Agent skill · ma08
zotero-research-library
Work with a Zotero research library for paper-reading workflows: search local items, inspect metadata, read attached PDFs, export notes/highlights/annotations, summarize a user's reading state, create child notes via Zotero Web API when explicitly requested, and troubleshoot Zotero Connector/API issues. Use when the user asks Codex to interact with Zotero, read Zotero annotations, make reading digests, manage paper notes/tags/attachments, or investigate whether agent-assisted Zotero edits are possible.
What it needs
About 3k tokens when loaded.
What this skill does
Zotero Research Library Operating Rules Prefer read-only local access first. Use Zotero Local API if enabled, or open zotero.sqlite with mode=ro&immutable=1. Never write directly to zotero.sqlite while Zotero is running. Treat direct SQLite writes as a last-resort experiment requiring explicit user approval, a backup, and Zotero closed. For edits, prefer official Zotero Web API writes with an API key. Local API is currently GET-only. For native PDF highlights/annotations, prefer Zotero UI or a Zotero-side bridge/plugin/MCP. Do not promise reliable native annotation creation via local API or SQLite alone. Preserve provenance: include Zotero item key, itemID, attachment key, page labels, colors, comments, DOI/URL, and local attachment path in digests. Tool Selection Use this skill as the default for lightweight paper-reading work: inspect papers already in Zotero export notes/highlights/annotations into a digest answer questions about the user's reading state create a child note only after an explicit write request Reach for a community tool instead when the request exceeds this skill's scope: 54yyyu/zotero-mcp: best broad MCP choice for semantic search, full-text indexing, native annotation access, DOI import, collections, and hybrid local-read/web-write workflows. cli-anything-zotero: strongest local-write option when a Zotero JS Bridge plugin is acceptable and the user wants local write operations without a Zotero Web API key. llm-for-zotero: best in-reader experience when the user wants LLM help inside Zotero while reading PDFs. WenyuChiou/zotero-skills or c0mm4nd/zotero-skills: better than this skill for full Web API CRUD over items, notes, collections, tags, and attachments. drguptavivek/zotero-use: useful for writing workflows that involve Zotero references and Word .docx citation fields. ketthub/zotero-skill: useful as a minimal read-only search implementation; this skill already covers a similar local-read niche but with annotation digest support. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills ma08/zotero-research-library