Zotero MCP MCP Server

Name: Zotero MCP MCP Server
Author: io.github.54yyyu

io.github.54yyyu/zotero-mcp

Repository Registry

What is the Zotero MCP MCP server?

Search, read, annotate, and add to your Zotero research library, local or web.

How to install Zotero MCP

Copy-paste configuration for popular MCP clients.

transport: stdio

Config generated by PluginBench — verify against the source before use.

Environment / auth

ZOTERO_LOCAL
Read from the local Zotero desktop app instead of the web API. Requires Zotero 7+ with the local API enabled in Settings > Advanced.
ZOTERO_API_KEY
secret
Zotero Web API key from https://www.zotero.org/settings/keys. Only needed when ZOTERO_LOCAL is false, or for write operations in hybrid mode.
ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID
Zotero user or group library ID. Only needed when ZOTERO_LOCAL is false, or for write operations in hybrid mode.
ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE
Whether ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID refers to a personal or a group library.
ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS
Which optional tool groups to expose, as a comma-separated list. Every tool is sent to the model on each request, so optional capabilities are off by default. Use 'all' for the full surface, 'none' for core only, named groups (scite, duplicates, discovery, feeds, relations, libraries, search-admin, pdf-geometry) to add them, or a leading '-' to subtract.

Claude Desktop

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "zotero-mcp-server",
        "serve"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ZOTERO_LOCAL": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_LOCAL>",
        "ZOTERO_API_KEY": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_API_KEY>",
        "ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID>",
        "ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE>",
        "ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

~/.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "zotero-mcp-server",
        "serve"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ZOTERO_LOCAL": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_LOCAL>",
        "ZOTERO_API_KEY": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_API_KEY>",
        "ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID>",
        "ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE>",
        "ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "zotero-mcp-server",
        "serve"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ZOTERO_LOCAL": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_LOCAL>",
        "ZOTERO_API_KEY": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_API_KEY>",
        "ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID>",
        "ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE>",
        "ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS>"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "zotero-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "zotero-mcp-server",
        "serve"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ZOTERO_LOCAL": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_LOCAL>",
        "ZOTERO_API_KEY": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_API_KEY>",
        "ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID>",
        "ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE>",
        "ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS": "<YOUR_ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add zotero-mcp --env ZOTERO_LOCAL=<YOUR_ZOTERO_LOCAL> --env ZOTERO_API_KEY=<YOUR_ZOTERO_API_KEY> --env ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID=<YOUR_ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID> --env ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE=<YOUR_ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE> --env ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS=<YOUR_ZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS> -- uvx zotero-mcp-server serve