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Zotero MCP Server

local only

Zotero MCP runs on your own machine — the client starts it, so there is no endpoint to ping. 1 332 installs a week from pypi. Last commit 7 Aug 2026.

Search your Zotero library, retrieve item metadata, and read full text from AI assistants.

Installs per day peak 229 · avg 163 · +12% w/w
a month agotoday
1 332
Installs / week
pypi · zotero-mcp
162
Stars
3 open issues
7 Aug 2026
Last commit
from GitHub
MIT
License
Python

Nothing serious here today

Today is the operative word: we check Zotero MCP every 15 minutes and re-read its code on every release. Watch it and you find out the day that stops being true.

Three servers free · no card

Connect this server

This server runs on your own machine — install it with the package manager and the client starts it for you. Package name taken from the official registry entry.

run in your terminal
claude mcp add zotero-mcp -- uvx zotero-mcp
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "zotero-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}
~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.zotero-mcp]
command = "uvx"
args = ["zotero-mcp"]
.cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "zotero-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}
.vscode/mcp.json
{
  "servers": {
    "zotero-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "zotero-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Optional settings from the registry entry, left out of the block above: ZOTERO_LOCAL (Use the local API from the Zotero desktop app instead of the Web API. Requires Zotero to be running with 'Allow other applications on this computer to communicate with Zotero' enabled under Settings > Advanced), ZOTERO_API_KEY (Zotero Web API key from https://www.zotero.org/settings/keys. Not required when ZOTERO_LOCAL is true), ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID (Zotero library ID (your user ID for user libraries). Not required when ZOTERO_LOCAL is true), ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE (Whether ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID refers to a user or group library).

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Zotero MCP — questions

Answers built from our own checks of this server.

Why is there no uptime for Zotero MCP?
Zotero MCP runs on your own machine over stdio — there is no network address to reach, so uptime cannot be measured for it by anyone. What can be measured is adoption: the pypi package zotero-mcp was installed 1 332 times last week.
How do I connect Zotero MCP?
Copy the ready config from this page. We generate it for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor and VS Code, each in the form that client actually reads. It runs locally, so the command pulls zotero-mcp straight from pypi; nothing to host, nothing to sign up for.
How many people use Zotero MCP?
The pypi package zotero-mcp was installed 1 332 times in the last week. Week over week that is +12%. We show installs rather than GitHub stars on purpose: a star is a bookmark, an install is someone actually running it.
Is Zotero MCP open source?
Yes — it is published under the MIT licence, written in Python, 162 stars on GitHub and 3 open issues. The source link is on this page, so you can read exactly what it does with your data before you connect it.