Is ZotLink safe to use?

ZotLink has no known CVEs as of the latest MCPpedia security scan. It does not require authentication, so any local process can connect — keep this in mind in shared environments.

How do I install ZotLink?

ZotLink 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.

ZotLink provides 4 tools: check_zotero_status, get_zotero_collections, save_paper_to_zotero, extract_arxiv_metadata. See the full tools list on the server page for descriptions and parameters.

What AI clients work with ZotLink?

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

Is ZotLink actively maintained?

ZotLink is less actively maintained — last commit was 229 days ago. It has 137 GitHub stars.

ZotLink

Name: ZotLink
Author: TonybotNi

zotlink · by TonybotNi

Production‑ready MCP server for Zotero to save open preprints (arXiv, CVF, bio/med/chemRxiv) with rich metadata and smart PDF attachments — with upcoming support for publisher databases (Nature, Science, IEEE Xplore, Springer).

137 4 tools GitHub PyPI

No known CVEs

No license

Stale

Last commit 229d ago

Works with most clients

Transport: stdio, http

4 tools · ~228 tok

Grade A · 0.1% of 200K ctx

Edit this pageView history

Data Education

Step 1

Install in your client

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

Supported in Claude Desktopstdio, http · Node 18+

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotlink": {
      "env": {
        "ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_ROOT": "/Users/yourname/Zotero"
      },
      "args": [],
      "command": "/opt/homebrew/.../zotlink"
    }
  }
}

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/zotlink)](https://mcppedia.org/s/zotlink)

Read me

What ZotLink does

🇺🇸 English | 🇨🇳 中文

Test This Server

Run this in your terminal to verify the server starts. Then let us know if it worked — your result helps other developers.

uvx 'zotlink' 2>&1 | head -1 && echo "✓ Server started successfully"

After testing, let us know if it worked:

Loading README…

Scored, not listed

Why this score

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

Score breakdown

80/100across 5 weighted dimensions

How we score →

0255075100

−20

Security

Maintenance

Efficiency

Documentation

Compatibility

Categoriesclick a row to see evidence

Security

OSV.dev

No known CVEs.

Checked zotlink against OSV.dev.

Inventory

Tools (4)

Click any tool to inspect its schema.

~228 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 ZotLink safe to use?: ZotLink has no known CVEs as of the latest MCPpedia security scan. It does not require authentication, so any local process can connect — keep this in mind in shared environments.
How do I install ZotLink?: ZotLink 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 ZotLink do?: ZotLink provides 4 tools: check_zotero_status, get_zotero_collections, save_paper_to_zotero, extract_arxiv_metadata. See the full tools list on the server page for descriptions and parameters.
What AI clients work with ZotLink?: ZotLink is compatible with claude-desktop, cursor, claude-code. It uses stdio and http transport.
Is ZotLink actively maintained?: ZotLink is less actively maintained — last commit was 229 days ago. It has 137 GitHub stars.

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MCP Security Weekly

Get CVE alerts and security updates for ZotLink and similar servers.

Community

Discussion

Start a conversation

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

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Data Education

Step 1

Install in your client

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

Supported in Claude Desktopstdio, http · Node 18+

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotlink": {
      "env": {
        "ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_ROOT": "/Users/yourname/Zotero"
      },
      "args": [],
      "command": "/opt/homebrew/.../zotlink"
    }
  }
}

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/zotlink)](https://mcppedia.org/s/zotlink)

Read me

What ZotLink does

🇺🇸 English | 🇨🇳 中文

Test This Server

Run this in your terminal to verify the server starts. Then let us know if it worked — your result helps other developers.

uvx 'zotlink' 2>&1 | head -1 && echo "✓ Server started successfully"

After testing, let us know if it worked:

README

ZotLink

MCP Server for Zotero Connector

🌍 Language / 语言选择: 🇺🇸 English | 🇨🇳 中文

🔗 ZotLink

A lightweight, production-ready MCP server that brings open scholarly sources into Zotero with one command.

❤️ Like ZotLink? Give it a star 🌟 to support the development!

✨ Core Features

🌐 Open Preprint Coverage: arXiv, CVF (OpenAccess), bioRxiv, medRxiv, chemRxiv
🧠 Rich Metadata Extraction: title, authors, abstract, DOI, subjects, comments
📄 Smart PDF Attachment: auto-attach when available; validated link fallback
📚 One-Click Collection Save: list + save (updateSession, treeViewID: C{id})
🧭 Adaptive Browser Strategy: Playwright for tough sites; HTTP for the rest
💻 Client Compatibility: Works with Claude Desktop and Cherry Studio
🧩 Deep MCP Interoperability: Integrates with literature-related MCPs such as arxiv-mcp-server and Zotero MCP
📝 Unified Logging: ~/.zotlink/zotlink.log

🎥 Demo Video

Click the image above to watch a 1-minute demo video on Bilibili.

🚀 Quick Start

1️⃣ Install

pip install zotlink
python -m playwright install chromium

Requires Python 3.10+. Includes full browser support for all preprint servers by default!

2️⃣ One-Command Configuration ✨

Use zotlink init to automatically generate MCP configuration:

# Auto-detect Zotero path
zotlink init

# Or specify path manually
zotlink init /Users/yourname/Zotero

The command outputs ready-to-use configuration JSON, for example:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotlink": {
      "command": "/opt/homebrew/.../zotlink",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_ROOT": "/Users/yourname/Zotero"
      }
    }
  }
}

3️⃣ Add to Claude Configuration

Copy the generated configuration to your Claude Desktop config file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: ~/AppData/Roaming/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Restart Claude Desktop and you're ready to go!

🛠️ Development Installation

git clone https://github.com/your-org/ZotLink.git
cd ZotLink
pip install -e .
python -m playwright install chromium

MCP Configuration Details

If you need manual configuration (without using zotlink init), see examples below:

📝 Manual Configuration Examples (click to expand)

Recommended configuration (simple - just specify Zotero directory):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotlink": {
      "command": "/path/to/zotlink",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_ROOT": "/Users/yourname/Zotero"
      }
    }
  }
}

Advanced configuration (specify paths separately):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotlink": {
      "command": "/path/to/zotlink",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_DB": "/Users/yourname/Zotero/zotero.sqlite",
        "ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_DIR": "/Users/yourname/Zotero/storage"
      }
    }
  }
}

Minimal config (auto-detect Zotero paths):


... [View full README on GitHub](https://github.com/TonybotNi/ZotLink#readme)

Loading README…

Scored, not listed

Why this score

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

Score breakdown

80/100across 5 weighted dimensions

How we score →

0255075100

−20

Security

Maintenance

Efficiency

Documentation

Compatibility

Categoriesclick a row to see evidence

Security

OSV.dev

No known CVEs.

Checked zotlink against OSV.dev.

Inventory

Tools (4)

Click any tool to inspect its schema.

~228 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 ZotLink safe to use?: ZotLink has no known CVEs as of the latest MCPpedia security scan. It does not require authentication, so any local process can connect — keep this in mind in shared environments.
How do I install ZotLink?: ZotLink 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 ZotLink do?: ZotLink provides 4 tools: check_zotero_status, get_zotero_collections, save_paper_to_zotero, extract_arxiv_metadata. See the full tools list on the server page for descriptions and parameters.
What AI clients work with ZotLink?: ZotLink is compatible with claude-desktop, cursor, claude-code. It uses stdio and http transport.
Is ZotLink actively maintained?: ZotLink is less actively maintained — last commit was 229 days ago. It has 137 GitHub stars.