Is Mcp Zotero safe to use?

Mcp Zotero has no known CVEs as of the latest MCPpedia security scan. Authentication requirements were not detected automatically - check the project's documentation before connecting in a shared environment.

How do I install Mcp Zotero?

Mcp Zotero supports copy-paste install configs on its MCPpedia page for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Claude Code. Scroll to the Quick Install section and select your client.

What can Mcp Zotero do?

Mcp Zotero provides 15 tools: get_collections, get_collection_items, search_library, get_items_details, get_item_fulltext and 10 more. See the full tools list on the server page for descriptions and parameters.

What AI clients work with Mcp Zotero?

Mcp Zotero is compatible with claude-desktop, cursor, claude-code. It uses stdio and sse and http transport.

Is Mcp Zotero actively maintained?

Mcp Zotero is actively maintained - last commit was 2 days ago. It has 38 GitHub stars.

MCP Zotero

Name: MCP Zotero
Author: Xevos117

npm · by Xevos117

Unofficial Zotero server: search your library, add papers by DOI, import PDFs, cite in Word

38 15 tools GitHub npm

No known CVEs

No license

Actively maintained

Last commit 2d ago

Works with most clients

Transport: stdio, sse, http

15 tools · ~836 tok

Grade B · 0.4% of 200K ctx

MCPpedia last refreshed this data 14h ago

Edit this pageView history

MCP Zotero is an MCP server that unofficial Zotero server: search your library, add papers by DOI, import PDFs, cite in Word. Its tool list has not been published yet over stdio, sse and http, requires no API key, and scores 84/100 on MCPpedia's security, maintenance and efficiency rubric.

Productivity Writing

Step 1

Install in your client

Config is the same across clients - only the file and path differ.

Supported in Claude Desktopstdio, sse, http · Node 18+

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero": {
      "env": {
        "ZOTERO_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY",
        "ZOTERO_USER_ID": "YOUR_USER_ID",
        "UNSAFE_OPERATIONS": "items"
      },
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@xevos117/mcp-zotero"
      ],
      "command": "npx"
    }
  }
}

Are you the author?

Add this badge to your README to show your security score and help users find safe servers.

Embed in your READMEAbout badges →

[![MCPpedia Score](https://mcppedia.org/api/badge/mcp-zotero)](https://mcppedia.org/s/mcp-zotero)

Read me

What Mcp Zotero does

Unofficial Zotero server: search your library, add papers by DOI, import PDFs, cite in Word

Test This Server

This server supports HTTP transport. Be the first to test it - help the community know if it works.

Loading README…

Scored, not listed

Why this score

Five weighted categories - click any category to see the underlying evidence.

Score breakdown

84/100across 5 weighted dimensions

How we score →

0255075100

−16

Security

Maintenance

Efficiency

Documentation

Compatibility

Categoriesclick a row to see evidence

Security

OSV.dev

8 fixed

CVE-2022-29244high · fixedCVSS 7.5

Packing does not respect root-level ignore files in workspaces

### Impact `npm pack` ignores root-level `.gitignore` & `.npmignore` file exclusion directives when run in a workspace or with a workspace flag (ie. `--workspaces`, `--workspace=<name>`). Anyone who has run `npm pack` or `npm publish` with workspaces, as of [v7.9.0](https://github.com/npm/cli/releases/tag/v7.9.0) & [v7.13.0](https://github.com/npm/cli/releases/tag/v7.13.0) respectively, may be affected and have published files into the npm registry they did not intend to include. ### Patch - Up

Affected: >= 7.9.0Fixed in 8.11.0source →

CVE-2018-7408high · fixedCVSS 7.8

Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource in NPM

An issue was discovered in an npm 5.7.0 2018-02-21 pre-release (marked as "next: 5.7.0" and therefore automatically installed by an "npm upgrade -g npm" command, and also announced in the vendor's blog without mention of pre-release status). It might allow local users to bypass intended filesystem access restrictions because ownerships of /etc and /usr directories are being changed unexpectedly, related to a "correctMkdir" issue.

Affected: >= 0Fixed in 5.7.1source →

CVE-2013-4116low · fixed

Local Privilege Escalation in npm

Affected versions of `npm` use predictable temporary file names during archive unpacking. If an attacker can create a symbolic link at the location of one of these temporary file names, the attacker can arbitrarily write to any file that the user which owns the `npm` process has permission to write to, potentially resulting in local privilege escalation. ## Recommendation Update to version 1.3.3 or later.

Affected: >= 0Fixed in 1.3.3source →

CVE-2020-15095medium · fixedCVSS 4.4

npm CLI exposing sensitive information through logs

Versions of the npm CLI prior to 6.14.6 are vulnerable to an information exposure vulnerability through log files. The CLI supports URLs like `<protocol>://[<user>[:<password>]@]<hostname>[:<port>][:][/]<path>`. The password value is not redacted and is printed to stdout and also to any generated log files.

Affected: >= 0Fixed in 6.14.6source →

CVE-2019-16777high · fixedCVSS 7.7

npm Vulnerable to Global node_modules Binary Overwrite

Versions of the npm CLI prior to 6.13.4 are vulnerable to a Global node_modules Binary Overwrite. It fails to prevent existing globally-installed binaries to be overwritten by other package installations. For example, if a package was installed globally and created a `serve` binary, any subsequent installs of packages that also create a `serve` binary would overwrite the first binary. This will not overwrite system binaries but only binaries put into the global node_modules directory. This b

Affected: >= 0Fixed in 6.13.4source →

Inventory

Tools (15)

Click any tool to inspect its schema.

~836 tokens total

Community

Reviews

Be the first to review

Have you used this server?

Share your experience - it helps other developers decide.

How easy was setup?Did it work reliably?How was the documentation?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Mcp Zotero safe to use?: Mcp Zotero has no known CVEs as of the latest MCPpedia security scan. Authentication requirements were not detected automatically - check the project's documentation before connecting in a shared environment.
How do I install Mcp Zotero?: Mcp Zotero supports copy-paste install configs on its MCPpedia page for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Claude Code. Scroll to the Quick Install section and select your client.
What can Mcp Zotero do?: Mcp Zotero provides 15 tools: get_collections, get_collection_items, search_library, get_items_details, get_item_fulltext and 10 more. See the full tools list on the server page for descriptions and parameters.
What AI clients work with Mcp Zotero?: Mcp Zotero is compatible with claude-desktop, cursor, claude-code. It uses stdio and sse and http transport.
Is Mcp Zotero actively maintained?: Mcp Zotero is actively maintained - last commit was 2 days ago. It has 38 GitHub stars.

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Community

Discussion

Start a conversation

Ask a question, share a tip, or report an issue.

Has anyone used this with Cursor?How do you handle auth?Any alternatives?

Edit this pageView history

Productivity Writing

Step 1

Install in your client

Config is the same across clients - only the file and path differ.

Supported in Claude Desktopstdio, sse, http · Node 18+

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero": {
      "env": {
        "ZOTERO_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY",
        "ZOTERO_USER_ID": "YOUR_USER_ID",
        "UNSAFE_OPERATIONS": "items"
      },
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@xevos117/mcp-zotero"
      ],
      "command": "npx"
    }
  }
}

Are you the author?

Add this badge to your README to show your security score and help users find safe servers.

Embed in your READMEAbout badges →

[![MCPpedia Score](https://mcppedia.org/api/badge/mcp-zotero)](https://mcppedia.org/s/mcp-zotero)

Read me

What Mcp Zotero does

Unofficial Zotero server: search your library, add papers by DOI, import PDFs, cite in Word

Test This Server

This server supports HTTP transport. Be the first to test it - help the community know if it works.

README

MCP Zotero

Note: This is an unofficial community project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by the Zotero team or the Corporation for Digital Scholarship. "Zotero" is a registered trademark of the Corporation for Digital Scholarship.

A Model Context Protocol server for Zotero integration. It gives any LLM full access to your Zotero library: search, organize, add papers by DOI, import PDFs, read full-text content, edit items and notes, check a bibliography for retractions and duplicates, and put live Zotero citations into Word and LibreOffice documents.

Originally based on mcp-zotero by Abhishek Kalia. This project has since been extensively rewritten with a new architecture, 20 tools (up from 5), citation injection, PDF management, and Claude skill support.

Features

Live citations in Word and LibreOffice. inject_citations turns placeholders in an existing .docx or .odt into native Zotero citations and a bibliography, which the Zotero plugin of either app can refresh and restyle. Placeholders can be <zcite> tags or Pandoc markers ([@KEY]), with Zotero item keys or Better BibTeX citation keys (details).
Cited documents from Markdown. create_cited_document writes a new .docx or .odt from Markdown with Pandoc-style citations, real heading styles and a bibliography.
Five citation styles: APA, IEEE, Vancouver, Harvard and Chicago.
Adding references by DOI or with full metadata (all 37 Zotero item types), with open-access PDFs attached automatically through Unpaywall.
Editing: update_item changes fields and creators with a version check (never overwrites a concurrent edit); create_note attaches a plain-text note to an item.
Checking a bibliography: check_retractions flags retracted papers, expressions of concern and corrections (Crossref, with Retraction Watch data); find_duplicates finds items with the same DOI or title, or tells which DOIs are already in the library before importing them.
Safe deletion: delete_items moves items to the Zotero trash by default; permanent deletion needs permanent: true, and every deletion is off unless UNSAFE_OPERATIONS allows it.
Group libraries, set for the whole server or per call.
MCP prompts for common workflows: citing a document, writing a cited document, importing references, summarizing an item into a note, checking a bibliography before submission.
Claude skill for clients without filesystem access (Claude.ai Projects, Claude Desktop): the same citation injection, run inside the sandbox.

How it works

The server is designed to be usable by any LLM without external documentation. On connection, it sends workflow instructions via the MCP instructions field, and each tool description includes cross-references and usage guidance. An LLM that has never seen this server before can discover the full workflow — from adding papers to producing a cited Word document — directly from the tool listing.

For advanced use cases (PDF upload policy, citation style guidance, source transparency), a Claude skill is included for Claude.ai Projects. But the skill is optional: the MCP server is fully self-documenting.

Local vs Remote LLMs

Scenario	MCP server	Skill needed?
LLM with filesystem access (Claude Code, LM Studio, etc.)	All 20 tools	No
LLM without filesystem access (Claude.ai Projects, Claude Desktop)	API tools (search, add, metadata)	Yes, for citation injection

LLMs with filesystem access can use all tools directly, including inject_citations which reads and writes .docx (Word) and .odt (LibreOffice) files on disk.

LLMs without filesystem access — including Claude Desktop, which connects to MCP but cannot generate files locally — can use the included Claude skill (skills/zotero-skill-mcp-integrations/), which runs citation injection entirel

... View full README on GitHub

Loading README…

Scored, not listed

Why this score

Five weighted categories - click any category to see the underlying evidence.

Score breakdown

84/100across 5 weighted dimensions

How we score →

0255075100

−16

Security

Maintenance

Efficiency

Documentation

Compatibility

Categoriesclick a row to see evidence

Security

OSV.dev

8 fixed

CVE-2022-29244high · fixedCVSS 7.5

Packing does not respect root-level ignore files in workspaces

Affected: >= 7.9.0Fixed in 8.11.0source →

CVE-2018-7408high · fixedCVSS 7.8

Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource in NPM

Affected: >= 0Fixed in 5.7.1source →

CVE-2013-4116low · fixed

Local Privilege Escalation in npm

Affected: >= 0Fixed in 1.3.3source →

CVE-2020-15095medium · fixedCVSS 4.4

npm CLI exposing sensitive information through logs

Affected: >= 0Fixed in 6.14.6source →

CVE-2019-16777high · fixedCVSS 7.7

npm Vulnerable to Global node_modules Binary Overwrite

Affected: >= 0Fixed in 6.13.4source →

Inventory

Tools (15)

Click any tool to inspect its schema.

~836 tokens total

Community

Reviews

Be the first to review

Have you used this server?

Share your experience - it helps other developers decide.

How easy was setup?Did it work reliably?How was the documentation?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Mcp Zotero safe to use?: Mcp Zotero has no known CVEs as of the latest MCPpedia security scan. Authentication requirements were not detected automatically - check the project's documentation before connecting in a shared environment.
How do I install Mcp Zotero?: Mcp Zotero supports copy-paste install configs on its MCPpedia page for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Claude Code. Scroll to the Quick Install section and select your client.
What can Mcp Zotero do?: Mcp Zotero provides 15 tools: get_collections, get_collection_items, search_library, get_items_details, get_item_fulltext and 10 more. See the full tools list on the server page for descriptions and parameters.
What AI clients work with Mcp Zotero?: Mcp Zotero is compatible with claude-desktop, cursor, claude-code. It uses stdio and sse and http transport.
Is Mcp Zotero actively maintained?: Mcp Zotero is actively maintained - last commit was 2 days ago. It has 38 GitHub stars.