| name | zotero-desktop |
| description | Use when the user asks about their Zotero library from Innate Desktop (not the Zotero side panel) — "search my Zotero for X", "what papers do I have on Y", "get the text of that PDF", "add this DOI to Zotero", "give me the BibTeX". Here there is no Zotero side panel and no zotero_* tools; reach the library through the `zot` CLI / MCP. |
| license | MIT |
| metadata | {"category":"zotero-routing","primary-interface":"zot CLI / MCP"} |
| triggers | ["Zotero","paper","PDF","reference","citation","bibliography","BibTeX","文献","论文","文献库","参考文献"] |
Zotero from Innate Desktop
You are in Innate Desktop, not inside Zotero. There is no Zotero side panel
and no zotero_* tools here — those only exist in the embedded Zotero
session. From Desktop you reach the user's library through zot (its CLI,
and the zot MCP tools if the user has wired them).
First: confirm zot is available
Before relying on it, check that zot is on PATH (e.g. run zot --help or
zot --version). If it isn't installed, tell the user plainly: library actions
from Desktop need the zot CLI, and they can either install it or open the item
in Zotero and use the Innate side panel there. Don't fake an answer from
nothing.
What zot is for
zot is the library-wide layer — it does NOT need Zotero to be running:
- Search the library — by title, author, tag, collection.
- Full text / PDF extraction — pull the text of an attachment for
summarizing or Q&A.
- Bibliography — BibTeX / formatted citations.
- Add / update items — by DOI, ISBN, URL, or fields (Web-API writes).
Run zot --help (and zot <subcommand> --help) to see the exact subcommands and
flags available in the user's version rather than guessing; the surface differs
between the CLI and the MCP build.
Grounding
There is no "current paper" on Desktop — you aren't attached to an open reader.
When the user says "this paper" without naming it, ask which item they mean (or
search by what they described). Don't invent an itemKey.
Working style
- For "find / what do I have on X" → a
zot search, then summarize the hits;
don't dump raw JSON at the user.
- For "summarize this paper" once identified → get its full text via
zot, then
summarize; cite the title.
- For "add this" → confirm the identifier (DOI/URL) with the user, then add.
Adding to a library is a write — say what you added and where.
- Keep the user's library tidy: prefer existing collections/tags over inventing
new ones unless asked.
