kaliaboi/mcp-zotero

Overview

kaliaboi/mcp-zotero is a TypeScript-based connector that lets Claude Desktop read and manage collections and sources stored in your Zotero Cloud. It implements the Model Context Protocol to bridge Claude with Zotero's API, enabling direct queries and actions on your reference library.

Best for

Best for
Researchers and academics who use Zotero and want to manage their reference library through Claude Desktop.

Use cases

• Retrieve and organize Zotero collections during research sessions
• Search or filter sources by metadata from within Claude Desktop
• Automate citation management tasks via conversational commands

How to use

Install

npm install -g mcp-zotero

Tools exposed

• get_collections
• get_collection_items
• get_item_details
• search_library
• get_recent

Tested with

Claude Desktop

Example client config

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

Notes

kaliaboi/mcp-zotero is a TypeScript-based connector that lets Claude Desktop read and manage collections and sources stored in your Zotero Cloud. It implements the Model Context Protocol to bridge Claude with Zotero’s API, enabling direct queries and actions on your reference library.

160 stars on GitHub. Last updated 2025-02-04. Licensed MIT.

Use cases

• Retrieve and organize Zotero collections during research sessions
• Search or filter sources by metadata from within Claude Desktop
• Automate citation management tasks via conversational commands

Pros

• Lightweight and focused on a single, well-defined integration
• Leverages the Model Context Protocol for standardized tool interaction
• Active community with 160 stars indicating reliability

Cons

• Requires a Zotero Cloud account and API key setup
• Limited to Zotero’s API capabilities (no local library access)
• Dependent on Claude Desktop as the only supported client

Indexed from awesome-mcp-servers-punkpeye and enriched against its public facts.