Zoteus MCP Server

The everything Zotero MCP server. Give Claude, Cursor, and any MCP client complete, safe access to your Zotero library - search papers, add by DOI, format bibliographies in ~2,800 styles, run semantic search over your library (metadata and abstracts, or full PDF text when you turn it on), pull exact passages from your PDFs, and ground every answer in a source you actually own. Local-first. Private. One command.

People connecting API integration tools to Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another MCP client. The project is written in TypeScript.

VERIFIED ACTIVE

LAST COMMIT 2026-08-20 · ★ 28 · #21 OF 250 MAINTAINED API INTEGRATION · VERIFIED 2026-08-25

MIT · TypeScript servers · how we verify → /methodology

01 · Install Zoteus

before you install - you'll need

ZOTERO_API_KEY is optional or environment-specific per the README.

Claude Code

claude mcp add oscardvs-zoteus -- npx -y @oscardvs/zoteus

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "oscardvs-zoteus": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@oscardvs/zoteus"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Same JSON for Cursor. For VS Code, rename the top-level key from `mcpServers` to `servers`.

Using another client? Same JSON, different key

Claude Desktop · mcpServers

Cursor · mcpServers

VS Code · servers

Windsurf · mcpServers

Zed · context_servers

Cline · mcpServers

Roo Code · mcpServers

Continue · mcpServers

LibreChat · mcpServers

Gemini CLI · mcpServers

Codex CLI · mcp_servers

Full setup guides: every client.

02 · Evidence

Security posture

What to check before giving this server access to your agent - from the registry, GitHub, and our own probes. We don't score safety; we show what's verifiable.

runs as local process (stdio) - runs on your machine with your user's permissions

license MIT - declared in the repository

npm package @oscardvs/zoteus - published under the repo owner's npm scope (@oscardvs)

registry namespace io.github.oscardvs is GitHub-verified and matches the repo owner

03 · What Zoteus can do

Prose above is summarized from the project's README and registry record - no invented capabilities.

Latest releases

v1.6.0 · 2026-08-20

v1.5.0 · 2026-08-20

v1.4.2 · 2026-08-19

04 · Who maintains Zoteus

zoteus is maintained by oscardvs. We track 2 MCP servers from oscardvs - 2 actively maintained, 28 combined GitHub stars, oldest repo from May 2026.

05 · Facts

repository: github.com/oscardvs/zoteus
category: API integration - ranked #21 of 250 actively-maintained API integration servers as of 2026-08-25.
release cadence: 10+ releases in the last 90 days (latest 2026-08-20)
registry: io.github.oscardvs/zoteus (active, first published 2026-05-31 · 5 versions)
packages: npm:@oscardvs/zoteus

06 · Zoteus FAQ

What is Zoteus?

Is Zoteus still maintained?

Yes - as of 2026-08-25, its last commit was 2026-08-20 and it shipped 10+ releases in the last 90 days. We re-verify nightly.

How do I install Zoteus?

Run `npx -y @oscardvs/zoteus`. The README documents one environment variable (ZOTERO_API_KEY) to set first. ZOTERO_API_KEY is optional or environment-specific per the README. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.

Does Zoteus run locally?

Yes - it's a stdio server: it runs on your machine (via npx) with your user's permissions. Your data stays local unless the server itself calls external APIs.

07 · Alternatives to Zoteus

Alternatives to Zoteus

Maintained API integration servers if Zoteus isn't the fit.

More API integration MCP servers · Plonk · Bruno MCP Studio · Admob MCP Server · Odoo MCP Gateway · Graph Polymarket MCP

More TypeScript MCP servers · Otto Travel · Outlit · Outscraper MCP Server · Qweather MCP · see all