mcp zotero

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

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.

1. Set environment variables:

export ZOTERO_API_KEY="your-api-key"
export ZOTERO_USER_ID="user-id-from-curl"

1. 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.

1. 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

1. Check the installation:

npm list -g mcp-zotero

1. Try reinstalling:

   npm uninstall -g mcp-zotero
   npm install -g mcp-zotero