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cli-anything-zotero

Apps & Automation
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CLI harness for Zotero.

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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, and item bibliography require Zotero's Local API to be enabled.
  • note add depends 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.

CommandDescription
statusExecute status.
versionExecute version.
launchExecute launch.
enable-local-apiExecute enable-local-api.
pingExecute ping.

Collection

Collection inspection and selection commands.

CommandDescription
listExecute list.
findExecute find.
treeExecute tree.
getExecute get.
itemsExecute items.
use-selectedExecute use-selected.
createExecute create.

Item

Item inspection and rendering commands.

CommandDescription
listExecute list.
findExecute find.
getExecute get.
childrenExecute children.
notesExecute notes.
attachmentsExecute attachments.
fileExecute file.
exportExecute export.
citationExecute citation.
bibliographyExecute bibliography.
contextExecute context.
analyzeExecute analyze.
add-to-collectionExecute add-to-collection.
move-to-collectionExecute move-to-collection.

Search

Saved-search inspection commands.

CommandDescription
listExecute list.
getExecute get.
itemsExecute items.

Tag

Tag inspection commands.

CommandDescription
listExecute list.
itemsExecute items.

Style

Installed CSL style inspection commands.

CommandDescription
listExecute list.

Import

Official Zotero import and write commands.

CommandDescription
fileExecute file.
jsonExecute json.

Note

Read and add child notes.

CommandDescription
getExecute get.
addExecute add.

Session

Session and REPL context commands.

CommandDescription
statusExecute status.
use-libraryExecute use-library.
use-collectionExecute use-collection.
use-itemExecute use-item.
use-selectedExecute use-selected.
clear-libraryExecute clear-library.
clear-collectionExecute clear-collection.
clear-itemExecute clear-item.
historyExecute 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