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HalseyYang
HalseyYangCOMMUNITY
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cli-anything-zotero

Control Zotero desktop libraries through an agent-native CLI harness.

1|Updated Jul 13, 2026
Search Tags:#zotero#reference management#bibliography#cli#literature review#academic research#citation
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/HalseyYang/Skills-HY --skill cli-anything-zotero-halseyyang
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: cli-anything-zotero
Source: https://github.com/HalseyYang/Skills-HY/tree/main/cli-anything-zotero
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/HalseyYang/Skills-HY --skill cli-anything-zotero-halseyyang

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve? Managing Zotero libraries, citations, and notes from the command line or an AI agent normally requires manual GUI interaction, making scripted research workflows difficult to automate. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Library Inspection: List collections, items, tags, saved searches, and installed CSL styles, with JSON output for downstream processing. - Citation & Bibliography Rendering: Generate citations and bibliographies through Zotero's Local API using any installed CSL style and locale. - Write Operations: Import files or JSON records, add child notes, and move items between collections, with session context commands for library and collection selection. - Academic Skill Integration: Access 27 academic research skills and task pipelines (literature review, original article, meta-analysis, thesis) via the skills command group. - Use Case: A researcher selects a collection in the Zotero GUI, runs collection use-selected, then renders APA citations and builds LLM context for each item to feed a literature review pipeline. ## Quick Start Ask the agent to check Zotero runtime status and list the items in your currently selected collection as JSON.

Frequently Asked Questions about cli-anything-zotero

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I control Zotero from the command line?▼

Install the package with pip install -e . and run cli-anything-zotero followed by command groups like collection, item, search, tag, note, and import. Most commands support a --json flag for structured output suitable for scripting or agent workflows.

How to generate citations from Zotero items programmatically?▼

Use the item citation command with an item key, a CSL style such as apa, and a locale like en-US. This requires Zotero's Local API to be enabled, and the same approach works for full bibliographies via item bibliography.

Does the Zotero CLI require the Local API to be enabled?▼

Yes, search items, item export, item citation, and item bibliography all require Zotero's Local API. You can enable it with the app enable-local-api command and verify availability with app ping or app status.

Why does note add fail in the Zotero CLI?▼

The note add command depends on the live Zotero GUI context and expects the same library to be selected in the desktop app. Confirm the correct library is active in Zotero, or set it explicitly with session use-library before retrying.

What are the limitations of the Zotero CLI harness?▼

PDF attachment upload at import time only works for items created in the same connector session, and attaching files to arbitrary existing items is unsupported. Experimental SQLite write commands are local-only, user-library-only, and considered non-stable power-user operations.

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