zotero-mcp MCP — Casos de uso, Instalar & Demo ao vivo

Por que usar

Principais recursos

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

Demo ao vivo

Como fica na prática

zotero.replay ▶ pronto

0/0

Instalar

Escolha seu cliente

~/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
    }
  }
}

Abra Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config. Reinicie após salvar.

~/.cursor/mcp.json · .cursor/mcp.json

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

Cursor usa o mesmo esquema mcpServers que o Claude Desktop. Config de projeto vence a global.

VS Code → Cline → MCP Servers → Edit

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

Clique no ícone MCP Servers na barra lateral do Cline, depois "Edit Configuration".

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

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

Mesmo formato do Claude Desktop. Reinicie o Windsurf para aplicar.

~/.continue/config.json

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

O Continue usa um array de objetos de servidor em vez de um map.

~/.config/zed/settings.json

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

Adicione em context_servers. Zed recarrega automaticamente ao salvar.

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

Uma linha só. Verifique com claude mcp list. Remova com claude mcp remove.

Casos de uso

Usos do mundo real: zotero-mcp

How to draft a literature review from your Zotero library

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

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

Pré-requisitos

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

Fluxo

Scope the review

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

→ 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.✓ Copiado

→ 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.✓ Copiado

→ Draft with bracketed citations mapping back to your library

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

Armadilhas

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

Combine com: arxiv

Summarize your highlights across a Zotero collection

👤 Avid readers, knowledge workers ⏱ ~20 min beginner

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

Fluxo

Pull annotations by color/tag

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

→ 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.✓ Copiado

→ Themed notes with citations

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

Combine com: anytype

Auto-tag and annotate newly added Zotero papers

👤 Library maintainers ⏱ ~15 min intermediate

Quando usar: You drop papers into a 'Unsorted' collection and want them triaged weekly.

Fluxo

List items added this week in 'Unsorted'

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

→ 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.✓ Copiado

→ Items now tagged; summary saved as a note attachment

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

Armadilhas

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

Combinações

Combine com outros MCPs para 10× de alavancagem

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.✓ Copiado

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.✓ Copiado

Ferramentas

O que este MCP expõe

Ferramenta	Entradas	Quando chamar	Custo
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

Custo e limites

O que custa rodar

Cota de API: None — fully local
Tokens por chamada: Full PDF fetches can hit 30k+ tokens; chunk before feeding
Monetário: Free (Zotero is free; the plugin is MIT)
Dica: Prefer search_fulltext returning snippets over get_content returning the whole PDF

Segurança

Permissões, segredos, alcance

Armazenamento de credenciais: None — plugin runs inside Zotero; local HTTP on 127.0.0.1:23120

Saída de dados: None in read mode; writes modify zotero.sqlite locally

Solução de problemas

Erros comuns e correções

MCP client can't connect on port 23120

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

Verificar: 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

Alternativas

zotero-mcp vs. outros

Alternativa	Quando usar	Troca
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

Mais

Recursos

📖 Leia o README oficial no GitHub

🐙 Ver issues abertas

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