zoteus MCP server

Discover the available Zotero tools by keyword — useful for progressive disclosure when you do not want to load every tool definition up front (the code-execution-with-MCP pattern). Pass an optional `query` (matched against tool names, titles, and descriptions) and `detail` ("names" or "descriptions", default "descriptions"). Returns the matching `zotero_*` tools so you can pick the right one for a task. With no query, returns the full catalog.

Add or delete Zotero PDF annotations (highlights, underlines, notes) — the same objects you create in the Zotero PDF reader. `action:"add"` needs `parent` (a regular item key OR a PDF attachment key) and `annotations`: each with `type` (highlight|note|underline, default highlight), `text` (the exact highlighted passage), optional `comment`, `color`, `page` (0-based page index), and `position` ({"pageIndex":N,"rects":[[x1,y1,x2,y2],...]} in PDF points with bottom-left origin — without a position a highlight cannot render in place). `action:"delete"` trashes the annotations in `annotation_keys`. Writes go to the running Zotero desktop app for your personal library (via its connector protocol, or its local-API writes where available), otherwise to the cloud Web API.

Add a stored file attachment (e.g. a PDF full text) under an existing item. Give `parent` (the item key) and either `url` (Zoteus downloads it, then stores it) or `path` (a file on the machine running Zoteus). `filename` and `content_type` are inferred when omitted. Saves through the Zotero desktop app when one is reachable (Zotero 10+ local API; you may be asked once to allow Zoteus write access, choose "Always Allow"), and otherwise through the cloud Web API, which needs ZOTERO_API_KEY with file access and uses your Zotero file-storage quota. `url` works on every setup including a remote/hosted Zoteus that cannot see your desktop, so prefer it over `path` unless the file really is on the server. Returns the new attachment key.

Upload, download, or inspect attachment files. `action`: "upload" stores a file as a Zotero attachment using the full File Storage protocol (provide `url` to have Zoteus fetch it, or `file_path` for a file on the machine running Zoteus; optional `parent_item` to attach it under an item, `title`, `content_type`) and returns the new attachment key; "download" fetches an attachment's file to a local path (provide `item_key`; optional `save_path`, default under the Zoteus data dir) and returns the path and byte count; "info" returns an attachment item's metadata. File bytes are written to / read from disk, never streamed through the conversation. Upload/download use the cloud Web API and your file-storage quota. When Zoteus runs on a different machine than Zotero, `file_path` refers to the server's disk, so use `url` instead.

Produce a formatted bibliography for items already in a Zotero library, rendered server-side by Zotero in a CSL style. Provide `item_keys` and optionally `style` (name or CSL id; Zotero default is chicago-note-bibliography), `locale`, and `linkwrap`. Returns XHTML. Note: this endpoint is item-only and capped at 150 items. For arbitrary CSL-JSON or items not in the library, use zotero_format_bibliography instead.

Create new items or update existing ones in a single batch (the server auto-chunks into groups of 50). `items` is an ARRAY of item-data objects; each object has `itemType` as a **plain string** (e.g. "journalArticle", "book", "preprint", "report") plus its valid fields, `creators` (each `{creatorType, firstName, lastName}` or `{creatorType, name}`), `tags` (`[{tag}]`), and `collections` (array of 8-char collection keys). To UPDATE an existing item, also include its `key` and current `version`; to CREATE, omit both. Every item is validated against the Zotero schema before anything is sent — if any item is invalid, nothing is written and the problems are returned. Use zotero_schema to discover valid fields/creator types for an itemType. Writes go to the cloud Web API (requires ZOTERO_API_KEY). Example: ```json {"items": [{"itemType": "journalArticle", "title": "The Role of Metadata in Machine Learning", "creators": [{"creatorType": "author", "firstName": "Ada", "lastName": "Lovelace"}], "date": "2024-01-15", "DOI": "10.1234/example.5678", "tags": [{"tag": "ml"}], "collections": ["ABCD1234"]}]} ```

PERMANENTLY and IRREVERSIBLY delete items by key (this purges them — it is NOT the trash). Prefer zotero_trash_items, which is reversible. This tool is disabled unless the server is started with ZOTEUS_ALLOW_DELETE=true, and additionally requires `confirm: true` on every call. For the personal library it goes through the running Zotero desktop app when that app supports local-API writes, otherwise the cloud Web API. The current library version is used as a precondition; the operation auto-chunks to 50 keys per request.

Export items in a bibliographic format and return the raw text. Choose `format` (bibtex, biblatex, better-biblatex, ris, csljson, csv, mods, tei, coins, rdf_*, refer, wikipedia, bookmarks). `biblatex` is Zotero's STOCK translator via the cloud Web API; BBT-specific options (citation-key generation, sentence-case, biblatexExtendedNameFormat, unicode→LaTeX) are NOT available there. `better-biblatex` uses the local desktop Better BibTeX plugin (your configured BBT export options apply) and is only available when desktop Zotero + BBT are running; it degrades to built-in `biblatex` otherwise. Narrow with `item_keys`, `collection_key`, `q`, or `item_type`. A `limit` (default 50) is always applied. For styled human bibliographies use the bibliography tools.

Render a formatted bibliography in any CSL style using citeproc-js — no Zotero library write required. Provide either `items` (an array of CSL-JSON objects, e.g. from zotero_import or external metadata) or `item_keys` (library items, which are exported to CSL-JSON first). Choose `style` (a name like "APA 7th" or a CSL id; default "apa"), `locale` (default "en-US"), and `format` (html/text/rtf; default html). The formatted bibliography text is returned. Use this for arbitrary items or styles; for items already in the library you can also use zotero_bibliography (server-rendered).

Not a search — to find which items contain a term, use `zotero_search_items` with qmode=everything. This reads, sets, or tracks one attachment's already-extracted full text by key. `action`: "get" returns the indexed text content plus indexing stats for an attachment item (only attachment items have full text; returns found:false if none); "set" stores extracted text for an attachment (provide `content` and the indexing counts); "since" returns the map of attachment keys whose full text changed after a given library `version` (useful for incremental indexing). Only attachment items support full text. "get" and "since" read through the running Zotero desktop app when there is one (no cloud key needed), otherwise the cloud Web API; "set" always writes via the cloud Web API.

Retrieve an item's PDF text for grounding. Pass a parent `item_key` (its best PDF attachment is resolved automatically) or an attachment key. With `query`, returns the top relevant passages with locators (char offsets, nearest section, and a page); with `page_range` (e.g. "3-7"), returns that span; with neither, returns a truncated head. Text comes from Zotero's full-text index when available; when the attachment is NOT indexed yet, the PDF itself is downloaded and parsed on the fly (`fallback`, on by default — set `fallback:false` to disable), so unindexed PDFs still return text (marked fulltextSource:"pdf"). Page numbers are exact in that case, and otherwise an estimate (pageApprox) unless `precise_pages:true`, which re-extracts the PDF for exact pages when possible (otherwise it degrades to approximate with a notice). Read-only; the indexed text is served by the running Zotero desktop app when there is one, otherwise by the cloud Web API. Use this to cite a claim with a page after finding an item via zotero_search_items / zotero_semantic_search.

Fetch one item by its key, returning the full item record (itemType, all bibliographic fields, creators, tags, collections, relations, version). Optionally set `include_children` to also return the item's child notes and attachments. Use `include` to additionally request rendered output: "bib" (formatted bibliography entry), "citation" (inline citation), or "csljson" (CSL-JSON for downstream formatting); combine with `style` (a CSL style id, default chicago-note-bibliography) and `locale`. The returned `version` is required if you later update or delete this item.

List the group libraries the current API key can access, with each group's id, name, type, item count, and edit permissions. Use a returned group id with the `library_id`/`library_type:"group"` parameters of other tools to operate on that group library. Requires a cloud API key.

Resolve bibliographic metadata to Zotero item-data and optionally save it to your library. `action: "by_identifier"` resolves a DOI, ISBN, PMID, arXiv id, or ADS bibcode (set `identifier`); `action: "by_url"` scrapes a web page (set `url`) and may return multiple choices to pick from. Set `save_to_library:true` (and optionally `collection_key`) to persist the resolved items — saved into the running Zotero desktop app when available, otherwise via the cloud Web API (requires ZOTERO_API_KEY); otherwise the resolved metadata is returned without saving. When a Zotero translation-server is reachable (ZOTEUS_TRANSLATION_SERVER_URL, default http://127.0.0.1:1969) it is the primary path; if none is running, DOI and arXiv ids fall back to built-in resolution (OpenAlex/Crossref and the arXiv API respectively) — the result then carries a `source` field ("scholar" or "arxiv"). ISBN/PMID/bibcode and web URLs require a translation-server.

Manage the local hybrid-search index used by zotero_semantic_search. Every job runs in the background on the server, so this tool returns immediately and never blocks on large libraries. THREE write actions, and picking the right one matters: `action: "update"` is the cheap one and should be the default for a library that is already indexed; `action: "build"` and its alias `action: "refresh"` both rebuild the WHOLE index from scratch, which on a large library means many minutes and, with an API embedding provider, real spend. `action: "build"`/"refresh" pages the library's top-level items (100-at-a-time, stopping at the server's item cap, ZOTEUS_INDEX_MAX_ITEMS, default 5000, or at a smaller `limit` if one is given), indexes their text (title, abstract, creators, tags) for BM25 keyword search and, if an embedding provider is configured, for vector search, persisting partial progress atomically as it goes; use it for the first build, after changing the embedding model, or to widen a previously capped build. `action: "update"` instead fetches only the items changed since the version the index recorded (Zotero's `?since=`), re-chunks and re-embeds just those, and removes items the library no longer holds (diffed from a cheap keys-only `?format=versions` census, since the deletion log is cloud-only); untouched items are never re-embedded, so adding a handful of items costs seconds instead of a full rebuild. Update falls back to a full rebuild by itself, and says so in `updateNotice`, when a delta would be wrong: no version stamp recorded yet, the library is now served by a different Zotero API (the desktop app and the cloud number their versions independently), or the embedding model changed. Set `fulltext:true` to ALSO index the body text Zotero extracted from each item's attachments, which is what makes semantic search match a claim buried in a PDF rather than only its title and abstract; it is off by default because it multiplies build time and index size (default cap: 40000 characters per item, tunable with `fulltext_max_chars`), and only attachments Zotero has already extracted are available. Start a job, then POLL `action: "status"` every few seconds until `state` is "done" (or "error"); calling build or update again while one is running just returns current progress. `action: "status"` reports `state` (idle|building|done|error), `operation` (build|update), fetch/embed progress, `itemsRemoved`, index size, the active embedder, `libraryVersion`/`libraryBackend` (the version stamp an update diffs from), `itemsTotal`/`itemsAvailable` (which differ, with a warning, when the cap stopped the crawl short of the library), and (when full text was requested) `fulltextItems`/`fulltextPassages` plus `fulltextReason` if it produced nothing. It also reports where the index is stored (`storage`: sqlite or memory, set by ZOTEUS_INDEX_BACKEND), `storageNotice` when opening that store imported or refused an older JSON index, and `persistError` when the index could not be written to disk at all. `action: "stop"` cancels a running job (partial data is kept and stays searchable; a stopped update leaves the version stamp untouched so the next one repeats the delta). A partially built index is always usable for keyword search. Local embeddings are CPU-bound (see ZOTEUS_EMBEDDINGS), so large builds take a while: poll status rather than retrying build.

List collections in a Zotero library (key, name, parent collection key, item count). Read-only — available even in read-only mode (unlike zotero_manage_collections, which also writes). Use the keys to scope zotero_search_items (collectionKey) or zotero_tag_audit (scope.collection_keys).

List tags in a Zotero library with their usage count and whether each was auto-applied by Zotero. Optional `q` substring filter and `limit`. Read-only — available even when the connector runs in read-only mode (unlike zotero_manage_tags, which also writes). For taxonomy hygiene use zotero_tag_audit.

List, create, rename, reparent, or delete collections, and move items into or out of a collection. Set `action` to one of: "list" (all collections with key/name/parent), "create" (needs `name`, optional `parent_collection` key — omit for top-level), "rename" (needs `collection_key` + `name`), "reparent" (needs `collection_key`; `parent_collection` key, or omit to move to top level), "delete" (needs `collection_key`), "add_items" / "remove_items" (need `collection_key` + `item_keys`; collection membership lives on each item). All actions except "list" write to the cloud Web API.

List tags, or add/remove tags on items. Set `action` to "list" (returns library tags; supports `q` substring filter), "add" (add `tags` to each of `item_keys`), or "remove" (remove `tags` from each of `item_keys`). Tags are stored on the parent item's tag array, so add/remove edits the items (cloud Web API). Tag names are case-sensitive.

List, create, or delete saved-search DEFINITIONS. NOTE: the Zotero cloud Web API stores saved searches but does NOT execute them — to get the items a saved search matches, run an equivalent zotero_search_items query (or use the desktop local API when available). Set `action` to "list" (all saved searches with their conditions), "create" (needs `name` and `conditions`, each `{condition, operator, value}`), or "delete" (needs `search_key`). Writes go to the cloud Web API.

Return the Zotero data model so you never hardcode item shapes. With no arguments, returns the schema version and the list of all item type names. With `item_type`, returns the valid fields and creator types for that type (the "primary" creator type is listed first). Use this to validate an item before creating or updating it: notes, attachments, and annotations are item types too but bypass the normal field/creator model.

Explore the EXTERNAL scholarly graph around a paper (OpenAlex, Crossref fallback). This does NOT search, list, or read your Zotero library — it queries the open web, and results are works from the scholarly web, not your items. To search or inspect YOUR library use zotero_search_items, zotero_semantic_search, zotero_get_item, or zotero_list_tags instead. Provide a `doi` and an `action`: "lookup" (metadata + citation count), "references" (works this paper cites), "citations" (works that cite this paper, most-cited first), or "related" (similar works). Set `include_in_library: true` to additionally flag which results your library already holds (off by default because it scans the library); otherwise every result is just a web record. `limit` caps results (default 20). Read-only; calls external scholarly APIs.

Search or list items in a Zotero library or collection. Quick search via `q` (`qmode`: titleCreatorYear=default, matches title/creator/year only; everything=also searches notes & attachment full text). For presence checks ("is X in my library?"): a default-mode `q` that matches nothing auto-retries once in `everything` mode, so terms appearing only inside PDF text don't false-negative — pin `qmode` explicitly to disable. An empty `everything` result is reported as strong-but-not-conclusive, since un-indexed/scanned/un-synced PDFs aren't full-text searchable. Also supports boolean `itemType` filters (use `||` for OR, repeat or `&&` for AND, leading `-` to negate, e.g. "journalArticle || book", "-attachment"), boolean `tag` filters (same syntax; escape a literal leading hyphen as "\-"), `since` (version) for incremental queries, `sort`/`direction`, and `limit`/`start` paging. Set `response_format` to "detailed" to also return technical fields (version, tags, collections, DOI, url) needed before chaining a write; the default "concise" returns high-signal projections (key, itemType, title, creators, date). Reads are served from the fast desktop local API when available, otherwise the cloud Web API. Returns `totalResults` so you can tell when to page rather than assuming you saw everything. For conceptual/"papers about X" queries by meaning rather than exact fields, use zotero_semantic_search instead.

Search the library by meaning, not just keywords. Combines BM25 keyword scoring with vector similarity (when an embedding provider is configured) via reciprocal-rank fusion, and returns the best-matching items with a snippet and score. By default it searches item metadata and abstracts; if the index was built with `fulltext` on (zotero_index fulltext:true, or ZOTEUS_INDEX_FULLTEXT=true) it also searches the body text of attachments, and a hit whose snippet came from a PDF body is marked source:"fulltext". `mode`: "auto" (hybrid, default), "keyword" (BM25 only), or "semantic" (vector only). "semantic" needs vectors in the index: when the configured embedder is not running (e.g. the on-device model runtime is not installed) it returns an error naming the cause instead of an empty result set, and "auto" keeps working as keyword search while saying so. The index must be built once before first use: when it is empty this tool starts a background build automatically (`auto_build`, on by default) and tells you to poll zotero_index action:"status" and retry — pass `auto_build:false` to opt out. For exact field/tag/itemType filtering use zotero_search_items instead; use this for conceptual/"papers about X" queries. To read the actual passages of a found item (with page locators) use zotero_get_fulltext.

Resolve a human citation-style name to a valid CSL style id and confirm it is available, or list common style aliases. `action: "resolve"` maps names like "APA 7th", "IEEE", "Vancouver", "Chicago", "MLA", "Nature" to the correct CSL id (e.g. apa, ieee, modern-language-association) and verifies the style can be fetched; pass the returned `styleId` as the `style` argument to zotero_format_bibliography or zotero_bibliography. `action: "list"` returns the built-in common aliases (any id from the CSL styles repository also works). Dependent styles are resolved to their independent parent automatically when formatting.

Return what changed in a library since a given version, for efficient incremental sync. Provide `since` (a library version; 0 = everything). Returns, per object type (items/collections/searches/tags), the map of keys→version that changed after `since`, plus the deletion log (keys removed since `since`). This is the version-based delta the Zotero sync algorithm uses — fetch the changed keys, then pull only those with zotero_get_item/zotero_search_items. Reads via the cloud Web API.

Audit a library against a controlled tag vocabulary with priority tiers. Provide the vocabulary inline as `vocabulary` (or a JSON file via `vocabulary_path`): { tags:[{name,tier?}], tiers?:[{name,required?}] }. Reports (1) off-taxonomy tags (library tags not in the vocabulary; Zotero auto-applied tags are bucketed separately unless include_auto), (2) items missing a tag from each required tier, and (3) optional per-collection coverage when `scope.collection_keys` is given. Read-only. Tag/auto-tag enumeration uses the cloud Web API.

Move items to the trash (the safe, REVERSIBLE default) or restore them. This sets the `deleted` flag (1=trash, 0=restore) — it is NOT a permanent delete, so trashed items can be recovered here or in the Zotero app. Use this instead of zotero_delete_items unless you truly need irreversible removal. Provide `item_keys` and optional `action` (default "trash"). Writes go to the running Zotero desktop app for your personal library (via its local-API writes where available), otherwise to the cloud Web API.

Partially update one item (HTTP PATCH — only the fields you supply change; omitted fields are preserved). Provide `item_key` and a `patch` object of the fields to change (e.g. {"title":"New","extra":"note"} or {"tags":[{"tag":"reviewed"}]}). All field values are plain JSON strings/numbers/booleans/arrays — never wrapped in nested objects (e.g. `"title": "New"`, NOT `"title": {"title": "New"}`). Optimistic concurrency is handled for you: if you pass the item's `version` it is used; otherwise the current version is fetched first. If the item changed on the server in the meantime (412), the update is automatically re-fetched and retried once. Writes go to the cloud Web API. Set `dry_run:true` to preview the field-level before→after diff without writing (arrays like tags/collections are replaced wholesale by PATCH, not merged; a dry_run call performs no write).

Resolve the current Zotero identity (userID, username, display name) and per-library access scopes from the configured API key, and report which library backends are available (cloud Web API and/or the desktop local API). Call this first to discover the userID — never ask the user to type a numeric ID. If no API key is configured, the server runs in local-only read mode against the desktop library (users/0).