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Use Zotero to find, read, summarize, cite, or export academic papers. Use for paper lookup, library searches, attachments, BibTeX, and draft citation work.
Install with Codex or Claude Copy this prompt, paste it into Codex, Claude, or another assistant, and let it review the skill page and install it for you.
Based on SOC occupation classification
Economic data-analysis discipline. Use for importing, cleaning, merging, filtering, variables, aggregation, summary stats, regressions, or figures on economic, financial, or panel data.
Codebase integration discipline. Use when refactoring for local conventions, reviewing post-sync quality, auditing project docs, pruning diffs, or using Sync Impact evidence.
Protect key research results with permanent documentation, drift tests, or artifact-appropriate checks. Use when selecting protection, creating or reviewing tests, or guarding important outputs through integration.
Semantic branch integration. Use before git merge, rebase, or cherry-pick, or when syncing branches where conflicts or overlapping intent must be resolved deliberately.
Integrate code-complete superRA work. Requires superRA:using-superra. Use for result protection, base sync, codebase-fit refactors, permanent records, cleanup, or PR preparation.
Proactively plan or update superRA work. Requires superRA:using-superra. Use when starting or changing work, creating/revising superRA/, or reflecting material decisions in the task tree.
| name | zotero-paper-reader |
| description | Use Zotero to find, read, summarize, cite, or export academic papers. Use for paper lookup, library searches, attachments, BibTeX, and draft citation work. |
| user-invocable | true |
Search, retrieve, and analyze papers from a Zotero library using pyzotero. Defaults to the Zotero Desktop local API; falls back to the Zotero Web API when local Zotero is unavailable.
The bundled tool (scripts/zotero_tool.py) detects which mode to use automatically. Run it with uv run --script <skill-dir>/scripts/zotero_tool.py, where <skill-dir> is the directory containing this SKILL.md — substitute the real path. This resolves correctly regardless of which harness loaded the skill or where it is installed.
Load references/access-modes.md if you need fallback rules, credential setup details, or troubleshooting for access-mode issues.
Load references/paper-reading.md for the full step-by-step workflow with exact command invocations, JSON field names, disambiguation logic, parent-item hydration for full-text search hits, and troubleshooting.
Summary of steps:
zotero_tool.py search "query" — plain metadata search; --fulltext for indexed content (local or web).data.itemType on each hit; attachment hits from --fulltext need parent hydration via data.parentItem.zotero_tool.py children ITEM_KEY → find child with data.contentType == "application/pdf".zotero_tool.py pdf ATTACHMENT_KEY → emits {"source": ..., "path": ...}.mistral-pdf-to-markdown skill with the PDF path; save to Notes/PaperInMarkdown/Author_Year_ShortTitle.md.| Goal | Command |
|---|---|
| List libraries (user + groups) | libraries |
| Metadata search (title/creator/year) | search "query" |
| Full-text search (indexed content; local or web) | search "query" --fulltext |
| Single item | item ITEM_KEY |
| Child items / attachments | children ITEM_KEY |
| Attachment full-text retrieval (one attachment) | fulltext ATTACHMENT_KEY |
| PDF path or download | pdf ATTACHMENT_KEY |
| All collections | collections |
| All tags | tags |
| DOI-to-key index | doiindex |
BibTeX export + master-.bib sync | bibtex --item-key KEY (or --query "text" / --doi DOI) |
Insert a citation into a draft + sync .bib | cite --item-key KEY --tex FILE --bib PATH (or --markdown FILE) |
| Render formatted references | bibliography --item-key KEY (default APA) |
| Health / access check | health |
All commands emit JSON. Add --help to any subcommand for parameter details.
Targeting a library. By default commands act on the user's own library ("My Library"). To act on a group library instead, run libraries first to get the group ids, then pass --library <group-id> (or --library group:<id>) — e.g. search "your query" --library <group-id>. Works on search, item, children, collections, tags, fulltext, doiindex, pdf, bibtex, cite, and bibliography.
bibtex, cite, and bibliography generate citations from selected library items, reusing the researcher's Better BibTeX (BBT) citekeys by default (so entries stay consistent with a BBT-maintained master .bib) and falling back to Zotero's built-in translator — with a key-mismatch warning — when BBT is unreachable. They share the --item-key / --query / --doi selection flags, --library targeting, and the dedup-append .bib sync.
Load references/bibtex-citations.md for command examples, the full flag list (--bib / --tex / --markdown / --marker / --style), the BBT-vs-built-in key model and fallback semantics, JSON fields, and troubleshooting.
Credentials are read from environment variables or, when present, from Notes/.env. They are never printed to the agent transcript. Required variables for Web API mode: ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID, ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE (default user), ZOTERO_API_KEY. Local mode needs no credentials. See references/access-modes.md for full details.
references/paper-reading.md — full workflow with command examples, JSON field guide, disambiguation, and troubleshootingreferences/access-modes.md — local vs. web access rules, credential setup, fallback logic, troubleshootingreferences/bibtex-citations.md — load for the bibtex / cite / bibliography commands: examples, full flag list, the Better BibTeX key model and fallback semantics, group-library targeting, and troubleshootingscripts/zotero_tool.py — unified pyzotero command surface (pinned to pyzotero 1.13.0 via PEP 723 inline metadata)