zotero_item_fulltext
Get the full text content of a Zotero item, given the item key of a parent item or specific attachment.
LABSCO SUMMARY
Three tools is enough because the search returns keys and the other two spend them.
Search narrows in either mode and hands back summaries; the metadata call turns a key into a citation key and publication details, and the full-text call turns the same key into the text of the attachment. That split keeps a wide search cheap — the body of only the item you settled on gets pulled into context. The wider search mode reaches abstracts and full text, which is what you want when you remember an argument rather than a title.
What it is
A server over a Zotero library, reached either through the desktop application's local API or over the Zotero Web API, with search, metadata and full-text retrieval in three tools.
What you get
- Search in two modes — titles, creator names and years for known-item lookup, or a wider mode that also reaches abstracts and full text
- A tag filter alongside the query, and match summaries that are resolved into detail only for the items you choose
- Complete item metadata rendered from whatever fields the API returns, including the citation key, publication details, identifiers and timestamps — fields the server does not recognise still appear rather than being dropped
- The full text of a parent item or of one specific attachment, by item key
Requirements
A Zotero library and uv, or the published Docker image. Two ways in: set ZOTERO_LOCAL=true and run Zotero with "Allow other applications on this computer to communicate with Zotero" enabled under Settings → Advanced, or use the Web API with ZOTERO_API_KEY and ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID, adding ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE=group for a group library. The two differ in one way worth knowing: the local API indexes citation keys in search, the Web API does not. MIT.
Setup effort
One command plus a key — docker pull ghcr.io/kujenga/zotero-mcp:main, then supply credentials
USE CASES
01
Finding the paper you only half remember
Search over titles, creators and years, then turn the item key of the right hit into its citation key and publication details.
02
Quoting a source without trusting your memory of it
Pull the full text of the item or of one specific attachment, and take the citation details from the same key so the quotation and the reference cannot drift apart.
03
Pulling together everything tagged for a review
Filter by tag and search in the wider mode so abstracts and full text are covered too, then read the bodies of only the items that survive the filter.
3 tools
Counted once with only startup setup. Other versions, modes or optional credentials may expose a different list.
zotero_item_metadata
Get the complete metadata for a specific Zotero item, given the item key. Includes the citation key, publication details, identifiers, and timestamps.
zotero_search_items
Search for items in your Zotero library. Returns a summary of each match; look up individual results with zotero_item_metadata or zotero_item_fulltext.
Choosing a query mode:
- 'titleCreatorYear' (the default) searches titles, creator names, and years. Use it for known-item lookup, where you know roughly what the item is called or who wrote it.
- 'everything' additionally searches abstracts, the Extra field, note text, and the full text of attachments. Use it for topic and full-text search, where the term would not appear in a title.
Words match by prefix, and space-separated words must all be present though not necessarily adjacent, so 'cybor insect' matches 'Cyborg Insect'. A hyphen separates words and switches the match to OR: 'oxygen-deprived' matches anything containing 'oxygen' or 'deprived', which is far broader than intended. Write hyphenated terms with a space to require both halves.
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
3 tools when we connected. All three read; nothing writes to your library. Citation-key search works through the local Zotero API but returns nothing over the Web API.
Requires
uvx on PATH
Where it runs
All 3 documented setups run the server on your machine.
CONTEXT COST
Light Standing cost
Rated by the size of the 3 tool definitions that ride along on every turn, not by how many there are
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Server setup
TERMINAL
docker pull ghcr.io/kujenga/zotero-mcp:mainMCP Clients
Claude Desktop — uvx
CLAUDE DESKTOP — UVX · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"zotero": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"zotero-mcp@latest"
],
"env": {
"ZOTERO_LOCAL": "true",
"ZOTERO_API_KEY": "",
"ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID": ""
}
}
}
}Claude Desktop — Docker
CLAUDE DESKTOP — DOCKER · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"zotero": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"--rm",
"-i",
"-e",
"ZOTERO_API_KEY=<YOUR_ZOTERO_API_KEY>",
"-e",
"ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID=<YOUR_ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID>",
"ghcr.io/kujenga/zotero-mcp:main"
]
}
}
}Claude Desktop — local clone
CLAUDE DESKTOP — LOCAL CLONE · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"zotero": {
"command": "<YOUR_PATH_TO_ZOTERO_MCP>/.venv/bin/zotero-mcp",
"env": {}
}
}
}
