halseyyang cli-anything-zotero
cli-anything-zotero is an agent-native CLI for Zotero desktop. It does not reimplement Zotero. Instead, it composes Zotero's real local surfaces:
Installation
pip install -e .
Entry Points
cli-anything-zotero
python -m cli_anything.zotero
Important Constraints
search items,item export,item citation, anditem bibliographyrequire Zotero's Local API to be enabled.note adddepends on the live Zotero GUI context and expects the same library to be selected in the app.- Import-time PDF attachment support is limited to items created in the same connector session; arbitrary existing-item attachment upload is still out of scope.
- Experimental SQLite write commands are local-only, user-library-only, and should be treated as non-stable power-user operations.
- If a bare key is duplicated across libraries, set
session use-library <id>before follow-up commands.
Command Groups
App
Application and runtime inspection commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
status |
Execute status. |
version |
Execute version. |
launch |
Execute launch. |
enable-local-api |
Execute enable-local-api. |
ping |
Execute ping. |
Collection
Collection inspection and selection commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
list |
Execute list. |
find |
Execute find. |
tree |
Execute tree. |
get |
Execute get. |
items |
Execute items. |
use-selected |
Execute use-selected. |
create |
Execute create. |
Item
Item inspection and rendering commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
list |
Execute list. |
find |
Execute find. |
get |
Execute get. |
children |
Execute children. |
notes |
Execute notes. |
attachments |
Execute attachments. |
file |
Execute file. |
export |
Execute export. |
citation |
Execute citation. |
bibliography |
Execute bibliography. |
context |
Execute context. |
analyze |
Execute analyze. |
add-to-collection |
Execute add-to-collection. |
move-to-collection |
Execute move-to-collection. |
Search
Saved-search inspection commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
list |
Execute list. |
get |
Execute get. |
items |
Execute items. |
Tag
Tag inspection commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
list |
Execute list. |
items |
Execute items. |
Style
Installed CSL style inspection commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
list |
Execute list. |
Import
Official Zotero import and write commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
file |
Execute file. |
json |
Execute json. |
Note
Read and add child notes.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
get |
Execute get. |
add |
Execute add. |
Session
Session and REPL context commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
status |
Execute status. |
use-library |
Execute use-library. |
use-collection |
Execute use-collection. |
use-item |
Execute use-item. |
use-selected |
Execute use-selected. |
clear-library |
Execute clear-library. |
clear-collection |
Execute clear-collection. |
clear-item |
Execute clear-item. |
history |
Execute history. |
Examples
Runtime Status
Inspect Zotero paths and backend availability.
cli-anything-zotero app status --json
Read Selected Collection
Persist the collection selected in the Zotero GUI.
cli-anything-zotero collection use-selected --json
Render Citation
Render a citation using Zotero's Local API.
cli-anything-zotero item citation <item-key> --style apa --locale en-US --json
Add Child Note
Create a child note under an existing Zotero item.
cli-anything-zotero note add <item-key> --text "Key takeaway" --json
Build LLM Context
Assemble structured context for downstream model analysis.
cli-anything-zotero item context <item-key> --include-notes --include-links --json
Version
0.1.0
Academic Research Skills Integration
Zotero harness integrates 27 academic research skills. Use skills command group:
cli-anything-zotero skills list # List all skills
cli-anything-zotero skills list -c writing # Writing skills only
cli-anything-zotero skills pipeline original_article # Recommended workflow
cli-anything-zotero skills journal "Nature" # Journal figure guide
Skill Categories
| Category | Skills | Description |
|---|---|---|
| search | lit-review, systematic-review, deep-search | Literature discovery |
| research | ideation, brainstorming, hypothesis, deep-research | Research design |
| writing | write-paper, manuscript, citation, outline, revision | Paper writing |
| review | full-review, peer-review, seven-pass, verify-citations, audit-data | Peer review |
| visualization | slides, schematics, poster, nature-fig | Figures & presentations |
| analysis | eda, statistics, critical-thinking | Data analysis |
| pipeline | full-pipeline, research-to-paper | End-to-end workflows |
Task Pipelines
| Task | Steps |
|---|---|
| literature_review | systematic-review → critical-thinking → write-paper → seven-pass |
| original_article | hypothesis → statistics → manuscript → schematics → slides → full-review |
| meta_analysis | deep-search → deep-research → statistics → write-paper → peer-review |
| thesis | full-pipeline → seven-pass → slides → poster |