Search Zotero Items
zotero_search_itemsSearch your Zotero library by text, tag, type, or collection to find references and view details like title, creators, and abstract.
Instructions
Search the Zotero library for items (references), matching against title, creator names, and full text of attached PDFs.
Args:
query (string, optional): search text. Omit it to browse by filter alone.
item_type (string, optional): filter to one Zotero item type (e.g. "journalArticle")
tag (string, optional): filter to items carrying this exact tag
collection_key (string, optional): search within one collection only
limit (number, default 25, max 100)
start (number, default 0): pagination offset
response_format ('markdown' | 'json', default 'markdown')
Returns matching items with key, title, creators, date, tags, and abstract. Use the item 'key' with zotero_get_item, zotero_update_item, or zotero_get_item_children for further work.
Does NOT create or modify anything - read-only.
Examples:
Use when: "Find items in my library about digital youth mentorship" -> query="digital youth mentorship"
Use when: "Show journal articles tagged 'AI literacy'" -> omit query, item_type="journalArticle", tag="AI literacy"
Don't use when: you already have the item key (use zotero_get_item instead)
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| tag | No | Restrict to items with this exact tag | |
| limit | No | Max results to return (1-100) | |
| query | No | Search text, matched against title, creators, and full text (Zotero 'quicksearch'). Omit to list items filtered only by item_type/tag/collection_key. | |
| start | No | Offset for pagination | |
| item_type | No | Restrict to a Zotero item type, e.g. 'journalArticle', 'book', 'report' | |
| collection_key | No | Restrict the search to a single collection, by its key | |
| response_format | No | Output format: 'markdown' for human-readable or 'json' for machine-readable | markdown |