CLI Anything Zotero

cli-anything-zotero

Agent-native CLI for Zotero 7/8/9 desktop. 40+ commands across four backends.

Before You Start

1. Run zotero-cli --json app doctor first. If write_ready is false, follow next_steps (start Zotero / install plugin / enable Local API).
2. Prefer zotero-cli --json ... for machine-readable results (ok, status, code, key).
3. Write ops are appended to a local audit log: zotero-cli --json audit tail --limit 20 / audit path.
4. Optionally run zotero-cli app check-update once per session.

When to Use

• User asks to search, find, or look up papers in their Zotero library
• User needs to import a paper by DOI or PMID
• User wants to export citations or BibTeX
• User needs to attach a PDF to a Zotero item
• User wants to find available PDFs for items missing them
• User asks about collection statistics, duplicates, or annotations
• User needs semantic search ("find papers similar to X")
• User wants to update metadata, tags, or manage collections

Key Commands by Task

Search & Discovery

# Keyword search
zotero-cli item find "query" --limit 10

# Search all Zotero fields, tags, notes, and annotations
zotero-cli item find "query" --scope fields --limit 10

# Search everything Zotero can search, including full content
zotero-cli item find "query" --scope everything --limit 10

# Full-text search inside PDFs
zotero-cli item search-fulltext "query" --limit 10

# Semantic search (requires ZOTERO_EMBED_* env vars)
zotero-cli item semantic-search "natural language query" --top-k 10

# Find papers similar to a known item
zotero-cli item similar ITEM_KEY --top-k 5

# Search annotations/highlights by keyword or color
zotero-cli item search-annotations "keyword" --color "#ff6666" --limit 10

# Find duplicates
zotero-cli --json item duplicates --by doi --limit 20
zotero-cli --json item merge KEEP OTHER1 OTHER2   # dry-run default; --confirm to apply

Read Item Details

# Full item metadata (returns JSON with title, creators, DOI, tags, attachments, etc.)
zotero-cli --json item get ITEM_KEY

# List attachments
zotero-cli --json item attachments ITEM_KEY

# View PDF annotations
zotero-cli --json item annotations ITEM_KEY

# Citation metrics from NIH iCite
zotero-cli --json item metrics PMID --pmid
# Or by Zotero item key (auto-extracts PMID from extra field)
zotero-cli --json item metrics ITEM_KEY

Import Papers

# Preferred: unified add
zotero-cli --json add doi "10.1038/s41586-024-07871-6" --tag "review" --collection COLLECTION_KEY --fetch-pdf
zotero-cli --json add arxiv 2602.02093 --collection COLLECTION_KEY
zotero-cli --json add file ./paper.pdf --collection COLLECTION_KEY
zotero-cli --json add bibtex ./references.bib --collection COLLECTION_KEY
zotero-cli --json add url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2

# Lower-level DOI import still available
zotero-cli --json import doi "10.1038/s41586-024-07871-6" --if-exists file --no-translator
zotero-cli import pmid "38551621" --tag "epidemiology"

Export & Citations

# Export one item in BibTeX
zotero-cli item export ITEM_KEY --format bibtex

# Export a standalone BibTeX file for downstream tools
zotero-cli export bib --items KEY1,KEY2 --output refs.bib
zotero-cli export bib --collection COLLECTION_KEY --output refs.bib

# Other formats: ris, biblatex, csljson, csv, mods, refer
zotero-cli item export ITEM_KEY --format ris

# Render citation preview (static HTML, not a refreshable DOCX field)
zotero-cli item citation ITEM_KEY --style apa

# Render bibliography preview (static HTML, not a refreshable DOCX field)
zotero-cli item bibliography ITEM_KEY --style apa

# Inspect citation fields inside a DOCX before mixing Zotero/EndNote/static references
zotero-cli --json docx inspect-citations manuscript.docx

# AI-authored DOCX citations must use real Zotero placeholders, then validate them
zotero-cli --json docx inspect-placeholders manuscript.docx
zotero-cli --json docx validate-placeholders manuscript.docx

# Static final DOCX: replace placeholders with ordinary text citations and bibliography
zotero-cli --json docx render-citations manuscript.docx --output manuscript-static.docx --force

# Preferred one-shot pipeline (auto: dynamic if LibreOffice ready, else static)
zotero-cli --json docx cite manuscript.docx --output manuscript-cited.docx --mode auto --force

# Dynamic final DOCX: use Zotero/LibreOffice fields when the user needs Refresh
zotero-cli --json docx doctor
zotero-cli --json docx insert-citations manuscript.docx --output manuscript-zotero.docx --force

### AI DOCX Citation Decision Flow

When the user provides a DOCX draft that contains citations, follow this explicit branch:

- Ask for intent if mode is unclear:
  - "Do you want static references (final text now), or dynamic references (refreshable in Zotero/LibreOffice)?"
- Preferred default for agents:
  - `zotero-cli --json docx cite <docx> --output <final.docx> --mode auto --force`
- If static is explicitly requested:
  - `zotero-cli --json docx cite <docx> --output <final.docx> --mode static --force`
- If dynamic is explicitly requested or user mentions later editing/refresh:
  - `zotero-cli --json docx cite <docx> --output <final.docx> --mode dynamic --force`
  - or lower-level: validate → doctor → insert-citations
- If dynamic conversion returns environment errors:
  - do not retry blindly
  - report exact error context from `docx doctor`/`docx zoterify-probe`
  - offer fallback to static mode (`render-citations`)

Keep only user-facing outputs:
- input placeholder DOCX
- final converted DOCX
- debug artifacts only if user explicitly asked for `--debug-dir`

Behavior note:
- `item citation` and `item bibliography` are static previews and must **not** be used as a replacement for DOCX writing conversion.
- `docx prepare-zotero-import` remains experimental and should not be called in normal user workflows.

When drafting DOCX content with AI, never invent final static citations such as (Author, 2024) unless the user explicitly asks for static prose. Insert {{zotero:ITEMKEY}} or {{zotero:KEY1,KEY2}} placeholders from real Zotero items and validate the document before handoff. When the user asks to insert citations without specifying a mode, ask whether they want static citations (docx render-citations, simplest) or dynamic Zotero fields (docx insert-citations, refreshable but requires LibreOffice).

PDF Management

# Attach a local PDF to an existing item
zotero-cli item attach ITEM_KEY /path/to/paper.pdf

# Zotero-only find PDF
zotero-cli --json item find-pdf ITEM_KEY

# Cascade: Zotero → Unpaywall → EuropePMC → bioRxiv → arXiv
zotero-cli --json item fetch-pdf ITEM_KEY --sources zotero,unpaywall,epmc,biorxiv,arxiv

# Batch cascade for a collection (JSONL progress optional)
zotero-cli --json collection fetch-pdfs COLLECTION_KEY --limit 20 --jsonl-progress --resume

Write Operations

# Update metadata fields
zotero-cli item update ITEM_KEY --field title="New Title" --field DOI="10.1234/xxx"

# Add/remove tags
zotero-cli item tag ITEM_KEY --add "important" --remove "unread"

# Delete item (requires --confirm)
zotero-cli item delete ITEM_KEY --confirm

Collection Management

# List all collections
zotero-cli collection list

# Collection hierarchy
zotero-cli collection tree

# Find collection by name
zotero-cli collection find "query"

# Items in a collection (includes DOI, hasPdf, date)
zotero-cli --json collection items COLLECTION_KEY

# Collection statistics (total items, PDF coverage, year/journal distribution)
zotero-cli --json collection stats COLLECTION_KEY

# Create / rename / delete collection
zotero-cli collection create "New Collection"
zotero-cli collection rename COLLECTION_KEY --name "New Name"
zotero-cli collection delete COLLECTION_KEY --confirm

# Add/remove items from collection
zotero-cli item add-to-collection ITEM_KEY COLLECTION_KEY
zotero-cli collection remove-item COLLECTION_KEY ITEM_KEY

Sync & Utilities

# Trigger Zotero sync
zotero-cli sync

# Execute arbitrary Zotero JavaScript
zotero-cli js "return Zotero.Items.getAll(1).length;" --wait 5

# Interactive REPL
zotero-cli repl

Output Format

• Use --json flag on the root command for machine-readable JSON output:

  zotero-cli --json item find "query"
  

• Without --json, output is human-readable text.

Important Constraints

• All platforms: Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux with the JS Bridge plugin installed.
• Zotero desktop must be running: This is a hard prerequisite (not optional). Use zotero-cli --json app doctor / app launch if it is closed. Do not invent cloud-only or read-only degraded workflows.
• JS Bridge plugin required: Install via zotero-cli app install-plugin. Once installed, all JS bridge commands work silently.
• Semantic search: Requires ZOTERO_EMBED_API, ZOTERO_EMBED_MODEL, and ZOTERO_EMBED_KEY environment variables, plus a pre-built vector index at ZOTERO_VECTOR_DB.
• Item references: Most commands accept a Zotero item key (8-char alphanumeric like 9LPV3KTS), title fragment, or numeric ID.
• Collection references: Accept collection key or numeric ID.

Common Workflows

"Find papers about X and export BibTeX"

zotero-cli --json item find "X" --limit 20
# Pick relevant keys from output, then:
zotero-cli export bib --items KEY1,KEY2 --output refs.bib

"Import a paper and attach its PDF"

zotero-cli import doi "10.xxxx/yyyy"
# Note the item key from output, then:
zotero-cli item attach ITEM_KEY /path/to/paper.pdf

"What papers in collection X are missing PDFs?"

zotero-cli --json collection stats COLLECTION_KEY
# Shows total vs withPDF vs noPDF count
# Then batch-find:
zotero-cli collection find-pdfs COLLECTION_KEY

"Find papers similar to one I'm reading"

zotero-cli --json item similar ITEM_KEY --top-k 10

Version

1.2.1+ (see package __version__ / PyPI). Roadmap: repo docs/ROADMAP.md.