llm-for-zotero

LLM-for-Zotero: A Research Agent System for your Zotero Library

LLM-for-Zotero brings Large Language Models into the Zotero reader, so you can ask questions, summarize papers, inspect figures, compare sources, and save notes without leaving your library. It works with standard API providers, local OpenAI-compatible models, WebChat, Codex App-Server, and Claude Code.

Documentation:

• English
• Chinese

Demo Video

How to do a library chat literature review with llm-for-zotero agent

Table of Contents

• At a Glance
• Quick Start
• What's New
• Configuration
• Demos
• File-Based Notes
• Agent Mode
• Skills
• General Web Search
• WebChat Setup
• Codex Setup
• Claude Code Setup
• MinerU PDF Parsing
• Privacy and Data Flow
• Roadmap
• FAQ
• Contributing

At a Glance

• Chat with the current PDF, selected text, figures, screenshots, and uploaded documents directly inside Zotero.
• Get grounded answers with citations that jump back to the source passage.
• Compare multiple open papers or add external files as extra context.
• Save answers, full conversations, and research notes to Zotero notes or local Markdown folders such as Obsidian and Logseq.
• Enable Agent Mode for library-wide read, search, tagging, metadata, import, note-editing, and organization workflows.
• Search the current public web and read relevant pages with Tavily, with source links attached to the answer.
• Use your preferred backend: API keys, local models, ChatGPT WebChat, Codex App Server, or Claude Code.

What's New

• Codex App Server is the recommended Codex path for ChatGPT Plus users. It runs through the local codex app-server runtime and is configured from the Agent tab.
• Claude Code Mode runs Claude Code as a separate conversation system inside Zotero, using your own Claude Code login. The plugin starts and stops the small bridge it needs for you. It can use the plugin's Zotero tools to read your library and, with your approval, edit notes, tags, metadata, and imports.
• One history lists Agent, Codex and Claude chats together. Click the runtime badge in the message box to switch runtimes, and attach an earlier conversation from the slash menu or by asking for it in plain words.
• Side panel in the standalone window opens read-only past chats or a temporary side chat next to the main chat.

• Skills let you customize how Agent Mode handles research workflows. The plugin ships with 8 built-in skills and a portal for creating your own.
• General Web Search lets the in-plugin Agent search the current public web with Tavily, read relevant pages, and attach source links to its answers.
• Standalone Window Mode opens the assistant in a dedicated window with paper chat, library chat, and conversation history.
• File-Based Notes save Markdown notes to local folders, including Obsidian, Logseq, or any plain Markdown directory.
• Cache-aware Agent Mode preserves stable paper context, prior read evidence, and coverage state across longer research turns, then compacts old transcript history automatically when the context window gets crowded.
• Citation navigation now keeps citation labels conservative until page locations are verified, while quote-based citations can jump back to the matching Zotero passage.
• MinerU PDF parsing provides higher-fidelity extraction for tables, equations, figures, and local mineru-api servers, with a richer file manager for bulk parsing, cache repair, sync packages, tags, and parsing filters.

Thanks to @jianghao-zhang and @boltma for major contributions to the Codex App Server, Claude Code, and file upload workflows.

Quick Start

1. Download the latest .xpi file from the Releases page.
2. In Zotero, open Tools -> Add-ons -> gear icon -> Install Add-on From File, then select the .xpi.
3. Restart Zotero.
4. Open Preferences -> llm-for-zotero, choose a provider, enter the base URL, key, and model, then click Test Connection.
5. Open a PDF in Zotero and click the LLM Assistant icon in the right-hand toolbar.

If you do not want to use a provider API key, start with WebChat or Codex App Server.

Configuration

Open Preferences -> llm-for-zotero.

1. Select your Provider.
2. Paste your API Base URL, secret key, and model name.
3. Click Test Connection.

The plugin supports multiple provider protocols, including responses_api, openai_chat_compat, anthropic_messages, and gemini_native.

You can configure multiple providers and models for different tasks, such as a multimodal model for figures and a text model for summaries. The conversation panel also supports model-specific reasoning levels and hyperparameters such as temperature and max_tokens_output.

Demos

Grounded Paper Chat

On the first message, the model loads the current paper as context. Follow-up questions use focused retrieval from the same paper, keeping conversations fast and grounded. Click any generated citation to jump straight to the source passage in Zotero.

Summaries and Selected Text

Summarize a full paper, focus on methodology or results, or select any paragraph and ask the model to explain it. The selected-text pop-up can add highlighted text to chat with one click. It can also be disabled in settings.

Figures and External Files

Take screenshots of figures, attach up to 10 screenshots, or upload local files as additional context. Supported uploads include PDF, DOCX, PPTX, TXT, and Markdown.

Multi-Paper Comparison

Open multiple papers in Zotero tabs and type / to cite another paper as additional context.

Notes, History, and Presets

Save answers or selected text to Zotero notes, export full conversations in Markdown, and customize quick-action presets for repeated research tasks.

File-Based Notes

Beyond Zotero's built-in notes, the agent can save Markdown research notes to any local directory you choose. Point it at an Obsidian vault, a Logseq graph, or a plain folder of .md files.

Open Preferences -> llm-for-zotero and scroll to the Notes Directory section.

Setting	Description	Example
Nickname	How you refer to this directory in chat	Obsidian, Logseq
Notes Directory Path	Absolute path to the root directory where notes are saved	/Users/me/MyVault
Default Folder	Default subfolder for new notes	Logs
Attachments Folder	Folder for copied figures and images, relative to the directory root	Logs/imgs

Ask the agent to write a note using the configured nickname, for example: "Summarize this paper and save it to Obsidian." The agent gathers paper metadata, writes a Markdown note, adds YAML frontmatter, optionally copies figures from MinerU-parsed PDFs, and saves the note under the configured folder.

Or if you want to keep notes inside Zotero, the agent can also write to internal item notes with the write-note skill. Just ask it to "save a note for this paper" without mentioning an external directory.

Zotero Notes vs. File-Based Notes (both generated by the plugin)

Notes use Pandoc citation syntax such as [@citekey], which works with Obsidian Zotero Integration, Pandoc plugins, and many Markdown readers.

Note templates and figure-embedding rules live in the write-note skill. Open the Standalone Window -> Skills portal to edit them.

Editing Zotero Notes With the Agent

The agent keeps citations, PDF highlights, and images intact when it edits a Zotero note.

• Citations, PDF highlights, and images stay intact. The agent sees each one as a placeholder such as {{citation:3fa9c1 ("Smith", 2020, p. 42)}} and every edit puts the original item back, so a rewrite can move a citation but never break it. An edit that would drop one is refused unless you asked for it to be deleted.
• Clickable citations. Ask for page citations and the agent writes {{cite item=123 page=42}}, which becomes the same citation Zotero's Insert Citation makes: clicking it opens the PDF at that page.
• Study-note blanks. A line of underscores inside a quote (> ___) becomes a divider, and a checklist item made only of underscores (- [ ] ____) keeps its checkbox as a fill-in blank.

Agent Mode (beta)

Agent Mode is disabled by default. Turn on Original Agent in Preferences -> Agent tab. While it is on, new chats use the Agent. If you also turn on Codex or Claude Code, click the runtime badge in the message box to switch between them.

It can read and search your library, draft notes, update metadata or tags with confirmation, and undo recent write actions from the conversation.

When enabled, the LLM can act on your Zotero library with read tools, write tools, confirmation cards, and undo.

The design philosophy is simple: read tools are unrestricted; write tools stay reviewable and undoable.

Long agent runs are cache-aware. The plugin keeps stable Zotero context and previously read evidence separate from the changing chat transcript, tracks which papers and passages have already been inspected, and automatically compacts old turns when the model context fills up. This lets follow-up questions reuse grounded evidence when it is still relevant, while still asking the agent to read again when the needed source or coverage layer is missing.

Tool area	Tools	What they do
Library and PDF reading	library_search, library_read, library_retrieve, paper_read, read_attachment, context_read	Search items and collections, read metadata, read papers, search paper passages, render PDF pages, inspect attachments and the chat context
Scholarly discovery	literature_search, literature_review	Search OpenAlex, arXiv, and Europe PMC for papers, recommendations, references, and citations (metadata lookup via CrossRef and Semantic Scholar), then present ranked candidates
General web research	web_search, web_read	Search the current public web with Tavily, read relevant pages, and show source links with the answer (only when a Tavily key is set)
Library writes	library_update, library_import, library_delete, annotate_pdf	Apply tags, update metadata, move items, manage collections and attachments, merge duplicates, trash items, import identifiers or local files, highlight PDF passages
Citations and settings	library_cite, library_settings	Format citations and bibliographies with Zotero's citation engine, and read or change the Zotero preferences the agent may touch
Notes and documents	note_write, note_write_batch, submit_document	Create, append to, or edit Zotero notes, write one note on each of many items, and finalize longer documents
Filesystem and scripting	file_io, run_command, zotero_script	Read/write local files, run analysis commands, or execute Zotero JavaScript with write confirmations
Skills and questions	load_skill, request_user_input, past_chat_attach	Load a skill's instructions when the task needs them, ask you a question when a choice is ambiguous, and add an earlier conversation to the chat
Task tracking	task_update, workflow_script	Split a compound request into parts the plugin tracks, and run several tool calls in one script with loops and conditions
Safety	undo	Undo recorded write actions from the conversation's durable change history, one at a time or several newest-first

Agent Mode Demos

Multi-step workflow

Find related papers

Use /discover_related while viewing a paper to run the direct OpenAlex action. It opens Recommendations, References, and Citations tabs with up to 20 papers per mode by default. Use /discover_related 30 to change the initial retrieval limit, Load more to retrieve 20 more per mode while preserving your selections, and Import selected to save the papers you choose. This shortcut does not require a model.

Ask “find relevant papers” in chat to start model-assisted discovery. The agent assesses retrieved candidates and presents a ranked card with relevance reasons. An explicit count, such as “find 15 relevant papers,” sets the batch size; otherwise it starts with five. Use Find more to add another batch of the same size while preserving your selections, then Import selected to save the papers you choose. Requests for references, citing papers, or a specific search source constrain discovery to that request. If fewer relevant matches are available, the card explains the shortfall instead of padding the list. A configured model is required for model-assisted discovery; literature search used to answer a question remains a separate flow that can finish with a cited answer without an import card.

Apply tags

Write a note

Skills

Skills customize Agent Mode behavior for recurring research workflows such as paper QA, evidence retrieval, figure analysis, paper comparison, literature reviews, note writing, and cited-reference import.

Skills are customizable guidance files that shape how Agent Mode approaches different types of requests. The agent sees only each skill's name and description at the start of a turn. There is no automatic pre-selection step: the agent calls load_skill to read a skill's full instructions when it decides the task needs them. Choosing a skill with / applies it directly, and an approved plan keeps the exact skill versions it was approved with.

Skills require Agent Mode. They have no effect in standard chat mode.

Built-in skills:

Skill	What it guides the agent to do
evidence-based-qa	Retrieve missing evidence for specific paper questions
analyze-figures	Interpret figures and tables using MinerU-extracted images
compare-papers	Compare multiple papers using batched reads and focused retrieval
library-analysis	Summarize or analyze your entire library without context overflow
literature-review	Conduct a structured literature review
reorganize-library	Sort papers into folders or tags after you review the grouping
write-note	Write Zotero notes or Markdown notes in configured local folders
import-cited-reference	Import papers cited in the current PDF into Zotero

To create a custom skill, open the Standalone Window, click the Skills icon, choose "+ New skill", edit the skill file, and save. Skills are stored as Markdown files in {ZoteroDataDir}/llm-for-zotero/skills/.

General Web Search

Agent Mode can search the current public web with Tavily, AnySearch, or DeepSeek and read returned pages when search-result snippets are not enough. Use it for current facts, official documentation, news, finance, product information, and other general-web evidence. Scholarly discovery remains separate: the agent searches OpenAlex, arXiv, and Europe PMC (with CrossRef and Semantic Scholar for metadata lookup), and it can combine both kinds of search when a question needs academic and general-web sources.

To enable general web search with Tavily:

1. Get a Tavily API key from app.tavily.com.
2. Open Preferences -> llm-for-zotero -> Agent.
3. In Web search, keep Tavily (the default), paste the API key and click Test connection.
4. Enable Agent Mode and ask it to search or verify something online.

There is no separate enable switch. The web_search and web_read tools become available to compatible in-plugin Agent conversations when the selected provider can run: Tavily has a key, AnySearch is selected, or DeepSeek finds an official DeepSeek model profile. Tavily is the default. DeepSeek is an optional choice that uses the key of an official DeepSeek model profile, and DeepSeek bills that account. They are not added to WebChat, Codex App Server, or Claude Code conversations, which use their own runtimes and tool sets.

With Tavily, the agent chooses basic or advanced search and page-reading depth from the request, or follows an explicit request such as "use advanced web search." It can narrow searches by topic, date, or domain, and answers include clickable source indicators for the pages actually used.

Basic search costs 1 Tavily credit and advanced search costs 2. Page extraction also consumes Tavily credits, and Tavily currently offers a free monthly allowance. The API key stays in local Zotero preferences, but search queries and requested URLs are sent to Tavily, so do not include credentials or sensitive private text in web queries.

AnySearch

In Preferences → llm-for-zotero → Agent → Web search, select AnySearch. Leave AnySearch API key (optional) blank for anonymous access, or enter an existing key. Saving preferences does not make a request. The provider selection is persisted; selecting AnySearch does not reuse a Tavily key. No environment-variable key fallback is used. Test search (sends a public query) explicitly sends a fixed public query without invoking a model and displays result count, titles, URLs and the request ID when available. It consumes service quota; it is not an Agent conversation or proof of the Agent tool/citation path.

AnySearch supports general search with query and maxResults (1–10), and web_read with one to five URLs returned by search in the same run. Extraction uses at most two concurrent requests and returns bounded page text, not query-focused passages. Depth, topic, date/domain filters, chunk controls and vertical/source selection are not supported and are rejected rather than silently ignored. PDF, Office and media-binary extraction are not supported. Search queries and requested URLs are sent to AnySearch; do not include credentials or private library content.

Anonymous quotas and permissions are server-controlled. An exhausted quota produces an error; the integration does not adopt credentials from responses, automatically retry, switch providers, or report fictional credit usage.

DeepSeek

DeepSeek search uses the key of your first model profile whose API address is the official https://api.deepseek.com; keys of relays and other hosts are never sent to DeepSeek. It costs $0.75 per 1,000 successful searches or page fetches, billed to that DeepSeek account, and failed or empty calls are not billed. Queries are limited to 128 characters, including the site and date filters, and search queries and requested URLs are sent to DeepSeek.

Codex Setup (ChatGPT Plus Subscribers)

If you have a ChatGPT Plus subscription, you can use Codex models in the plugin without a separate API key by signing in through the Codex CLI.

New users should choose Codex App Server from the Agent tab. The older Codex Auth (Legacy) path remains available for existing users, but is planned for future deprecation after app-server validation.

Codex App Server setup

1. Install the Codex CLI:

   npm install -g @openai/codex
   

   On macOS, you can also use brew install --cask codex. On Windows, you can also use winget install OpenAI.Codex; install Codex from PowerShell or Command Prompt rather than WSL, so Zotero MCP can use the Windows-local loopback connection.

2. Log in:

   codex login
   

   Credentials are saved to ~/.codex/auth.json.

3. In Zotero, open Preferences -> llm-for-zotero -> Agent tab.

4. Turn on Enable Codex App Server integration.

5. Choose the default model and reasoning level.

6. Click Test connection.

7. In the chat header, click Codex to switch into the Codex conversation system.

Codex App Server and Claude Code are mutually exclusive runtime modes in the Agent tab. Disable one before enabling the other.

Codex Auth (Legacy)

Existing users can keep the legacy direct backend configuration:

• Open the AI Providers tab.
• Choose Auth Mode -> Codex Auth (Legacy).
• Keep API URL https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/codex/responses.
• Keep your Codex model name, for example gpt-5.5.

Legacy notes:

• Reads credentials from ~/.codex/auth.json or $CODEX_HOME/auth.json.
• Automatically attempts token refresh on 401 responses.
• Embeddings are not supported in this legacy direct mode yet.
• Local PDF/reference text grounding and screenshot/image inputs are supported.
• The Responses /files upload plus file_id attachment flow is not supported yet.

Claude Code Setup

Claude Code mode runs Claude Code as a separate conversation system inside Zotero. It reuses the sidebar and standalone-window UI, but has its own scope state, model settings, permission semantics, slash commands, and project skills. Claude chats appear in the same history list as your other chats, with a small Claude label.

Special thanks to @jianghao-zhang, who built the Claude Code integration and its bridge (cc-llm4zotero-adapter). The bridge now ships inside the plugin, with the author's permission, under packages/claude-bridge.

Claude Code mode can use the plugin's Zotero tools. It searches and reads your library and papers without asking. Library changes, such as editing notes, tagging papers, updating metadata, or importing items, follow your Claude Code Permission mode. In safe mode, they ask for your approval first.

You need two things on your computer. The plugin takes care of the rest.

• Node.js 18 or newer. Download it from nodejs.org (the LTS version is fine), or use a version manager such as NVM, Volta or Homebrew. Check it in a terminal with node --version.
• Claude Code, installed and logged in. Follow Anthropic's installation and authentication guides. You can use your Claude subscription or an API key.

1. Install and log in to Claude Code

In a terminal, run:

claude

Finish the login steps it shows, then close it. You only need to do this once.

2. Turn on Claude Code inside Zotero

Open Preferences -> llm-for-zotero -> Agent tab, and switch on Claude Code. Recommended settings:

Setting	Recommended value
Claude Code	On
Config source	default - user + project + local
Permission mode	safe
Default model	sonnet
Default reasoning	auto

Then click the Claude Code button in the chat header, or click the runtime badge in the message box and pick Claude, to enter Claude Code mode.

That is all. You do not need to download or start a bridge yourself. While Claude Code mode is on, Zotero starts a small helper program (the "bridge") that connects Zotero to your Claude Code. It runs only on your computer, only answers Zotero, and stops when you quit Zotero or turn Claude Code off. If you never turn on Claude Code, nothing extra runs.

The Bridge section at the top of the Claude Code settings shows whether the bridge is running. Use Restart bridge if something seems stuck, and Open log to see what the bridge reported.

Keep Config source on default unless you already understand Claude Code settings layers. In default, Claude Code can use your normal user settings plus Zotero-managed project and per-conversation local settings. The other options are:

• user-only: only your machine-wide Claude settings.
• zotero-only: only Zotero-managed project and local settings.

3. If it does not work

The Bridge status line says what is wrong in plain words. The usual causes:

The status says	What to do
Node.js was not found	Install Node.js 18 or newer. If it is installed but Zotero cannot find it, run which node (macOS, Linux) or where node (Windows) in a terminal and paste the result into Advanced -> Node.js path.
needs Node.js 18 or newer	Install a newer Node.js from nodejs.org.
Claude Code was not found	Install Claude Code. If it is installed, run which claude (macOS, Linux) or where claude (Windows) and paste the result into Advanced -> Claude Code path.
Running, but Claude replies fail	Claude Code is probably not logged in. Run claude in a terminal and log in, then press Restart bridge.
keeps stopping	Press Open log to see why, fix the cause, then press Restart bridge.

Zotero opened from the Dock or Start menu does not always see the same programs as your terminal. The plugin looks in the usual places (NVM, Volta, Homebrew, ~/.local/bin and the Claude Code installer's folder), but the two path settings are there if it still cannot find them.

Advanced options

• Extra bridge options passes command-line options to the bridge, for example --additional-directories ~/Papers to let Claude read another folder, or --append-system-prompt-file ~/zotero-claude.md. Press Restart bridge after changing it.
• Use my own bridge is for people who run the bridge themselves, for example inside WSL while Zotero runs on Windows, or on another computer. Zotero then sends Claude requests to the Bridge URL and does not start its own bridge. The bridge's code lives in packages/claude-bridge; see its README for how to run it by hand.

Upgrading from the old cc-llm4zotero-adapter

Earlier versions needed the separate cc-llm4zotero-adapter repository and npm run serve:bridge or npm run daemon:*. That is no longer needed. Your Claude Code conversations, skills and settings keep working, because the new bridge uses the same ~/Zotero/agent-runtime and ~/Zotero/agent-state folders.

If you installed the old macOS background service, it can stay, since it does not get in the way, but it is no longer used. Zotero tells you once if it finds it. To remove it, run this in your old adapter folder:

npm run daemon:uninstall

If you already deleted that folder, run these two commands instead:

launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u)/com.toha.ccbridge
rm ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.toha.ccbridge.plist

4. Claude project skills and commands

Zotero creates a Claude runtime root under your home directory, usually shaped like:

~/Zotero/agent-runtime/profile-.../

Shared Claude project assets live in:

CLAUDE.md
.claude/settings.json
.claude/skills/
.claude/commands/

Each Claude conversation also gets its own local .claude folder under the runtime scopes/ tree, so per-conversation overrides do not leak into other chats.

The Zotero UI loads the model catalog advertised by the Claude Code bridge and preserves each model value exactly, including aliases, explicit model IDs, context-window variants, custom provider values, and future model families. The chat model picker identifies the active conversation so discovery uses the same scoped .claude/settings.local.json stack as the turn. The model preference remains editable when discovery is unavailable. Claude Code is responsible for resolving or rejecting the selected value and for applying provider or proxy configuration.

MinerU PDF Parsing

MinerU is an advanced PDF parsing engine that extracts high-fidelity Markdown from PDFs, preserving tables, equations, figures, and complex layouts that standard text extraction often mangles.

When enabled, the plugin sends newly added PDF attachments to MinerU for parsing and caches the result locally. Later interactions with that paper use the MinerU-parsed content.

How to enable MinerU

1. Open Preferences -> llm-for-zotero.
2. Find the MinerU section and check Enable MinerU.
3. Keep cloud mode enabled, or check Use local MinerU server for local mode.
4. For cloud mode, optionally enter your own MinerU API key — see below.
5. For local mode, run a self-hosted mineru-api server and keep the default base URL (http://127.0.0.1:8000) unless your server uses a different address.
6. Add or import a PDF into your Zotero library. The plugin will automatically parse newly added PDF attachments with MinerU and cache the result for future conversations.

MinerU can start without an API key through the built-in API, but a personal key is strongly recommended. The built-in API may no longer be supported after June 1, 2026.

To get a free personal key:

1. Go to mineru.net and create an account.
2. Navigate to account settings and generate an API key.
3. In Zotero, paste the key into the MinerU section.
4. Click Test Connection.

When a personal key is provided, the plugin calls https://mineru.net/api/v4 directly.

Using a local MinerU server

Local MinerU server support was contributed by @renyong18 in PR #152.

Local mode sends PDFs to a self-hosted mineru-api server through POST /file_parse and stores the returned ZIP output in the same local cache format as cloud parsing. The default base URL is http://127.0.0.1:8000.

Prerequisites for local mode:

1. Install MinerU and run mineru-api (see the MinerU docs for installation).
2. Make sure required models are downloaded — mineru-api lazy-loads on first request, so the very first parse (or the first parse after switching backend) can take noticeably longer than steady state.

You can pick a Backend in the local section:

• pipeline (default) — general-purpose, multi-language, CPU-friendly.
• vlm — VLM-based, high accuracy on Chinese/English documents, requires GPU.
• hybrid — newer high-accuracy hybrid pipeline, multi-language, requires local compute.

The first parse after starting the local server, or after changing backend, can be slow while MinerU loads or downloads models. Test Connection checks that the server process responds at /health; it does not guarantee that all models are warmed up.

With the default 127.0.0.1 address, PDFs stay on your machine. If you change the base URL to a LAN or remote server, PDFs are sent to that server.

Pause / cancel limitation: mineru-api exposes no cancel or DELETE endpoint (only POST /file_parse, POST /tasks, GET /tasks/{id}, GET /tasks/{id}/result, GET /health). When you click Pause, the plugin stops the queue and aborts the HTTP wait, but the parse already running on the server keeps executing until it finishes — the GPU/CPU will not free up sooner. If you need to abort immediately (for example to switch backend without waiting), restart the mineru-api process yourself.

Managing MinerU caches

The MinerU preferences tab includes a Manage Files panel for maintaining parsed PDF caches:

• Browse cached and uncached PDFs by collection, tag, title, author, year, and added date.
• Start parsing all visible files, only filtered files, or selected files.
• Repair local MinerU caches and synced packages when metadata or files drift.
• Delete all, filtered, selected, or single-item caches from the manager.
• Use tag filters, including automatic Zotero tags, to choose which papers are included in bulk actions.

Advanced parsing filters can skip files before automatic or bulk parsing:

• Skip files over N pages controls the maximum page count used by Start All, Start Filtered, Start Selected, and auto-parse. The default is 100 pages.
• Exclude PDFs by Filename accepts comma-separated substrings, or regex patterns wrapped in /slashes/, for translated copies, supplements, or other files you do not want parsed automatically.

If Sync MinerU cache with Zotero file sync is enabled, the plugin can create companion ZIP attachments containing full.md, manifest.json, content_list.json, and extracted assets. Existing local caches sync only when you request it from the MinerU tab, and synced packages can restore a missing local cache when needed.

WebChat Setup (ChatGPT, DeepSeek & Gemini Web Sync)

WebChat mode sends questions to chatgpt.com, chat.deepseek.com, and gemini.google.com through a browser extension, then streams responses back into Zotero. It is useful when you want browser chat access without a provider API key.

Prerequisites:

• Access to the selected provider site. Provider account requirements depend on the site and feature; Gemini permits some anonymous text conversations, while PDF upload and history may require sign-in.
• A Chromium-based browser such as Chrome.

Setup:

1. Download the latest extension.zip from sync-for-zotero releases.
2. Unzip it.
3. Open chrome://extensions, enable Developer Mode, choose Load unpacked, and select the unzipped extension folder.
4. In Zotero, open Preferences -> llm-for-zotero and set Auth Mode -> WebChat.
5. ⚠️: Keep the selected provider tab open in your browser. A green dot in Zotero means the extension and that exact site are connected. Make sure the tab and Zotero stay in the same monitor. No minimization or backgrounding, or the connection may drop.

Gemini requires a companion extension version that explicitly advertises the gemini target and DOM answer capture; Zotero rejects older extension builds before dispatch. The canonical gemini.google.com/app/:id conversation path, anonymous text flow, and signed-in PDF composer DOM have been observed in Chrome. A complete automated Gemini PDF, follow-up, history, and restore run remains required before a release is declared verified.

For release validation, keep Chrome signed in with the development extension loaded and run:

npm run test:webchat:live

This opt-in gate creates a real Zotero PDF fixture and clicks the real Zotero composer send control. It verifies one exact PDF upload and answer, toggles the visible PDF chip both ways, then verifies one prompt-only turn with zero submitted PDFs through the relay and Chrome extension.

FAQ

It depends on the backend you choose. The plugin supports multiple backends with different requirements:

Goal	Recommended path	API key required?
Use OpenAI, Gemini, DeepSeek, Moonshot, or another provider	Configure an API provider in Zotero preferences	Yes
Use a local model	Connect any OpenAI-compatible local HTTP API	Usually no
Use ChatGPT in the browser	WebChat with the Sync for Zotero extension	No
Use Codex models with ChatGPT Plus	Codex App Server	No separate API key
Use Claude Code inside Zotero	Claude Code bridge	Claude Code auth
Search and read the current public web	General Web Search with Tavily	Tavily API key
Improve PDF extraction for tables, equations, and figures	MinerU PDF parsing	Personal MinerU key recommended

Is it free to use?

• Yes, the plugin is free. You only pay for API calls if you choose a paid provider. With Codex App Server, ChatGPT Plus subscribers can use Codex models without a separate API key. If you find this helpful, consider leaving a star on GitHub or buying me a coffee.

The plugin does not train models. Data handling depends on the backend you choose: your configured API provider, local model, WebChat, Codex, Claude Code, or MinerU.

Please open an issue on GitHub.

Privacy and Data Flow

Data flow depends on the backend you choose. Local models and local MinerU can keep processing on your machine; cloud providers, WebChat, Claude Code, Codex, and cloud MinerU involve their respective services or companion runtimes.

• In standard provider mode, paper content and user messages are sent to the model provider you configure.
• In local-model mode, requests go to the local OpenAI-compatible endpoint you configure.
• In WebChat mode, requests are relayed through the browser extension to chatgpt.com or chat.deepseek.com.
• When Tavily Web Search is configured, web queries and requested public URLs are sent to Tavily; the API key remains in local Zotero preferences.
• In cloud MinerU mode, newly added PDFs are sent to MinerU for parsing when parsing is enabled.
• In local MinerU mode, newly added PDFs are sent to the local or remote mineru-api server you configure.
• Conversation history and cached paper context are stored locally by the plugin.
• Agent Mode write operations are routed through reviewable actions and session undo where supported.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Bug reports, feature requests, documentation improvements, and pull requests are all useful. Please open an issue or submit a PR.

Roadmap

• Agent mode (beta)
• MinerU PDF parsing
• GitHub Copilot auth
• WebChat mode (ChatGPT, DeepSeek, and Gemini web sync)
• Standalone window mode
• File-based notes (Obsidian, Logseq, any Markdown directory)
• Claude Code integration
• Codex App Server integration
• Local MinerU support
• Customized skills
• Cross-device synchronization (MinerU cache)
• Agent memory system