Zoteus MCP Server

A Zotero MCP server. Your whole library, inside Claude and ChatGPT. Zoteus gives Claude Desktop, claude.ai, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor and any other MCP client access to a Zotero library: search by keyword or by meaning, passages from your PDFs with page numbers, citations in any CSL style, adding items, and safe writes.

People who work with bibliography, citations and csl and want it reachable from Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another MCP client. The project is written in TypeScript.

VERIFIED ACTIVE

LAST COMMIT 2026-09-17 · ★ 40 · #8 OF 173 MAINTAINED MEDIA · VERIFIED 2026-09-18

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 --transport http https://mcp.zoteus.com/mcp

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "oscardvs-zoteus": {
      "url": "https://mcp.zoteus.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

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

https://mcp.zoteus.com/mcp

transport: streamable-http

endpoint alive - authentication required · probed 2026-09-17

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 · remote - your agent's requests go to mcp.zoteus.com

endpoint auth requires authentication - rejected our unauthenticated MCP initialize

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

v1.20.3 · 2026-09-17

declare destructiveHint on every read-only tool

v1.20.2 · 2026-09-16

v1.20.1 · 2026-09-14

04 · Who maintains Zoteus

Zoteus is maintained by oscardvs. We track 2 MCP servers from oscardvs - 2 actively maintained, 40 combined GitHub stars, oldest repo from May 2026.

05 · Facts

repository: github.com/oscardvs/zoteus
website: https://zoteus.com/
category: media - ranked #8 of 173 actively-maintained media servers as of 2026-09-18.
release cadence: 10+ releases in the last 90 days (latest 2026-09-17)
registry: io.github.oscardvs/zoteus (active, first published 2026-05-31 · 17 versions)
packages: npm:@oscardvs/zoteus

06 · Zoteus FAQ

What is Zoteus?

Is Zoteus still maintained?

Yes - as of 2026-09-18, its last commit was 2026-09-17 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 require authentication?

Yes - when we probed the endpoint on 2026-09-17, it rejected an unauthenticated MCP initialize; you'll need credentials to connect.

07 · Alternatives to Zoteus

Alternatives to Zoteus

Maintained media servers if Zoteus isn't the fit.

More media MCP servers · DJ Claude · tdmcp - TouchDesigner MCP server · Paxa Labs · Ffmpeg MCP · Moltdj

More TypeScript MCP servers · Bruno MCP Studio · Aboard · Otskit MCP · Otto Travel · Outlit · see all