Pyzotero
Pyzotero is a Python wrapper for the Zotero API v3. Use it to programmatically manage Zotero libraries: read items and collections, create and update references, upload attachments, manage tags, and export citations.
Authentication Setup
Required credentials — get from https://www.zotero.org/settings/keys:
- User ID: shown as "Your userID for use in API calls"
- API Key: create at https://www.zotero.org/settings/keys/new
- Library ID: for group libraries, the integer after
/groups/in the group URL
Store credentials in environment variables or a .env file:
ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID=your_user_id
ZOTERO_API_KEY=your_api_key
ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE=user # or "group"See references/authentication.md for full setup details.
Installation
uv add pyzotero
# or with CLI support:
uv add "pyzotero[cli]"Quick Start
from pyzotero import Zotero
zot = Zotero(library_id='123456', library_type='user', api_key='ABC1234XYZ')
# Retrieve top-level items (returns 100 by default)
items = zot.top(limit=10)
for item in items:
print(item['data']['title'], item['data']['itemType'])
# Search by keyword
results = zot.items(q='machine learning', limit=20)
# Retrieve all items (use everything() for complete results)
all_items = zot.everything(zot.items())Core Concepts
- A
Zoteroinstance is bound to a single library (user or group). All methods operate on that library. - Item data lives in
item['data']. Access fields likeitem['data']['title'],item['data']['creators']. - Pyzotero returns 100 items by default (API default is 25). Use
zot.everything(zot.items())to get all items. - Write methods return
Trueon success or raise aZoteroError.
Reference Files
| File | Contents |
|---|---|
| references/authentication.md | Credentials, library types, local mode |
| references/read-api.md | Retrieving items, collections, tags, groups |
| references/search-params.md | Filtering, sorting, search parameters |
| references/write-api.md | Creating, updating, deleting items |
| references/collections.md | Collection CRUD operations |
| references/tags.md | Tag retrieval and management |
| references/files-attachments.md | File retrieval and attachment uploads |
| references/exports.md | BibTeX, CSL-JSON, bibliography export |
| references/pagination.md | follow(), everything(), generators |
| references/full-text.md | Full-text content indexing and retrieval |
| references/saved-searches.md | Saved search management |
| references/cli.md | Command-line interface usage |
| references/error-handling.md | Errors and exception handling |
Common Patterns
Fetch and modify an item
item = zot.item('ITEMKEY')
item['data']['title'] = 'New Title'
zot.update_item(item)Create an item from a template
template = zot.item_template('journalArticle')
template['title'] = 'My Paper'
template['creators'][0] = {'creatorType': 'author', 'firstName': 'Jane', 'lastName': 'Doe'}
zot.create_items([template])Export as BibTeX
zot.add_parameters(format='bibtex')
bibtex = zot.top(limit=50)
# bibtex is a bibtexparser BibDatabase object
print(bibtex.entries)Local mode (read-only, no API key needed)
zot = Zotero(library_id='123456', library_type='user', local=True)
items = zot.items()