# Zotero MCP (pypi · zotero-mcp)

Search your Zotero library, retrieve item metadata, and read full text from AI assistants.

- Trust score: 79/100 (medium)
- Change this week: +3
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-09-21

## Components

- pypi · `zotero-mcp`: 79/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/kujenga-zotero-mcp/zotero-mcp.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/kujenga-zotero-mcp/zotero-mcp)

## Channel facts

- Registry: `pypi`
- Package: `zotero-mcp`
- Version: `0.3.1`
- Transport: `stdio`

## Trust breakdown

How this component scores in each security and reliability category. Every signal is checked automatically from public evidence about the published package, including repeated runs of it in an isolated sandbox, and we only credit what we can confirm. Scores are 0–100 per category. Scoring method: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring (what has changed: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring/changelog)

Scored 2026-09-21.

- **Supply Chain Security**: 100/100
  - No malware found by supply-chain analysis.
  - No known CVEs affecting this package version or its production dependencies.
  - Runs hatchling.build at install time, a recognised native-build step with no shell scripting around it.
  - 1 of 37 dependencies flagged as unhealthy.
- **Provenance & Transparency**: 32/100
  - Source repository is publicly reachable at the declared URL.
  - Provenance check failed: no build-provenance attestation is published.
  - License check failed: the license (MIT License) isn't a recognized OSI-approved license.
  - Actively maintained (last published 45 days ago).
  - Disclosure check failed: no security disclosure policy was found in the source repository.
- **Schema Quality & AI Usability**: 65/100
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (good).
  - Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 582 tokens (~194/item across 3 items; 3 tools + 0 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params.
  - Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 100/100
  - No destabilizing schema changes in the last 30 days.
- **Tool Coverage**: 90/100
  - 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).
  - 67% of tool parameters carry a description.
  - Structured output schemas are declared (100% of tools); any adoption earns full credit.
- **Tool Safety**: 100/100
  - No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.
  - We read all 3 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 3 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.
- **Capabilities**: 100/100
  - Implements a current MCP spec version (2026-07-28).

## Install

### How do I install the Zotero MCP server?

Zotero MCP runs locally as a PyPI package, launched with uvx zotero-mcp. Ready-made configuration for Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and 5 more is on this page, copied from each client's own documentation.

### Claude

```bash
claude mcp add kujenga-zotero-mcp -- uvx zotero-mcp
```

### Cursor

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kujenga-zotero-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "zotero-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "kujenga-zotero-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "zotero-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

```bash
codex mcp add kujenga-zotero-mcp -- uvx zotero-mcp
```

### opencode

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "kujenga-zotero-mcp": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": [
        "uvx",
        "zotero-mcp"
      ],
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add kujenga-zotero-mcp --command uvx --arg zotero-mcp
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  kujenga-zotero-mcp:
    command: "uvx"
    args: ["zotero-mcp"]
```

### Netclaw

```json
{
  "McpServers": {
    "kujenga-zotero-mcp": {
      "Transport": "stdio",
      "Command": "uvx",
      "Arguments": [
        "zotero-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### Vellum

```bash
assistant mcp add kujenga-zotero-mcp -t stdio -c uvx -a zotero-mcp
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kujenga-zotero-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "zotero-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

## Changelog

Every change recorded for this component, newest first. Days that predate change tracking, or that we cannot explain, say so: "we were watching and nothing happened" and "we were not watching" are different claims.

### 2026-09-21 (score 79, 0)

- [security] Stability: 0.97 → pass

### 2026-09-20 (score 79, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 93 to 97. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 28 days of observed history at the previous scan, 29 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-09-18 (score 78, +16)

- [security improvement] Malware scan: unverified → pass

### 2026-09-16 (score 62, −15)

- [security regression] Malware scan: pass → unverified

### 2026-09-15 (score 77, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 77 to 80. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 23 days of observed history at the previous scan, 24 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-09-14 (score 76, +12)

- [security improvement] Malware scan: unverified → pass
- [functional] Stability: pass → 0.77

### 2026-09-13 (score 64, 0)

- [security] Stability: 0.97 → pass

### 2026-09-12 (score 64, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 93 to 97. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 28 days of observed history at the previous scan, 29 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

## MCP tools (3)

### `zotero_item_metadata` (~47 tokens)

Get the complete metadata for a specific Zotero item, given the item key. Includes the citation key, publication details, identifiers, and timestamps.

Input parameters:

- `item_key` (string, required)

Output parameters:

- `result` (string)

### `zotero_item_fulltext` (~42 tokens)

Get the full text content of a Zotero item, given the item key of a parent item or specific attachment.

Input parameters:

- `item_key` (string, required)

Output parameters:

- `result` (string)

### `zotero_search_items` (~493 tokens)

Search for items in your Zotero library. Returns a summary of each match; look up individual results with zotero_item_metadata or zotero_item_fulltext.

Choosing a query mode:
\- 'titleCreatorYear' (the default) searches titles, creator names, and years. Use it for known-item lookup, where you know roughly what the item is called or who wrote it.
\- 'everything' additionally searches abstracts, the Extra field, note text, and the full text of attachments. Use it for topic and full-text search, where the term would not appear in a title.

Words match by prefix, and space-separated words must all be present though not necessarily adjacent, so 'cybor insect' matches 'Cyborg Insect'. A hyphen separates words and switches the match to OR: 'oxygen-deprived' matches anything containing 'oxygen' or 'deprived', which is far broader than intended. Write hyphenated terms with a space to require both halves.

Input parameters:

- `limit`: Maximum number of matches to retrieve. This caps matches rather than items, and several attachments or notes belonging to one work can each match separately, so a search can return fewer items than t…
- `qmode`: Which fields to search. 'titleCreatorYear' covers titles, creator names, and years; against a local Zotero API it also matches citation keys, which the Zotero Web API does not index. 'everything' add…
- `query` (string, required): Text to match. Words match by prefix, and every space-separated word must be present, though not necessarily as a contiguous phrase. A hyphen separates words and ORs them instead, so 'oxygen-deprived…
- `tag`: Filter by tag. Use 'foo || bar' to match either tag and '-foo' to exclude one; tag names containing spaces are matched as written. Requiring two tags at once is not expressible here.

Output parameters:

- `result` (string)

## Diagnostics

Captured diagnostic sections: Provenance, Install scripts, Dependencies. The full working is on the page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/kujenga-zotero-mcp/zotero-mcp#diagnostics

## Score history

- 2026-09-21: 79
- 2026-09-20: 79
- 2026-09-19: 78
- 2026-09-18: 78
- 2026-09-17: 62
- 2026-09-16: 62
- 2026-09-15: 77
- 2026-09-14: 76
- 2026-09-13: 64
- 2026-09-12: 64
- 2026-09-11: 63
- 2026-09-10: 63
- 2026-09-09: 62
- 2026-09-08: 62
- 2026-09-07: 62
- 2026-09-06: 64
- 2026-09-05: 64
- 2026-09-04: 63
- 2026-09-03: 63
- 2026-09-02: 62
- 2026-09-01: 62
- 2026-08-31: 62
- 2026-08-30: 61
- 2026-08-29: 61
- 2026-08-28: 60
- 2026-08-27: 60
- 2026-08-26: 59
- 2026-08-25: 57
- 2026-08-24: 57
- 2026-08-23: 71

## Common questions

### What is the Zotero MCP server?

Zotero MCP is listed in the public MCP registry as io.github.kujenga/zotero-mcp. Search your Zotero library, retrieve item metadata, and read full text from AI assistants. This page covers its PyPI package (zotero-mcp).

### Is the Zotero MCP server safe to use?

Zotero MCP scores 79 out of 100 on VerifyMCP. We found no known CVEs affecting it as of 21 September 2026. That is a record of what we were able to check automatically, not an endorsement. The category breakdown on this page shows every signal behind the number, including the ones we could not confirm.

### What tools does the Zotero MCP server expose?

Zotero MCP exposes 3 tools: zotero_item_metadata, zotero_item_fulltext, zotero_search_items. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 582 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Is the Zotero MCP server still maintained?

Zotero MCP is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 21 September 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.

## Links

- PyPI project: https://pypi.org/project/zotero-mcp/
- Socket report: https://socket.dev/pypi/package/zotero-mcp
- Repository: https://github.com/kujenga/zotero-mcp
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/kujenga-zotero-mcp/zotero-mcp.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/kujenga-zotero-mcp/zotero-mcp.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/kujenga-zotero-mcp/zotero-mcp