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Zotero API and MCP server

Zotero's API cannot add a paper by DOI or read PDF annotations, because both live in the desktop app. Sign in to Zotero once in your own Cloud Browser, and your AI agent does the work there for you. The same tools work over MCP for agents and as a REST API for scripts.

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Not affiliated with Zotero.

Zotero has no API for this. So we run one for you.

Zotero's own API, a GitHub MCP server and Cotlet compared
What you need Zotero's APIGitHub MCP serverCotlet
Add by DOI, PDF annotations No Partly Yes, 11 tools
Acts as you, signed in 24/7 No No Yes, Cloud Browser
Fixed for you when Zotero changes N/A No Yes, tested every 6h
Runs with your laptop off N/A No Yes, hosted

Checked Oct 16, 2026. Sources: Zotero Web API v3: basics · Zotero Web API v3: write requests · Zotero Web API v3: full-text content · Zotero: adding items to Zotero

Your own Cloud Browser, on 24/7. Sign in once. We keep it connected.

  1. 01Sign in to Zotero in your own Cloud Browser

  2. 02Connect it for your agents

  3. 03Cotlet keeps it signed in and working

How do I connect Zotero to Claude, ChatGPT or my code?

AI agents connect over MCP, scripts call the REST API. Both reach the same 11 tools with one API key.

For AI agents: MCP

Add Cotlet to your agent once. Zotero and every other app you connect show up as its tools.

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • OpenClaw
  • Hermes
  • GrokBot
  • Cursor
  • n8n
  • Any MCP client
  1. 1

    Add Cotlet to your agent

    Claude Code
    claude mcp add --transport http cotlet \
  https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY"
    Cursor
    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "cotlet": {
      "url": "https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${COTLET_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}
    Codex
    # ~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.cotlet]
url = "https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1"
bearer_token_env_var = "COTLET_API_KEY"

    Paste the snippet for your client. The same server and key serve every app you connect, so you do this once.

For scripts: REST API

Every tool is an endpoint under /api/v1/zotero with its own method and path, such as POST /api/v1/zotero/item-by-identifiers, with the same API key. Our open-source repo has ready scripts to start from.

REST API docs

What can the Zotero API and MCP server do?

11 tools on your own Zotero account. Agents call them as operations of the MCP tools zotero_read and zotero_write; scripts call each one at its own REST endpoint, with the same inputs and answers.

API reference
Zotero tools in Cotlet's MCP server and REST API
Tool What it does Access
list_libraries My Library and the group libraries your account belongs to, with their IDs. read
search_items Items in the library matching a phrase, tag, item type or collection, with title, creators, year and tags. read
get_item One item with all its fields, tags, collections and child notes. read
list_collections Collections and subcollections of the library with their keys and item counts. read
get_annotations Highlights and comments made in the PDFs of an item, with color and page. read
export_citations Items or a whole collection as BibTeX, BibLaTeX, RIS, CSL JSON or a formatted bibliography. read
add_item_by_identifier Add papers or books to My Library from DOIs, ISBNs, PubMed IDs, arXiv IDs or ADS Bibcodes. write
create_collection Create a collection or a subcollection in My Library. write
add_items_to_collection Add items to a collection; they stay in the collections they are already in. write
add_tags Add tags to one or more items. write
create_note Add a note to an item, or a standalone note. write

Scroll the table for all 11 tools.

Ask in plain words. Your agent does the rest.

All Zotero use cases

Is it safe to connect Zotero?

You sign in yourself in your own Cloud Browser, we never save your password, and anything that reaches your readers waits for your OK. The browser profile is encrypted in the EU. Independent scanners grade cotlet.dev A+.

Security overview

How much do the Zotero API and MCP server cost?

One price for both: a tool call costs the same over MCP or REST. Free 7-day trial with 2,000 credits, no card needed. Then one-time credit packs, no subscription, valid 12 months. Most calls use 25 credits, and your Cloud Browser uses 50 credits a day while Zotero is enabled for agents, so 20 calls a day come to 550 credits.

See full pricing
Cotlet credit packs: price, credits and calls at 25 credits each
Credits Price, one time Calls at 25 credits Per 1,000 credits
5,000 $29 200 $5.80
15,000 $79 600 $5.27
32,000 $149 1,280 $4.66
60,000 $249 2,400 $4.15

Only successful calls use credits; failed calls and timeouts cost nothing. At a balance of 0 calls pause, never a surprise charge. Authenticate with the Authorization: Bearer header.

Questions

Does Zotero have an API?

Zotero has a public Web API v3 with read and write access (checked 16 Oct 2026). You create a key in your zotero.org account settings and send it with each request. The API covers items, collections, tags, notes and exports, but Zotero ships no MCP server, so your agent has to be wired to the API by hand.

How do I get access?

Sign up free, open Zotero under Integrations in the console and press Request access. Your free trial starts with your account, no card needed.

Is the MCP server different from the API?

No, only the way in. Cotlet builds each integration as a REST API and puts an MCP server on top, so both have the same 11 tools, the same inputs and answers, one API key and one price. AI agents such as Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor use MCP; scripts, cron jobs and HTTP steps in n8n, Make or Zapier use the REST API.

What is the Cloud Browser?

Your own Chrome that Cotlet runs for you in the EU, around the clock. You open it from the console, sign in to Zotero yourself and press Enable for agents. Your agent's calls go through it, from its IP with its cookies, so Zotero sees the browser you signed in with. Password saving is off and the profile is stored encrypted with AES-256-GCM.

Can my agent change anything?

Every Zotero tool reads; none of them sends or publishes anything.

Can the agent work in group libraries?

It can read group libraries you belong to with the library parameter. Writes go to My Library only, so nothing an agent adds appears for other members of a group.

Should I use a Zotero MCP server from GitHub instead?

Pick one if you want the code on your own computer and do not mind the upkeep: you install it, sign it in and fix it when Zotero changes. Pick Cotlet if you want it hosted and kept working for you.

Can I use it in n8n, Make or Zapier?

Yes. Add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 in n8n's MCP Client node, or call the REST endpoints from an HTTP step in Make or Zapier.

Who runs Cotlet?

Cotlet is run by Take Group, a Polish software company working since 2019. Take Group runs about 3,200 websites on its own systems and has its own DevOps team for infrastructure security. We built and used integrations like this inside the company for years before opening them as Cotlet.

Is Cotlet affiliated with Zotero?

No. Cotlet is independent and not affiliated with Zotero.

Give your agent access to Zotero.

Free 7-day trial with 2,000 credits, no card needed.

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