zotero-mcp MCP — 사용 사례, 설치 & 라이브 데모

왜 쓰나요

핵심 기능

Installs as a Zotero plugin (.xpi), no separate server process
20 tools: search, semantic search, full-text, annotations, notes, tags
Reads cached PDF full text from Zotero's database
100% local — library data never leaves your machine

라이브 데모

실제 사용 모습

zotero.replay ▶ 준비됨

0/0

설치

클라이언트 선택

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "zotero-mcp"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config 열기. 저장 후 앱 재시작.

~/.cursor/mcp.json · .cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "zotero-mcp"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Cursor는 Claude Desktop과 동일한 mcpServers 스키마 사용. 프로젝트 설정이 전역보다 우선.

VS Code → Cline → MCP Servers → Edit

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "zotero-mcp"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Cline 사이드바의 MCP Servers 아이콘 클릭 후 "Edit Configuration" 선택.

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "zotero-mcp"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop과 같은 형식. Windsurf 재시작 후 적용.

~/.continue/config.json

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "zotero",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "zotero-mcp"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Continue는 맵이 아닌 서버 오브젝트 배열 사용.

~/.config/zed/settings.json

{
  "context_servers": {
    "zotero": {
      "command": {
        "path": "npx",
        "args": [
          "-y",
          "zotero-mcp"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

context_servers에 추가. 저장 시 Zed가 핫 리로드.

claude mcp add zotero -- npx -y zotero-mcp

한 줄 명령. claude mcp list로 확인, claude mcp remove로 제거.

사용 사례

실전 활용법: zotero-mcp

How to draft a literature review from your Zotero library

👤 Researchers, PhD students, analysts ⏱ ~45 min intermediate

언제 쓸까: You've collected 50+ papers on a topic in Zotero and need to synthesize them into a coherent review.

사전 조건

Zotero desktop with zotero-mcp plugin installed — Download .xpi from releases, Tools → Add-ons → Install from file
PDFs attached and indexed — Right-click collection → Rebuild Full-Text Index if search is empty

흐름

Scope the review

Semantically search my Zotero collection 'Agentic AI' for papers on tool selection strategies. Return top 15.✓ 복사됨

→ Ranked list with titles, authors, year, abstract snippet
Extract key claims per paper

For each of those 15, read the full text and extract (a) the main claim, (b) method, (c) dataset or setting.✓ 복사됨

→ Structured table you can sort
Synthesize with citations

Write a 3-page review clustering these by approach. Cite every claim with Zotero item keys in (Author, Year) style.✓ 복사됨

→ Draft with bracketed citations mapping back to your library

결과: A first-draft review grounded in papers you actually own, every claim traceable to a Zotero item.

함정

Full-text search returns nothing — Zotero only indexes text-layer PDFs. Run OCR on image PDFs first
Citations hallucinated — Ask for the Zotero item key (e.g. ABCD1234) alongside every citation — you can paste it into a verifier

함께 쓰기: arxiv

Summarize your highlights across a Zotero collection

👤 Avid readers, knowledge workers ⏱ ~20 min beginner

언제 쓸까: You've highlighted things across 30 books/papers and want a thematic summary.

흐름

Pull annotations by color/tag

Search my yellow highlights in collection 'Product Strategy'. Return the highlighted text plus the parent item.✓ 복사됨

→ List of highlights grouped by source
Cluster into themes

Cluster the highlights into 5-7 themes. For each theme, give a 2-sentence synthesis with the source items.✓ 복사됨

→ Themed notes with citations

결과: Scattered highlights turned into a personal knowledge-base note.

함께 쓰기: anytype

Auto-tag and annotate newly added Zotero papers

👤 Library maintainers ⏱ ~15 min intermediate

언제 쓸까: You drop papers into a 'Unsorted' collection and want them triaged weekly.

흐름

List items added this week in 'Unsorted'

List Zotero items added in the last 7 days to my 'Unsorted' collection.✓ 복사됨

→ Inbox of new items
Generate tags and a 1-line summary per item

For each, propose 3-5 tags and a 1-line summary based on abstract. Apply them via the write tools.✓ 복사됨

→ Items now tagged; summary saved as a note attachment

결과: A self-maintaining Zotero library with consistent tagging.

함정

Write tools modify your library irreversibly — no undo — Run against a test collection first, or back up zotero.sqlite before enabling writes

조합

다른 MCP와 조합해 10배 효율

zotero + arxiv

Arxiv-first exploration then auto-save to Zotero for reading

Find 10 recent arxiv papers on retrieval-augmented agents, then add the ones I don't already have to my 'Agents' Zotero collection.✓ 복사됨

zotero + anytype

Literature notes live in Anytype; source PDFs stay in Zotero

For the top 10 papers in my 'Agents' collection, create an Anytype page per paper with the summary and a backlink to the Zotero item key.✓ 복사됨

도구

이 MCP가 노출하는 것

도구	입력	언제 호출	비용
search_library	query: str, filters?: { collection, tag, itemType }	Text/metadata search across your library	0 — local DB
search_fulltext	query: str	Search inside PDF bodies (only indexed text layers)	0
semantic_search	query: str, top_k?: int	Concept-level match instead of keyword	0 — local embeddings
search_annotations	color?, tag?, query?	Pull your highlights/notes	0
get_item_details	item_key: str	Expand a reference from a search hit	0
get_content	item_key or attachment_key	Feed the full paper to Claude	0

비용 및 제한

운영 비용

API 쿼터: None — fully local
호출당 토큰: Full PDF fetches can hit 30k+ tokens; chunk before feeding
금액: Free (Zotero is free; the plugin is MIT)
팁: Prefer search_fulltext returning snippets over get_content returning the whole PDF

보안

권한, 시크릿, 파급범위

자격 증명 저장: None — plugin runs inside Zotero; local HTTP on 127.0.0.1:23120

데이터 외부 송신: None in read mode; writes modify zotero.sqlite locally

문제 해결

자주 발생하는 오류와 해결

MCP client can't connect on port 23120

Open Zotero → Preferences → Zotero MCP Plugin → verify 'Enable server' is checked and port isn't blocked

확인: curl http://127.0.0.1:23120/health

Full-text search returns empty

PDF has no text layer. Right-click item → Reindex Item, or run OCR via Zotero's built-in OCR

Write operations forbidden

Enable write mode in plugin preferences — off by default for safety

대안

zotero-mcp 다른 것과 비교

대안	언제 쓰나	단점/장점
Official Zotero Web API	You need cloud sync access from a remote server	Requires API key; rate-limited; no semantic search
Readwise MCP	Your highlights live in Readwise not Zotero	Cloud-based, subscription required

zotero-mcp