Pyzotero

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Working with Zotero libraries programmatically
• Managing bibliographic references
• Exporting citations
• Searching library contents

Example prompts

• “/pyzotero”

Requirements

• Python 3
• A credential in ZOTERO_API_KEY
• Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Write, Edit, Bash

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit efc0b96. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

  • Read
  • Write
  • Edit
  • Bash

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

  • uv

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

  • zotero.org

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:

  • ZOTERO_API_KEY

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Pyzotero loads about 1.1k tokens when it runs, and up to ~9.2k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 112 tokens; SKILL.md has 235 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~112

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~1.1k

With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them

~9.2k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:21

  edentials in environment variables or a `.env` file:

• NotePre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: Bash)SKILL.md

  allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from agent-skills-hub/agent-skills-hub at commit efc0b96, republished under its MIT licence (© agent-skills-hub). 235 words, ~1,099 tokens.

name

pyzotero

description

Interact with Zotero reference management libraries using the pyzotero Python client. Retrieve, create, update, and delete items, collections, tags, and attachments via the Zotero Web API v3. Use this skill when working with Zotero libraries programmatically, managing bibliographic references, exporting citations, searching library contents, uploading PDF attachments, or building research automation workflows that integrate with Zotero.

allowed-tools

Read, Write, Edit, Bash

license

MIT License

metadata.skill-author

K-Dense Inc.

ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID=your_user_id
ZOTERO_API_KEY=your_api_key
ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE=user  # or "group"

uv add pyzotero
# or with CLI support:
uv add "pyzotero[cli]"

from pyzotero import Zotero

zot = Zotero(library_id='123456', library_type='user', api_key='ABC1234XYZ')

# Retrieve top-level items (returns 100 by default)
items = zot.top(limit=10)
for item in items:
    print(item['data']['title'], item['data']['itemType'])

# Search by keyword
results = zot.items(q='machine learning', limit=20)

# Retrieve all items (use everything() for complete results)
all_items = zot.everything(zot.items())

item = zot.item('ITEMKEY')
item['data']['title'] = 'New Title'
zot.update_item(item)

template = zot.item_template('journalArticle')
template['title'] = 'My Paper'
template['creators'][0] = {'creatorType': 'author', 'firstName': 'Jane', 'lastName': 'Doe'}
zot.create_items([template])

zot.add_parameters(format='bibtex')
bibtex = zot.top(limit=50)
# bibtex is a bibtexparser BibDatabase object
print(bibtex.entries)

zot = Zotero(library_id='123456', library_type='user', local=True)
items = zot.items()

© agent-skills-hub, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 13 other files (references) in skills/pyzotero of agent-skills-hub/agent-skills-hub.

• SKILL.md
• references/authentication.md
• references/cli.md
• references/collections.md
• references/error-handling.md
• references/exports.md
• references/files-attachments.md
• references/full-text.md
• references/pagination.md
• references/read-api.md
• references/saved-searches.md
• references/search-params.md
• references/tags.md
• references/write-api.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit efc0b96

Used in 4 other repositories

We found 4 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 4 other GitHub owners. This page covers the copy in agent-skills-hub/agent-skills-hub, which our catalogue first saw on October 9, 2026.

• foryourhealth111-pixel/Vibe-Skillsbundled/skills/pyzotero
• LeonChaoX/qinyan-academic-skillsskills/01-论文检索与文献管理/pyzotero
• FreedomIntelligence/OpenClaw-Medical-Skillsskills/pyzotero
• BioTender-max/awesome-bio-agent-skillsskills/openclaw/pyzotero