A comprehensive automation tool for managing Zotero reference libraries, fetching metadata, and organizing academic citations via the Web API.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install zotero
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install zotero using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is Zotero Reference Management?
The Zotero integration for Openclaw Skills provides a robust programmatic interface to manage personal and group reference libraries. By utilizing the Zotero REST API v3, this skill allows users to list, search, and modify items without the need for a GUI, making it ideal for developers and researchers who require automated citation management. These Openclaw Skills are designed to bridge the gap between raw academic data and structured reference libraries, ensuring that metadata is accurate and easily accessible for various writing and research tasks.
Whether you are building an automated literature review pipeline or simply need a faster way to organize papers, this skill offers the tools necessary for high-level library maintenance. It handles everything from metadata synchronization to complex file attachments, ensuring your Openclaw Skills workflow remains efficient and centralized within the Zotero ecosystem.
Zotero Reference Management Use Cases
- Rapidly adding new research papers to a library by providing a DOI, ISBN, or PMID with automatic duplicate detection.
- Performing bulk imports of academic references from text files to quickly populate a new research project.
- Automating the generation of bibliographies in BibTeX, RIS, or CSL-JSON formats for use in LaTeX or other typesetting systems.
- Scanning existing library entries to find and attach open-access PDFs using legal sources like Unpaywall and Semantic Scholar.
- Cross-referencing in-text citations from a manuscript against your Zotero database to ensure every reference is properly documented.
How Zotero Reference Management Works
- Connect to the Zotero Web API using a secure API key and User or Group ID configured in your environment.
- Use specialized CLI commands to query the Zotero database for specific items, collections, or tags.
- When adding items by identifier, the skill contacts translation servers or CrossRef to pull full metadata into your library.
- Apply updates or tags to items programmatically, allowing for automated organization based on research criteria.
- Export processed data into standard citation formats or use the JSON output mode for further integration into custom scripts.
Zotero Reference Management Setup
To get started with these Openclaw Skills, you must first configure your environment variables with your Zotero credentials.
export ZOTERO_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"
export ZOTERO_USER_ID="your_numeric_user_id"
# If using a group library:
export ZOTERO_GROUP_ID="your_group_id"
The skill relies on a Python 3 script with no external dependencies. You can verify the installation by listing your items:
python3 scripts/zotero.py items --limit 10
Zotero Reference Management Data Schema & Taxonomy
The skill manages data according to the Zotero v3 API schema, focusing on item keys and metadata mapping.
| Component | Format | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Item Key | 8-char Alphanumeric | The unique identifier for any item (e.g., VNPN6FHT). |
| Metadata | JSON/BibTeX/RIS | Includes fields like title, creators, publication date, and DOI. |
| Attachments | Linked or Stored | PDF files or URLs associated with a parent item key. |
| Collections | Collection Key | Hierarchical structures used to group related references. |
| Identifiers | DOI, ISBN, PMID | External IDs used to fetch and validate item data. |
Zotero Reference Management Advanced Features
- Intelligent duplicate detection that compares author and DOI data before adding new items to prevent library bloat.
- Multi-source PDF retrieval that sequentially checks Unpaywall, Semantic Scholar, and DOI content negotiation for open-access versions.
- Support for the CrossRef polite pool via an optional email environment variable to increase metadata lookup success rates.
- Batch processing capabilities for adding multiple identifiers or updating tags across large subsets of a library simultaneously.
- Native JSON output support across all major commands, enabling these Openclaw Skills to be piped into tools like jq for advanced automation.
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