zotero_update_search_database
Refresh the semantic search embedding database for Zotero items. Updates are incremental by default; use force_rebuild to re-embed all items from scratch.
Instructions
Build or refresh the semantic search embedding database from Zotero items. Run this: (a) after first install, (b) after adding items via zotero_add_by_doi / add_by_url / add_from_file, or (c) when the user has added items directly in Zotero desktop since the last update. By default the update is INCREMENTAL — only new or changed items are re-embedded, so repeated calls are cheap. force_rebuild=True re-embeds ALL items from scratch (slow; use when changing the embedding model or recovering from corruption). limit: optional cap on items processed (useful for smoke-testing). Progress is reported via the MCP context; on large libraries an incremental update is seconds, a full rebuild can take minutes. Requires the [semantic] optional dependency and a configured embedding provider (see config.json). Check status with zotero_get_search_database_status. Example: zotero_update_search_database() after adding a batch of papers.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| force_rebuild | No | Whether to rebuild the entire database from scratch | |
| limit | No | Limit number of items to process (useful for testing) |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| result | Yes |