Pyzotero Agent Skill
Interact with Zotero reference management libraries using the pyzotero Python client. Retrieve, create, update, and delete items, collections, tags, and attachments via the Zotero Web API v3. Use this skill when working with Zotero libraries programmatically, managing bibliographic references, exporting citations, searching library contents, uploading PDF attachments, or building research automation workflows that integrate with Zotero.
Install
one command, takes just this skill from the repositorynpx skills add https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills --skill pyzoteroThe instruction itself
12 sections, as written by the authorPyzotero
Pyzotero is a Python wrapper for the Zotero API v3. Use it to programmatically manage Zotero libraries: read items and collections, create and update references, upload attachments, manage tags, and export citations.
Current upstream: pyzotero 1.13.0 (PyPI, May 2026). Docs: pyzotero.readthedocs.io.
Authentication Setup
Required credentials — get from https://www.zotero.org/settings/keys:
- User ID: shown as "Your userID for use in API calls"
- API Key: create at https://www.zotero.org/settings/keys/new
- Library ID: for group libraries, the integer after
/groups/in the group URL
Store credentials in environment variables or a .env file:
ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID=your_user_id
ZOTERO_API_KEY=your_api_key
ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE=user # or "group"
See references/authentication.md for full setup details.
Installation
uv add pyzotero # Web API client
uv add "pyzotero[cli]" # + local CLI (Zotero 7)
uv add "pyzotero[mcp]" # + MCP server for LLM clients (Zotero 7)
Quick Start
import os
from pyzotero import Zotero
zot = Zotero(
library_id=os.environ['ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID'],
library_type=os.environ.get('ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE', 'user'),
api_key=os.environ['ZOTERO_API_KEY'],
)
# Retrieve top-level items (returns 100 by default)
items = zot.top(limit=10)
for item in items:
print(item['data']['title'], item['data']['itemType'])
# Search by keyword
results = zot.items(q='machine learning', limit=20)
# Retrieve all items (use everything() for complete results)
all_items = zot.everything(zot.items())
Core Concepts
- A
Zoteroinstance is bound to a single library (user or group). All methods operate on that library. - Item data lives in
item['data']. Access fields likeitem['data']['title'],item['data']['creators']. - Pyzotero returns 100 items by default (API default is 25). Use
zot.everything(zot.items())to get all items. - Write methods return
Trueon success or raise aZoteroError.
Reference Files
| File | Contents |
|------|----------|
| references/authentication.md | Credentials, library types, local mode |
| references/read-api.md | Retrieving items, collections, tags, groups |
| references/search-params.md | Filtering, sorting, search parameters |
| references/write-api.md | Creating, updating, deleting items |
| references/collections.md | Collection CRUD operations |
| references/tags.md | Tag access and management |
| references/files-attachments.md | File download and attachment uploads |
| references/exports.md | BibTeX, CSL-JSON, bibliography export |
| references/pagination.md | follow(), everything(), generators |
| references/full-text.md | Full-text content indexing and access |
| references/saved-searches.md | Saved search management |
| references/cli.md | Command-line interface (local Zotero 7) |
| references/mcp.md | MCP server for LLM clients (local Zotero 7) |
| references/error-handling.md | Errors and exception handling |
Common Patterns
Fetch and modify an item
item = zot.item('ITEMKEY')
item['data']['title'] = 'New Title'
zot.update_item(item)
Create an item from a template
template = zot.item_template('journalArticle')
template['title'] = 'My Paper'
template['creators'][0] = {'creatorType': 'author', 'firstName': 'Jane', 'lastName': 'Doe'}
zot.create_items([template])
Export as BibTeX
zot.add_parameters(format='bibtex')
bibtex = zot.top(limit=50)
# bibtex is a bibtexparser BibDatabase object
print(bibtex.entries)
Local mode (read-only, no API key needed)
zot = Zotero(library_id='123456', library_type='user', local=True)
items = zot.items()
Local Zotero 7 (CLI or MCP, no API key)
For searching a locally running Zotero desktop app (including full-text PDF search), use the CLI or MCP server instead of the Web API. Both require Zotero 7 with local API access enabled. See references/cli.md and references/mcp.md.
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How to use it
Take k-dense-ai/pyzotero from the repository into ~/.claude/skills for personal
use, or into .claude/skills inside a project.
The agent identifies a skill by the name field in its header. Two skills with the
same name cannot sit side by side — one of them will be ignored.