Zotero Research Lookup FAQs

Question 1

What happens if a paper in my library doesn't have a PDF?

Accepted Answer

The skill will still retrieve the canonical metadata such as title, authors, and year, but it will notify you that fulltext evidence snippets are unavailable for that specific item.

Question 2

Does this skill search the web if it can't find a paper locally?

Accepted Answer

No, this skill is specifically designed to use your local library as the source of truth. It will not fall back to web search APIs to ensure you are only citing your own curated sources.

Question 3

Does this skill require an internet connection to search my papers?

Accepted Answer

The search is performed against your local Zotero library via MCP. While Claude requires a connection to process the query, your data remains sourced from your local machine.

Question 4

How do I open the items Claude finds in my actual Zotero app?

Accepted Answer

Every result includes a 'zotero_url' link (zotero://select/items/). Clicking this link will automatically open Zotero and highlight the specific paper for you.

Question 5

Can I search for recently added items that aren't indexed yet?

Accepted Answer

The skill includes an index health check. If the document count is zero or the index is uninitialized, it will provide instructions to run a database update to include your newest items.

Zotero Research Lookup

Key Features

Use Cases

Zotero Research Lookup

Key Features

Use Cases