Zotero MCP server

This connector enables Claude AI to directly access your local Zotero library, giving it the ability to read and search through your academic references and papers via Zotero 7's local web API.

Installation Options

Install from Source Code

1. Install the uv package manager if you don't have it already:

   # Installation instructions at:
   # https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/
   

2. Clone the repository and set up the environment:

   git clone https://github.com/gyger/mcp-pyzotero.git
   cd mcp-pyzotero
   uv sync
   

3. Enable the local API in Zotero 7 by going to Preferences > Advanced > API and enabling "Allow local connections"

4. Add the server to your local Claude installation:

   uv run mcp install zotero.py
   

Alternative Installation with uvx

Edit Claude Desktop's configuration file:

• On macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• On Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add the following configuration:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "Zotero": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": ["--from", "git+https://github.com/gyger/mcp-pyzotero.git", 
                     "--with", "mcp[cli]",
                     "--with", "pyzotero",
                     "mcp", "run", "zotero.py"
                    ],
        }
    }
}

Configuration

The connector works with local Zotero installations and currently only supports user libraries. By default, it uses the userid 0, but you can set a different user ID if needed:

uv run mcp install zotero.py -v ZOTERO_USER_ID=0

Available Functions

The connector provides several functions that Claude can use to interact with your Zotero library:

Getting Library Information

• get_zotero_summary(): Lists properties about your library including collections, recent items, and tags.

Accessing Collections

• get_collection_items(collection_key): Retrieves all items in a specific collection.

Item Details

• get_items_metadata(item_key): Gets detailed information about specific papers, including abstracts.

Searching

• search_library(query, mode): Searches your Zotero library using two possible modes:
  • everything: Searches across all fields
  • titleCreatorYear: Limits search to titles, creators, and years

Requirements

• Python 3.10 or newer
• Required Python packages:
  • pyzotero
  • mcp[cli]
• A local Zotero installation

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "zotero" '{"command":"uv","args":["run","python","zotero.py"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "zotero": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "run",
                "python",
                "zotero.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "zotero": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "run",
                "python",
                "zotero.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect