Is the Zotero Search skill free?

Yes. The skill itself is free from urschrei/zotero_search_skill. SkillProof publishes the install command and an independent test verdict at no cost.

What is the Zotero Search SkillProof Score?

8.4/10 — installs cleanly 5/5, triggers reliably 5/5, output vs. baseline 6/10, docs & honesty 5/5.

How do I install Zotero Search?

Copy the install command from this page, run it in your terminal, and restart Claude Code. Skills live in ~/.claude/skills/ (global) or .claude/skills/ inside a project.

Can I use Zotero Search with Cursor, Copilot, Gemini CLI, Codex or other AI tools?

The SKILL.md format is native to Claude (Claude Code, Desktop, claude.ai). The instructions inside adapt to other assistants: Cursor rules, GitHub Copilot instructions, Windsurf rules, Custom GPTs, AGENTS.md for OpenAI Codex, and GEMINI.md for Google Gemini CLI — our conversion guides cover each, and the free converter on the tools page does the wrapping for you.

Zotero Search

Search a local Zotero library and expand into Semantic Scholar citations via the pyzotero CLI.

by urschrei · urschrei/zotero_search_skill

Works with setup

Install — copy the command Download source ↗

Test report

Verdict: Works with setup
Score: 8.4/10
Tested: Jul 16, 2026
Environment: Claude Code 2.x (agent harness)
Upstream re-checked: Aug 10, 2026 · b78ffa8

Installed the real pyzotero[cli] via uvx and confirmed every documented subcommand exists (search, s2search, related, citations, doiindex, etc.); the local-Zotero connection failed with exactly the documented error since no desktop instance was running here, and Semantic Scholar calls hit genuine (rate-limited) upstream responses rather than fabricated data — real integration, just couldn't complete a full run without a live Zotero desktop.

Scored on four weighted criteria — install, triggering, output vs. baseline, docs. How scoring works

Installs cleanly 5/5
Triggers reliably 5/5
Output vs. baseline 6/10
Docs & honesty 5/5

What Zotero Search does

Wraps the pyzotero CLI to search a user's local Zotero library, then cross-references results against Semantic Scholar for related papers, citations, and references. Triggers when the user asks to search their Zotero library, find literature on a topic, or explore a paper's citation graph. Claude Code only; requires a running local Zotero desktop app and the pyzotero[cli] package.

How to install Zotero Search

git clone https://github.com/urschrei/zotero_search_skill
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
cp -r zotero_search_skill ~/.claude/skills/zotero-search

Skills live in ~/.claude/skills/ (global) or .claude/skills/ (per-project). Restart Claude Code after installing.

Commands — how to trigger Zotero Search

/zotero-search Search a local Zotero library and expand into Semantic Scholar citations via the pyzotero CLI.

It also activates on plain-language prompts like these:

Search my Zotero library for papers related to the Transformer paper
Find highly-cited papers I might be missing from my Zotero collection
What does the citation graph look like for this paper in my library?

Frequently asked questions

Is the Zotero Search skill free?: Yes. The skill itself is free from urschrei/zotero_search_skill. SkillProof publishes the install command and an independent test verdict at no cost.
Does Zotero Search work with Claude Code?: We tested it with Claude Code 2.x (agent harness) on Jul 16, 2026. Verdict: Works with setup. Installed the real pyzotero[cli] via uvx and confirmed every documented subcommand exists (search, s2search, related, citations, doiindex, etc.); the local-Zotero connection failed with exactly the documented error since no desktop instance was running here, and Semantic Scholar calls hit genuine (rate-limited) upstream responses rather than fabricated data — real integration, just couldn't complete a full run without a live Zotero desktop.
What is the Zotero Search SkillProof Score?: 8.4/10 — installs cleanly 5/5, triggers reliably 5/5, output vs. baseline 6/10, docs & honesty 5/5.
How do I install Zotero Search?: Copy the install command from this page, run it in your terminal, and restart Claude Code. Skills live in ~/.claude/skills/ (global) or .claude/skills/ inside a project.
Can I use Zotero Search with Cursor, Copilot, Gemini CLI, Codex or other AI tools?: The SKILL.md format is native to Claude (Claude Code, Desktop, claude.ai). The instructions inside adapt to other assistants: Cursor rules, GitHub Copilot instructions, Windsurf rules, Custom GPTs, AGENTS.md for OpenAI Codex, and GEMINI.md for Google Gemini CLI — our conversion guides cover each, and the free converter on the tools page does the wrapping for you.