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54yyyu/zotero-mcp

An MCP server and CLI that connect your Zotero research library to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other AI assistants for search, reading and annotation.

Open-source alternative to:Zotero Chat

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What is it?

Zotero MCP exposes a Zotero research library to AI assistants through the Model Context Protocol. Once connected, an assistant can search items by title, author, tag, collection, full text or meaning, read metadata, BibTeX and PDF text or page images, and add highlights, notes and area boxes to papers. It can also add items by DOI, URL, ISBN, BibTeX or file, manage collections and tags, and merge duplicates.

The package offers three entry points. An MCP server works with chat apps that have no shell, such as Claude Desktop and ChatGPT. A zotero-cli command plus an agent skill serves agents that run in a terminal, such as Claude Code, Codex and Cursor, with a much smaller token footprint in context. A Zotero Agent plugin adds a chat panel inside Zotero that knows the open item and page and links answers to the cited pages.

In local mode, reads come directly from zotero.sqlite and writes go through the running Zotero 10+ or the web API. Semantic search supports local, OpenAI, Gemini or Ollama embeddings, and Scite citation data is optional.

Key features

  • 01Search by metadata, full text or semantic meaning across the library
  • 02Read metadata, BibTeX, PDF text ranges and page images
  • 03Create highlights, area boxes and notes anchored to the PDF
  • 04Add papers by DOI, URL, ISBN, BibTeX or file, and manage collections and tags
  • 05Works with MCP clients or through a zotero-cli agent skill

Use cases

  • Asking Claude or ChatGPT questions about papers stored in your Zotero library
  • Letting a coding agent such as Claude Code or Cursor look up references while writing
  • Chatting with a paper inside Zotero and jumping to cited pages
  • Building a semantic search index over a large research collection

Quick start

  1. 1

    Install the package with uv

    uv tool install zotero-mcp-server
  2. 2

    Enable Zotero's local API in Settings > Advanced (manual step, no command)

  3. 3

    Connect your assistant by running the setup command

    zotero-mcp setup

Things to know

  • Writing to Zotero 10+ requires running authorize-local, and older Zotero versions need a web API key.
  • Heavier features such as semantic search and PDF page images need optional extras with extra dependencies.
  • The Zotero Agent plugin is licensed under AGPL-3.0, while the server and CLI are MIT.

In collections

MCP servers for Claude CodeClaude Code tools, skills & pluginsOpen-source AI agent frameworks & appsMCP servers

Topics

#mcp#zotero#research-tools#citation-management#semantic-search#claude#llm-agents#ai-agent#chatgpt#claude-code

FAQ

What is zotero-mcp?
An MCP server and CLI that connect your Zotero research library to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other AI assistants for search, reading and annotation. Zotero MCP exposes a Zotero research library to AI assistants through the Model Context Protocol. Once connected, an assistant can search items by title, author, tag, collection, full text or meaning, read metadata, BibTeX and PDF text or page images, and add highlights, notes and area boxes to papers. It can also add items by DOI, URL, ISBN, BibTeX or file, manage collections and tags, and merge duplicates.
Is zotero-mcp free to use? What license does it have?
zotero-mcp is open source under the MIT license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is zotero-mcp still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to zotero-mcp was on Nov 6, 2026.
What can I use zotero-mcp for?
Asking Claude or ChatGPT questions about papers stored in your Zotero library Letting a coding agent such as Claude Code or Cursor look up references while writing Chatting with a paper inside Zotero and jumping to cited pages Building a semantic search index over a large research collection
How do I install zotero-mcp?
Install the package with uv: uv tool install zotero-mcp-server Enable Zotero's local API in Settings > Advanced (manual step, no command) Connect your assistant by running the setup command: zotero-mcp setup
Where can I get zotero-mcp?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/54yyyu/zotero-mcp

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