MCP Zotero

MCP Zotero

A Model Context Protocol server for Zotero integration that allows Claude to interact with your Zotero library.

<a href="https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/mjvu0xzzzz"><img width="380" height="200" src="https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/mjvu0xzzzz/badge" alt="Zotero MCP server" /></a>

Setup

  1. Get your Zotero credentials:
    # First, create an API key at https://www.zotero.org/settings/keys # Then use it to get your user ID: curl -H "Zotero-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" https://api.zotero.org/keys/current
    The response will look like:
    { "userID": 123456, "username": "your_username", "access": { "user": { "library": true, "files": true, "notes": true, "write": true } } }
    The userID value is what you need.
  2. Set environment variables:
    export ZOTERO_API_KEY="your-api-key" export ZOTERO_USER_ID="user-id-from-curl"
  3. Verify your credentials:
    # Test that your credentials work: curl -H "Zotero-API-Key: $ZOTERO_API_KEY" \ "https://api.zotero.org/users/$ZOTERO_USER_ID/collections"
    You should see your collections list in the response.
  4. Install and run:
    # Install globally (recommended) npm install -g mcp-zotero mcp-zotero # Or run directly with npx npx mcp-zotero

Integration with Claude Desktop

To use this server with Claude Desktop, add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration:

{ "mcpServers": { "zotero": { "command": "mcp-zotero", "env": { "ZOTERO_API_KEY": YOUR_API_KEY, "ZOTERO_USER_ID": YOUR_USER_ID } } } }

Available Tools

  • get_collections: List all collections in your library
  • get_collection_items: Get items in a specific collection
  • get_item_details: Get detailed information about a paper
  • search_library: Search your entire library
  • get_recent: Get recently added papers

Troubleshooting

If you encounter any issues:

  1. Verify your environment variables are set:
    echo $ZOTERO_API_KEY echo $ZOTERO_USER_ID
  2. Check the installation:
    npm list -g mcp-zotero
  3. Try reinstalling:
    npm uninstall -g mcp-zotero npm install -g mcp-zotero
A
security – no known vulnerabilities (report Issue)
A
license - permissive license
A
quality - confirmed to work

Allows AI to interact with your Zotero library.

  1. Setup
    1. Integration with Claude Desktop
      1. Available Tools
        1. Troubleshooting