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Zotero Command-Line Helper

Lets an agent read, cite, export and annotate your Zotero library through a command-line tool.

Source Download skill
Repository
HKUDS/CLI-Anything
Stars
58,084
Licence
Apache-2.0
Files
1 file

What it does

This skill teaches an AI agent to operate Zotero, a popular desktop app for managing research papers and references, by running a command-line tool called cli-anything-zotero. Instead of rebuilding Zotero, it uses Zotero's own local interfaces to look up collections, items, tags and saved searches, generate citations and bibliographies in styles such as APA, export items, and add child notes to existing items. Some write features are marked experimental.

Great for

  • Researchers who want an agent to pull citations or bibliographies from their Zotero library
  • Students who want help summarising or organising saved papers and notes
  • Developers building LLM workflows that need structured context from a Zotero library

Skip it if

  • Users without Zotero desktop installed or without the Local API enabled, since most read and citation commands will fail
  • Anyone expecting stable bulk edits to their library: SQLite write commands are experimental and may corrupt or alter data if misused
  • Users who need to attach files to existing items, which the documentation says is out of scope

Try asking

  • “Generate an APA citation for item ABC123 using my Zotero library”
  • “Show me the collections in my Zotero library and list the items in the one I have selected”
  • “Add a child note saying 'Key takeaway: sample size was small' to item ABC123”
  • “Build structured context for item ABC123 including its notes and links for analysis”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Zotero Command-Line HelperInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 1 original files, the Apache-2.0 licence and an attribution note.

    cli-anything-zotero.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip cli-anything-zotero.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip cli-anything-zotero.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Run the app status command first to confirm Zotero paths and the Local API are available before other commands.
  • Keep the same library selected in the Zotero GUI when adding notes, since that command depends on the live app context.
  • If an item key exists in more than one library, set the library with session use-library before running follow-up commands, and avoid experimental SQLite writes unless you have backed up your library.

What's inside

  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from HKUDS/CLI-Anything under the Apache-2.0 licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.