zotero-cli
Command-line interface for Zotero - search your Zotero library, add/edit notes, read attachments, and manage bibliographic references from the terminal.
Why use this skill?
Efficiently search, annotate, and export your Zotero library directly from the command line with the OpenClaw zotero-cli skill.
Install via CLI (Recommended)
clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/killgfat/zotero-cliWhat This Skill Does
The zotero-cli skill provides a robust terminal-based interface for interacting with your Zotero reference management library. Designed to streamline academic workflows, it allows users to perform complex searches, manage bibliographic metadata, and handle attachments without leaving the command line. By interfacing directly with the Zotero API, it bridges the gap between your research data and your development environment, enabling programmatic access to papers, notes, and citations.
Installation
To install this skill via OpenClaw, run the following command in your terminal: clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/killgfat/zotero-cli. For local dependencies, ensure you have Python 3 installed. It is highly recommended to use pipx to manage the installation to maintain system integrity. Once installed, run zotcli configure to initialize your API credentials. You may also need to set your VISUAL or EDITOR environment variables to ensure notes and edits open in your preferred terminal text editor.
Use Cases
This skill is perfect for researchers, students, and developers managing large bibliographic databases. Common use cases include performing rapid literature reviews via boolean queries, automating the extraction of citations into BibTeX or RIS formats, batch-processing research notes, and integrating Zotero workflows directly into CI/CD pipelines or research scripts. Whether you are conducting a deep-dive meta-analysis or organizing daily readings, this tool minimizes context switching between a browser-based Zotero interface and your terminal workspace.
Example Prompts
- "OpenClaw, search my Zotero library for papers tagged with 'transformer architectures' and output the results as a table."
- "Zotero-cli, please add a new note to the paper titled 'Attention Is All You Need' summarizing the main architectural contribution."
- "Export all references matching the query 'machine learning' into a bibtex file named 'literature_review.bib' using the zotero-cli helper scripts."
Tips & Limitations
For optimal performance, always define your search queries using the supported Boolean syntax (AND, OR, NOT). Note that reading PDF attachments requires a configured local environment where an appropriate viewer is available. Regularly utilize the backup_restore.sh script to protect your configuration files. This skill requires an active internet connection to communicate with the Zotero cloud API. Be cautious when performing batch operations to ensure you stay within your Zotero API rate limits.
Metadata
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Find the right skillPaste this into your clawhub.json to enable this plugin.
{
"plugins": {
"official-killgfat-zotero-cli": {
"enabled": true,
"auto_update": true
}
}
}Tags(AI)
Flags: network-access, file-write, file-read, external-api
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