zotero

name zotero description Use Zotero Desktop to enable/probe the local API, search a local Zotero library, list items/collections/tags, export BibTeX, insert citation keys into LaTeX or Markdown drafts, read indexed full text and PDF content when requested, and import BibTeX/RIS records into Zotero through the connector server. Use when the user mentions Zotero, citations, references.bib, BibTeX export, local Zotero API, localhost:23119, or adding citations from a Zotero library. Zotero Use this skill to operate a user's local Zotero Desktop library. Connection Setup Before any operation, ensure Zotero is running and the local API is enabled: Open Zotero Desktop application Enable Local API : Edit > Preferences > Advanced > check "Allow other applications on this computer to communicate with Zotero" (可用于 http://localhost:23119/api/ ) Verify connection : PowerShell (Windows) Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://127.0.0.1:23119/api/users/0/collections" -Headers @{ "Zotero-API-Version" = "3" } -UseBasicParsing curl (cross-platform) curl -s -H "Zotero-API-Version: 3" "http://127.0.0.1:23119/api/users/0/collections" If the connection fails with "connection closed": The local API preference is not yet enabled Close and reopen Zotero after checking the preference Or manually add to prefs.js : user_pref("extensions.zotero.httpServer.localAPI.enabled", true); Direct HTTP API Usage When the Python helper script is unavailable or fails, use direct HTTP calls to the Zotero local API (port 23119). List collections (folders) curl -s -H "Zotero-API-Version: 3" "http://127.0.0.1:23119/api/users/0/collections" Response includes key , name , and meta.numItems for each collection. List items in a collection # Top-level items only curl -s -H "Zotero-API-Version: 3" "http://127.0.0.1:23119/api/users/0/collections/{collectionKey}/items/top?limit=25" # All items (including attachments) curl -s -H "Zotero-API-Version: 3" "http://127.0.0.1:23119/api/users/0/collections/{collectionKey}/items?limit=25" Search across library curl -s -H "Zotero-API-Version: 3" "http://127.0.0.1:23119/api/users/0/items?q=transformer&limit=10" Export BibTeX curl -s -H "Zotero-API-Version: 3" "http://127.0.0.1:23119/api/users/0/items?format=bibtex&limit=100" Get item children (attachments) curl -s -H "Zotero-API-Version: 3" "http://127.0.0.1:23119/api/users/0/items/{itemKey}/children" Get attachment file URL curl -s -H "Zotero-API-Version: 3" "http://127.0.0.1:23119/api/users/0/items/{attachmentKey}/file/view/url" Reading PDFs from Zotero Zotero stores PDFs in its local storage. To read PDF content: 1. Find the PDF local path Zotero stores attachments under %USERPROFILE%\Zotero\storage\{attachmentKey}\ . Get the attachment key from the item's children: curl -s -H "Zotero-API-Version: 3" "http://127.0.0.1:23119/api/users/0/items/{itemKey}/children" The response includes links.attachment.href and data.filename . 2. Locate the PDF file The PDF is typically at: %USERPROFILE%\Zotero\storage\{attachmentKey}\{filename}.pdf Example: Get-ChildItem "$env:USERPROFILE\Zotero\storage\HQV9AFD4" 3. Read PDF content with pdfplumber Install pdfplumber (requires Python): py -m pip install pdfplumber Extract text: import pdfplumber pdf_path = r"C:\Users\{user}\Zotero\storage\{attachmentKey}\{filename}.pdf" with pdfplumber. open (pdf_path) as pdf: for i, page in enumerate (pdf.pages[: 5 ]): # first 5 pages text = page.extract_text() print ( f"--- Page {i+ 1 } ---" ) print (text[: 2000 ] if text else "(no text)" ) 4. Alternative: Use Codex bundled Python If system Python lacks pip, use Codex's bundled Python: $python = "C:\Users\{user}\.cache\codex-runtimes\codex-primary-runtime\dependencies\python\python.exe" & $python -m pip install pdfplumber & $python -c "import pdfplumber; ..." Python Helper Script When available, the stdlib-only helper script provides convenience: py <skill-root>/scripts/zotero.py < command > Note for macOS/Linux users: Use python3 instead of py if the py launcher is not available. Fast starts Check readiness: py scripts/zotero.py status --json Enable local API and restart Zotero: py scripts/zotero.py enable --restart Search and export: py scripts/zotero.py search "transformer" --json py scripts/zotero.py export-bibtex --out references.bib Workflow Verify Zotero is running and local API is enabled. Choose connection method : Prefer direct HTTP API calls when the Python helper is unavailable Use the helper script when available for convenience Read-only operations (safe by default): List collections/items via HTTP API Search library Export BibTeX Read PDFs from local storage Attachment/PDF access : Only retrieve when explicitly requested Write operations : Confirm with user before import/save actions Common HTTP API Patterns Summarize a collection # 1. Get collection key curl -s -H "Zotero-API-Version: 3" "http://127.0.0.1:23119/api/users/0/collections" # 2. Get items in collection (extract title, abstract, creators) curl -s -H "Zotero-API-Version: 3" "http://127.0.0.1:23119/api/users/0/collections/{key}/items/top?limit=50" # 3. For each item, get children to find PDF attachment key curl -s -H "Zotero-API-Version: 3" "http://127.0.0.1:23119/api/users/0/items/{itemKey}/children" # 4. Read PDF from %USERPROFILE%\Zotero\storage\{attachmentKey}\ Export collection to BibTeX curl -s -H "Zotero-API-Version: 3" "http://127.0.0.1:23119/api/users/0/collections/{key}/items?format=bibtex" > collection.bib Output standards For inventory/search, return title, creators, year, Zotero item key, and BibTeX key when available. For PDF reading, summarize key findings: research question, method, results, and conclusions. For .bib export, return the absolute output path and entry count. For blockers, name the exact gate: Zotero app missing, local API disabled, port closed, no matching item, or PDF not found. Route details Read references/local-api-routes.md for complete endpoint documentation.