How do I install the Zotero Add skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add varde80/zotero-add in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

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Which AI agents work with Zotero Add?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Zotero Add free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Zotero Add?

varde80 (@varde80) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Zotero Add by varde80 — Agent Skill

Name: Zotero Add
Author: varde80

File contents

Zotero Paper Management Skill

Add papers to Zotero with full metadata and PDF attachments.

Prerequisites

Configuration file at config/config.json with Zotero settings
Environment variable ZOTERO_API_KEY or in .env file
Get API key from: https://www.zotero.org/settings/keys

Usage

Add a paper to Zotero:

cd /Users/varde/code/arxiv-zotero-obsidian && python3 .claude/skills/zotero-add/scripts/add_to_zotero.py \
  --arxiv-id "2401.12345" \
  --title "Paper Title" \
  --authors "Author One,Author Two" \
  --abstract "Paper abstract..." \
  --published "2024-01-15" \
  --collection "Collection Name"

Available Options

Option	Description	Required
`--arxiv-id`	arXiv paper ID	Yes
`--title`	Paper title	Yes
`--authors`	Comma-separated author names	Yes
`--abstract`	Paper abstract	No
`--published`	Publication date	No
`--collection`	Zotero collection name	No
`--tags`	Comma-separated tags	No
`--skip-pdf`	Skip PDF download	No
`--doi`	Paper DOI	No

Examples

# Basic add with PDF
python3 .claude/skills/zotero-add/scripts/add_to_zotero.py \
  --arxiv-id "1706.03762" \
  --title "Attention Is All You Need" \
  --authors "Ashish Vaswani,Noam Shazeer,Niki Parmar" \
  --published "2017-06-12" \
  --collection "Transformers"

# Add with tags, skip PDF
python3 .claude/skills/zotero-add/scripts/add_to_zotero.py \
  --arxiv-id "2401.12345" \
  --title "Example Paper" \
  --authors "John Doe" \
  --tags "machine-learning,nlp" \
  --skip-pdf

Workflow

Script creates or finds the specified collection
Creates a journalArticle item with metadata
Downloads PDF from arXiv (unless --skip-pdf)
Attaches PDF to the item
Returns item key for reference

Output

Returns JSON with:

item_key: Zotero item identifier
collection_key: Collection identifier (if used)
pdf_attached: Boolean indicating PDF upload success

Integration with arxiv-search

After searching with arxiv-search skill, use the arxiv_id from results:

# From search result [1] with arxiv_id 2401.12345
python3 .claude/skills/zotero-add/scripts/add_to_zotero.py \
  --arxiv-id "2401.12345" \
  --title "..." --authors "..."

Troubleshooting

API Key Error: Check ZOTERO_API_KEY in .env or environment
Library ID Error: Verify library_id in config/config.json
PDF Upload Failed: Check internet connection, retry with --skip-pdf

---name: zotero-adddescription: Add academic papers to Zotero library. Use when users want to save papers to Zotero, create collections, or organize their research library. Handles PDF downloads and metadata.---# Zotero Paper Management SkillAdd papers to Zotero with full metadata and PDF attachments.## Prerequisites1. Configuration file at `config/config.json` with Zotero settings2. Environment variable `ZOTERO_API_KEY` or in `.env` file3. Get API key from: https://www.zotero.org/settings/keys## UsageAdd a paper to Zotero:```bashcd /Users/varde/code/arxiv-zotero-obsidian && python3 .claude/skills/zotero-add/scripts/add_to_zotero.py \ --arxiv-id "2401.12345" \ --title "Paper Title" \ --authors "Author One,Author Two" \ --abstract "Paper abstract..." \ --published "2024-01-15" \ --collection "Collection Name"```## Available Options| Option | Description | Required ||--------|-------------|----------|| `--arxiv-id` | arXiv paper ID | Yes || `--title` | Paper title | Yes || `--authors` | Comma-separated author names | Yes || `--abstract` | Paper abstract | No || `--published` | Publication date | No || `--collection` | Zotero collection name | No || `--tags` | Comma-separated tags | No || `--skip-pdf` | Skip PDF download | No || `--doi` | Paper DOI | No |## Examples```bash# Basic add with PDFpython3 .claude/skills/zotero-add/scripts/add_to_zotero.py \ --arxiv-id "1706.03762" \ --title "Attention Is All You Need" \ --authors "Ashish Vaswani,Noam Shazeer,Niki Parmar" \ --published "2017-06-12" \ --collection "Transformers"# Add with tags, skip PDFpython3 .claude/skills/zotero-add/scripts/add_to_zotero.py \ --arxiv-id "2401.12345" \ --title "Example Paper" \ --authors "John Doe" \ --tags "machine-learning,nlp" \ --skip-pdf```## Workflow1. Script creates or finds the specified collection2. Creates a journalArticle item with metadata3. Downloads PDF from arXiv (unless --skip-pdf)4. Attaches PDF to the item5. Returns item key for reference## OutputReturns JSON with:- `item_key`: Zotero item identifier- `collection_key`: Collection identifier (if used)- `pdf_attached`: Boolean indicating PDF upload success## Integration with arxiv-searchAfter searching with arxiv-search skill, use the arxiv_id from results:```bash# From search result [1] with arxiv_id 2401.12345python3 .claude/skills/zotero-add/scripts/add_to_zotero.py \ --arxiv-id "2401.12345" \ --title "..." --authors "..."```## Troubleshooting- **API Key Error**: Check ZOTERO_API_KEY in .env or environment- **Library ID Error**: Verify library_id in config/config.json- **PDF Upload Failed**: Check internet connection, retry with --skip-pdf

Frequently asked questions

Zotero Add