Zotero MCP Server for Poke

An MCP server that gives Poke access to your Zotero research library. Built with FastMCP following the InteractionCo template.

Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | search_items | Search the library by keyword | | get_recent_items | Get recently added items | | search_by_tag | Filter items by tag | | get_tags | List all tags in the library | | get_item_metadata | Get full metadata for an item by key | | get_item_fulltext | Extract full text from a paper (local mode) | | get_item_children | List attachments and notes for an item | | get_item_notes | Get note content for an item | | get_item_annotations | Get PDF highlights and comments (local mode) | | get_collections | List all collections | | get_collection_items | Get items in a specific collection | | create_note | Create a new note, optionally attached to an item | | add_item_by_doi | Add a paper to Zotero by DOI | | get_library_info | Show connection status and library details |

Setup

1. Copy the example env file and fill it in:

cp .env.example .env

You need:

Library ID — the number in your Zotero profile URL, or at zotero.org/settings/keys
API key — create one at zotero.org/settings/keys/new with read (and optionally write) access

2. Install dependencies:

/opt/homebrew/bin/python3.11 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Run locally:

.venv/bin/python src/server.py

The server starts at http://localhost:8000/mcp.

Local Mode (full-text + annotations)

Set ZOTERO_LOCAL=true to connect directly to the Zotero app running on your machine. This enables:

get_item_fulltext — extract text from PDFs
get_item_annotations — read PDF highlights and comments

In Zotero: Edit → Preferences → Advanced → Allow other applications to access Zotero

Connecting Poke

Add this to your Poke MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Or if deployed to Render, replace localhost:8000 with your Render URL.

Deploy to Render

Push this repo to GitHub, connect it to Render, and set the environment variables (ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID, ZOTERO_API_KEY) in the Render dashboard. The render.yaml handles everything else.

Zotero MCP Server