeX, full text, and page ranges of PDFs, with page images where text extraction garbles math, figures, and tables
Annotate: highlights and area boxes placed on the exact words, figure, table, or equation; notes; PDF annotation extraction
Write: add papers by DOI, URL, ISBN, BibTeX, or file (with open-access PDFs), manage collections and tags, merge duplicates
Local or web: in local mode reads come straight from zotero.sqlite; writes go to the running Zotero 10+ or through the web API
Scite citation tallies and retraction alerts (optional)

Quick start

1. Install (Python 3.10+):

uv tool install zotero-mcp-server     # or: pip install zotero-mcp-server

New to the command line? Try the community-built Zotero MCP Setup: a macOS GUI installer, one-click scripts for Mac and Windows, and a step-by-step guide.

2. Enable Zotero's local API: in Zotero 7+, open Settings → Advanced and tick Allow other applications on this computer to communicate with Zotero.

3. Connect your assistant:

Claude Desktop

zotero-mcp setup      # auto-configures Claude Desktop

or add the server by hand to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero": {
      "command": "zotero-mcp",
      "env": { "ZOTERO_LOCAL": "true" }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other agents with a shell

Teach the agent to drive zotero-cli (the cheaper route, see below):

zotero-mcp install-skill

Or use the MCP server: for Claude Code, add the same mcpServers entry as above to ~/.claude.json.

ChatGPT, Cherry Studio, Chorus, Autohand and other clients

See Getting started.

Zotero itself (the Zotero Agent chat panel)

zotero-cli plugin     # where the .xpi is, and how to install it

Then in Zotero: Tools > Plugins, the gear, Install Plugin From File. Details: Zotero Agent plugin.

4. Writes (optional): on Zotero 10+, run zotero-mcp authorize-local once and choose Always Allow. On older Zotero, add ZOTERO_API_KEY and ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID to write through the web API.

Then ask things like "Find papers in my library on attention mechanisms", "Summarize the key findings of this paper", or "Highlight the main claims of this PDF".

Optional extras

The base install covers search, reading, annotations, and writes. Heavier features are extras:

Extra	What it adds	Install command
`semantic`	Semantic search via ChromaDB, sentence-transformers, OpenAI/Gemini embeddings	`pip install "zotero-mcp-server[semantic]"`
`pdf`	PDF outlines, page layout and page images (PyMuPDF), EPUB annotations	`pip install "zotero-mcp-server[pdf]"`
`scite`	Scite citation tallies and retraction alerts (no account needed)	`pip install "zotero-mcp-server[scite]"`
`all`	Everything above	`pip install "zotero-mcp-server[all]"`

Update any time with zotero-mcp update.

MCP server or agent skill?

If your agent has a shell (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, Amp, OpenCode …), one command teaches it to drive zotero-cli:

zotero-mcp install-skill

An MCP server sends every tool's schema on every request, before you type anything. The skill costs 98 tokens until the agent decides it is relevant:

Route	In context	Paid
MCP server, default profile (41 tools)	16,815	every request
MCP server, all tools (53)	20,942	every request
Agent skill, frontmatter only	98	always
Agent skill, body loaded	2,400	when it fires
Agent skill + full command reference	6,158	worst case

Use the MCP server when your client speaks MCP but has no shell (Claude Desktop, ChatGPT); use the skill when it has a shell. Both share one config. Details: CLI and agent skill.

Zotero Agent: chat inside Zotero

A plugin that adds a chat panel to Zotero itself, driven by your own Claude Code, Codex or pi. It knows which item and page you have open and works your library through zotero-cli. Answers cite papers with real zotero:// links, so a click opens the PDF at that page. It ships in the wheel: run zotero-cli plugin for the file and the install steps, or paste the one-paragraph prompt in the docs to your agent and let it do the setup. Details: Zotero Agent plugin.

Documentation

Guide	What's in it
Getting started	Connecting Claude Desktop and Claude Code, ChatGPT, Cherry Studio, Chorus, Autohand, and other MCP clients
Configuration	Environment variables, local writes, web and hybrid modes, the SQLite read backend, global search, text extraction, command-line options
Semantic search	Embedding models, building and updating the index
Tools	Every MCP tool, tool groups (`ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS`), related items, PDF annotation extraction
CLI and agent skill	`zotero-cli` command reference, `--json` output, `install-skill`
Zotero Agent plugin	The chat panel inside Zotero: install, first run, agents and sign-in, privacy
Docker	Container images and runtime modes
Troubleshooting	Common problems and fixes
For AI agents	One guide for an agent setting up or using Zotero MCP

Website: stevenyuyy.com/zotero-mcp · Changelog

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Run the tests with uv run pytest tests/. A live integration test plan, meant to be run by Claude against a real library, is in docs/integration-test-plan.md. Changes to the plugin in plugin/ (AGPL-3.0) are accepted on the condition that the maintainer may also release them under other terms, including commercial ones.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed code, fixes, and ideas to Zotero MCP.

Support

Zotero MCP is free and open source.

If it saves you or your lab time, sponsoring helps cover the unglamorous parts: Windows and WSL2 edge cases, Zotero schema changes, group-library support, and the embedding/search infrastructure.

Labs and institutions: the $50 and $200 tiers are meant to be expensable, and include priority triage on the issues affecting your workflow.

License

The MCP server and zotero-cli are MIT (LICENSE). The Zotero Agent plugin in plugin/ is AGPL-3.0-or-later (plugin/LICENSE), the license Zotero itself uses.

Frequently asked questions

What is Zotero MCP?

Search, read, annotate, and add to your Zotero research library, local or web.

How do I install Zotero MCP?

It runs on your machine. In Claude Code: claude mcp add zotero-mcp -e 'ZOTERO_LOCAL=true' -e 'ZOTERO_API_KEY=<your zotero_api_key>' -e 'ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID=<ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID>' -e 'ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE=user' -e 'ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS=<ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS>' -- uvx zotero-mcp-server==0.15.1 serve. For other clients, paste the JSON configuration from this page into their MCP settings.

Does Zotero MCP need an API key?

Yes. It expects ZOTERO_API_KEY, which you set in its configuration.

Is Zotero MCP open source?

Yes. Its code is on GitHub under the MIT license.

Who maintains Zotero MCP?

It is published by 54yyyu. AI.tn lists it but does not maintain or endorse it.

From the official MCP Registry. Listing is not an endorsement: review a server's code and permissions before giving it access to your data.

Server details

Listed in: Official MCP Registry
Publisher: 54yyyu
Category: Search and web
Runs: Local
GitHub stars: ★ 5,587
License: MIT
Language: Python
Last commit: Oct 16, 2026
Open issues: 75
Version: 0.15.1
Published: Oct 16, 2026

io.github.54yyyu/zotero-mcp

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