Zotero CLI

Command-line interface for the Zotero reference manager, providing terminal-based access to your Zotero library through the Zotero API.

Quick Start

# Install (PEP 668 systems)
sudo apt install pipx && pipx ensurepath && pipx install zotero-cli

# Configure
zotcli configure

# Start using
zotcli query "machine learning"
zotcli add-note ""deep learning""
zotcli read ""attention mechanism""

📖 Detailed guide: QUICKSTART.md

Installation

pipx (Recommended for PEP 668 systems)

pipx install zotero-cli

pip (Generic)

pip install --user zotero-cli
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Virtual Environment

python3 -m venv ~/.venvs/zotero-cli
source ~/.venvs/zotero-cli/bin/activate
pip install zotero-cli

📖 Complete installation guide: INSTALL.md

Core Commands

Command	Description
zotcli query "topic"	Search library
zotcli add-note "paper"	Add a note
zotcli edit-note "paper"	Edit a note
zotcli read "paper"	Read first PDF attachment
zotcli configure	Configure API credentials

Configuration

# Set default editor
export VISUAL=nano  # or vim, emacs, code

# Run configuration
zotcli configure

# Verify setup
./scripts/setup_and_check.sh

Helper Scripts

Script	Purpose
setup_and_check.sh	Automated setup and verification
backup_restore.sh	Backup and restore configuration
update_check.sh	Check for updates
quick_search.py	Formatted search output
export_citations.py	Export citations (BibTeX, RIS)
batch_process.sh	Process multiple queries

Usage examples:

# Quick search
python scripts/quick_search.py "topic" --format table

# Export citations
python scripts/export_citations.py "topic" --format bib > refs.bib

# Backup
./scripts/backup_restore.sh backup

# Update check
./scripts/update_check.sh check

📖 Scripts documentation: scripts/README.md

Query Syntax

"neural AND networks"        # Boolean AND
"(deep OR machine) AND learning"  # OR + grouping
"learning NOT neural"        # NOT
""deep learning""          # Phrase search
"transform*"                 # Prefix search

Workflows

Literature Review

zotcli query "topic"
zotcli add-note "paper"
python scripts/export_citations.py "topic" --format bib > refs.bib

Daily Research

python scripts/quick_search.py ""recent"" --format table
zotcli add-note ""interesting paper""
./scripts/backup_restore.sh backup

📖 More examples: EXAMPLES.md

Documentation

Document	Description
QUICKSTART.md	5-minute quick start guide
INSTALL.md	Comprehensive installation guide
EXAMPLES.md	Practical usage examples
scripts/README.md	Helper scripts guide

Troubleshooting

Command not found:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
pipx ensurepath

Permission denied (PEP 668 systems):

pipx install zotero-cli

Configuration errors:

zotcli configure

📖 Detailed troubleshooting: INSTALL.md

Quick Reference

# Essential commands
zotcli query "topic"              # Search
zotcli add-note "paper"           # Add note
zotcli edit-note "paper"          # Edit note
zotcli read "paper"               # Read PDF

# Helper scripts
./scripts/setup_and_check.sh      # Setup
./scripts/backup_restore.sh backup # Backup
./scripts/update_check.sh check   # Update
./scripts/batch_process.sh queries.txt --output results.txt  # Batch

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For complete documentation: - QUICKSTART.md - Get started - INSTALL.md - Installation details - EXAMPLES.md - Usage examples - SKILL_SUMMARY.md - Full overview