Zotero CLI Skill for OpenClaw

Command-line interface for Zotero - search your Zotero library, add/edit notes, read attachments, and manage bibliographic references from the terminal.

📦 What's Included

Core Documentation

• SKILL.md - Complete skill documentation with capabilities, workflows, and API reference
• INSTALL.md - Comprehensive installation guide with PEP 668/pi px support
• EXAMPLES.md - Practical usage examples for common research workflows

Helper Scripts

• quick_search.py - Search with formatted output (console, table, JSON, Markdown)
• export_citations.py - Export citations in BibTeX, RIS, or plain text
• batch_process.sh - Process multiple queries from a file

Metadata

• _meta.json - Skill version and ownership information
• .clawhub/origin.json - Source repository information

🚀 Quick Start

1. Installation

Using pipx (Recommended for PEP 668-compliant systems)

sudo apt install pipx
pipx ensurepath
pipx install zotero-cli

Using pip (Generic)

pip install --user zotero-cli

2. Configuration

zotcli configure

3. Basic Usage

# Search your library
zotcli query "machine learning"

# Add a note
zotcli add-note "\"deep learning\""

# Read a paper
zotcli read "\"attention mechanisms\""

🎯 Key Features

Core Capabilities

• Search your entire Zotero library using SQLite FTS3 syntax
• Add and edit notes on any item
• Read attachments directly with your preferred applications
• Edit notes in your favorite text editor with Markdown support
• Manage citations and bibliographic data without leaving the terminal

PEP 668 Support

Designed for modern Linux distributions that follow PEP 668 (Debian 11+, Ubuntu 23.04+, Fedora 34+, etc.)

• pipx integration for isolated installations
• User-installation alternatives
• Comprehensive troubleshooting for permission errors
• Virtual environment support

Helper Scripts

Format search results and export citations for different workflows:

# Quick search with table output
python quick_search.py "neural networks" --format table

# Export to BibTeX for LaTeX
python export_citations.py "attention mechanisms" --format bib > refs.bib

# Batch process multiple queries
./batch_process.sh queries.txt --output results.txt

📚 Documentation Structure

Main Documentation

• SKILL.md - Complete guide with:
  • Capabilities and features
  • Installation options
  • Quick start guide
  • Core commands
  • Workflow examples
  • Tips and troubleshootings

Installation Guide

• INSTALL.md - Detailed instructions for:
  • All installation methods (pipx, pip, virtual env)
  • Platform-specific notes (Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, Fedora, etc.)
  • PEP 668 compliance considerations
  • Troubleshooting common issues
  • Security best practices

Usage Examples

• EXAMPLES.md - Real-world scenarios:
  • Basic usage patterns
  • Literature review workflows
  • Daily research routines
  • Academic writing integration
  • Collaboration and sharing
  • Automation and productivity
  • Advanced use cases

Scripts Documentation

• scripts/README.md - Helper scripts guide:
  • Quick search with multiple formats
  • Citation export in various formats
  • Batch processing workflows
  • Integration examples

🔧 Workflows

Literature Review

1. Search for papers on your topic
2. Add notes to key publications
3. Export citations for your paper
4. Read PDFs for detailed review

Academic Writing

1. Research and collect references
2. Export to BibTeX for LaTeX
3. Integrate with Pandoc for Markdown
4. Automatically manage citations

Daily Research

1. Quick morning scan of recent papers
2. Add notes to relevant publications
3. Export and organize findings
4. Build your knowledge base

🌟 Highlights

PEP 668 Compatibility

• Primary recommendation: pipx install zotero-cli
• Alternative: pip install --user zotero-cli
• Virtual environment support
• Platform-specific instructions

Multiple Output Formats

• Console output for quick browsing
• Table format for structured view
• JSON for programmatic processing
• Markdown for documentation

Citation Management

• BibTeX for LaTeX
• RIS for EndNote/Mendeley
• Plain text for quick reference
• Batch export capabilities

Productivity Features

• Batch processing
• Quick search scripts
• Keyboard shortcuts (with aliases)
• Weekly/monthly automated searches
• Custom workflows

💡 Common Use Cases

1. Literature Review - Comprehensive search and note-taking
2. Academic Writing - Citation management and export
3. Daily Research - Quick paper scanning and reading
4. Collaboration - Sharing queries and bibliographies
5. Automation - Regular searches and bibliography updates

🔗 Integration

Combine with other OpenClaw skills:

• literature-review - For multi-database literature searches
• pubmed-edirect - For PubMed database integration
• tavily-search - For web searches and general research

📖 Resources

• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/jbaiter/zotero-cli
• Zotero Documentation: https://www.zotero.org/support/
• BibTeX Guide: https://www.latex-project.org/help/documentation/btxdoc.pdf

🤝 Contributing

This skill follows the OpenClaw format and structure. Contributions, bug reports, and feature requests are welcome at the original zotero-cli repository.

📄 License

This skill documentation is provided as-is to help users of zotero-cli. The underlying software follows its own license.

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Happy researching! 📚🎓