Pyzotero: An API Client for the Zotero API

Quickstart

1. uv add pyzotero or pip install pyzotero or conda install conda-forge::pyzotero
2. You'll need the ID of the personal or group library you want to access:
   • Your personal library ID is available here, in the section Your userID for use in API calls
   • For group libraries, the ID can be found by opening the group's page: https://www.zotero.org/groups/groupname, and hovering over the group settings link. The ID is the integer after /groups/
3. You'll also need^† to get an API key here
4. Are you accessing your own Zotero library? library_type is 'user'
5. Are you accessing a shared group library? library_type is 'group'.

Then:

from pyzotero import Zotero
zot = Zotero(library_id, library_type, api_key)  # local=True for read access to local Zotero
items = zot.top(limit=5)
# we've retrieved the latest five top-level items in our library
# we can print each item's item type and ID
for item in items:
    print(f"Item: {item['data']['itemType']} | Key: {item['data']['key']}")

Documentation

Full documentation of available Pyzotero methods, code examples, and sample output is available on Read The Docs.

Installation

• Using uv: uv add pyzotero
• Using pip: pip install pyzotero
• Using Anaconda: conda install conda-forge::pyzotero

Pyzotero also provides an optional CLI and MCP server for working with a local Zotero library. Both require Zotero 7 with local API access enabled: Zotero > Settings > Advanced > "Allow other applications on this computer to communicate with Zotero".

Command-Line Interface

Pyzotero includes an optional CLI for searching and querying your local Zotero library.

Installing the CLI

• Using uv: uv add "pyzotero[cli]"
• Using pip: pip install "pyzotero[cli]"

Or run it directly without installing:

• Using uvx: uvx --from "pyzotero[cli]" pyzotero search -q "your query"
• Using pipx: pipx run --spec "pyzotero[cli]" pyzotero search -q "your query"

Usage

# Search for top-level items
pyzotero search -q "machine learning"

# Search with full-text mode
pyzotero search -q "climate change" --fulltext

# Filter by item type
pyzotero search -q "methodology" --itemtype book --itemtype journalArticle

# Search for top-level items within a collection
pyzotero search --collection ABC123 -q "test"

# Output as JSON for machine processing
pyzotero search -q "climate" --json

# List all collections
pyzotero listcollections

# List available item types
pyzotero itemtypes

Search Behaviour

By default, pyzotero search searches only top-level item titles and metadata fields.

When the --fulltext flag is used, the search expands to include all full-text indexed content, including PDFs and other attachments. Since most full-text content comes from PDF attachments rather than top-level items, the CLI automatically retrieves the parent bibliographic items for any matching attachments. This ensures you receive useful bibliographic records (journal articles, books, etc.) rather than raw attachment items.

Output Format

By default, the CLI outputs human-readable text with a subset of metadata including:

• Title, authors, date, publication
• Volume, issue, DOI, URL
• PDF attachments (with local file paths)

Use the --json flag to output structured JSON.

MCP Server

Pyzotero includes an optional MCP server that exposes your local Zotero library and Semantic Scholar integration as tools for LLMs. This lets sandboxed applications such as Claude Desktop access your Zotero library without needing direct CLI access.

Installing the MCP server

• Using uv: uv add "pyzotero[mcp]"
• Using pip: pip install "pyzotero[mcp]"
• As a standalone tool: uv tool install "pyzotero[mcp]"

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

If pyzotero-mcp is installed:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero": {
      "command": "pyzotero-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Or, without installing, using uvx:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "pyzotero[mcp]", "pyzotero-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

Zotero Library Tools

Tool	Description
search	Search the local Zotero library by query, item type, collection, tag, or full-text content
get_item	Get a single Zotero item by its key
get_children	Get child items (attachments, notes) of a Zotero item
list_collections	List all collections in the library
list_tags	List all tags, optionally filtered by collection
get_fulltext	Get full-text content of a PDF or other attachment

Semantic Scholar Tools

Tool	Description
find_related	Find semantically similar papers using SPECTER2 embeddings
get_citations	Find papers that cite a given paper
get_references	Find papers referenced by a given paper
search_semantic_scholar	Search across Semantic Scholar's paper index

The Semantic Scholar tools can optionally check whether results already exist in your local Zotero library (enabled by default via the check_library parameter).

Development

Installing from Source

git clone git://github.com/urschrei/pyzotero.git
cd pyzotero
git checkout main
# specify --dev if you're planning on running tests
uv sync

Testing

Run pytest . from the top-level directory. This requires the dev dependency group to be installed: uv sync --dev / pip install --group dev

Issues

The latest commits can be found on the main branch, although new features are currently rare. If you encounter an error, please open an issue.

Pull Requests

Pull requests are welcomed. Please read the contribution guidelines. In particular, please base your PR on the main branch.

Versioning

As of v1.0.0, Pyzotero is versioned according to Semver; version increments are performed as follows:

1. MAJOR version will increment with incompatible API changes,
2. MINOR version will increment when functionality is added in a backwards-compatible manner, and
3. PATCH version will increment with backwards-compatible bug fixes.

Citation

Pyzotero has a DOI: You may also cite Pyzotero using CITATION.cff. A sample citation (APA 6th edition) might look like:

Stephan Hügel, The Pyzotero Authors (2019, May 18). urschrei/pyzotero: Version v1.3.15. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2917290

License

Pyzotero is licensed under the Blue Oak Model Licence 1.0.0. See LICENSE.md for details.

† This isn't strictly true: you only need an API key for personal libraries and non-public group libraries.