zotlink 1.3.4

ZotLink - 智能学术文献管理 MCP 服务器

ZotLink

MCP Server for Zotero Connector

🌍 Language / 语言选择: 🇺🇸 English | 🇨🇳 中文

🔗 ZotLink

A lightweight, production-ready MCP server that brings open scholarly sources into Zotero with one command.

❤️ Like ZotLink? Give it a star 🌟 to support the development!

✨ Core Features

• 🌐 Open Preprint Coverage: arXiv, CVF (OpenAccess), bioRxiv, medRxiv, chemRxiv
• 🧠 Rich Metadata Extraction: title, authors, abstract, DOI, subjects, comments
• 📄 Smart PDF Attachment: auto-attach when available; validated link fallback
• 📚 One-Click Collection Save: list + save (updateSession, treeViewID: C{id})
• 🧭 Adaptive Browser Strategy: Playwright for tough sites; HTTP for the rest
• 💻 Client Compatibility: Works with Claude Desktop and Cherry Studio
• 🧩 Deep MCP Interoperability: Integrates with literature-related MCPs such as arxiv-mcp-server and Zotero MCP
• 📝 Unified Logging: ~/.zotlink/zotlink.log

🚀 Quick Start

Install

Install from PyPI (recommended)

pip install zotlink

Now includes full browser support for all preprint servers by default!

Development installation

macOS (zsh)

pip install -e .

Windows (CMD/PowerShell)

pip install -e .

Linux (bash)

pip install -e .

Requires Python 3.10+. Includes browser-driven extraction for all preprint servers. After installation, run:

python -m playwright install chromium

Run

CLI (recommended):

zotlink

Development mode:

python run_server.py

MCP Integration (Claude Desktop)

Recommended configuration (simple - just specify Zotero directory):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotlink": {
      "command": "/path/to/zotlink",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_ROOT": "/Users/yourname/Zotero"
      }
    }
  }
}

Advanced configuration (specify paths separately):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotlink": {
      "command": "/path/to/zotlink",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_DB": "/Users/yourname/Zotero/zotero.sqlite",
        "ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_DIR": "/Users/yourname/Zotero/storage"
      }
    }
  }
}

Minimal config (auto-detect Zotero paths):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotlink": { "command": "zotlink", "args": [] }
  }
}

Fallback (explicit Python path):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotlink": {
      "command": "/full/path/to/python",
      "args": ["-m", "zotlink.zotero_mcp_server"],
      "env": {
        "ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_ROOT": "/Users/yourname/Zotero"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude config file locations:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: ~/AppData/Roaming/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Note: Using env variables follows MCP standard and works with all MCP clients (Claude Desktop, Cherry Studio, etc.).

🧰 Available Tools

• check_zotero_status: Check if Zotero is running and reachable
• get_zotero_collections: List collections (tree view) from the local DB
• save_paper_to_zotero: Save a paper by URL (arXiv/CVF/rxiv), attach PDF/metadata
• extract_arxiv_metadata: Extract full arXiv metadata (title/authors/subjects/DOI/comment)
• Cookie helpers (stubs prepared) for auth-required sources

📁 Logging

Logs are written to ~/.zotlink/zotlink.log.

🌐 Browser Mode (Included)

Browser-driven extraction is now included by default! All preprint servers (bioRxiv, medRxiv, chemRxiv) work automatically. After installation, initialize the browser runtime:

macOS (zsh) — development install

pip install -e .

Windows (CMD/PowerShell) — development install

pip install -e .

Linux (bash) — development install

pip install -e .

Install browser runtime

python -m playwright install chromium

Linux may require system dependencies

sudo apt-get install -y libnss3 libatk1.0-0 libatk-bridge2.0-0 libdrm2 libxkbcommon0 libgbm1 libasound2

The server will switch to a browser strategy automatically when needed.

Optional: Custom Zotero Paths (DB/Storage)

You can override the local Zotero database path and storage dir. Precedence: ENV vars > Claude config > local config file > defaults.

1. Environment variables (highest priority)

Recommended - Single directory:

• macOS/Linux (bash/zsh)

export ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_ROOT=/Users/yourname/Zotero

• Windows (PowerShell)

$env:ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_ROOT='C:\\Users\\YourName\\Zotero'

Advanced - Separate paths (backward compatibility):

• macOS/Linux (bash/zsh)

export ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_DB=/Users/yourname/Zotero/zotero.sqlite
export ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_DIR=/Users/yourname/Zotero/storage

• Windows (PowerShell)

$env:ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_DB='C:\\Users\\YourName\\Zotero\\zotero.sqlite'
$env:ZOTLINK_ZOTERO_DIR='C:\\Users\\YourName\\Zotero\\storage'

2. Claude configuration (recommended for MCP users)

Add Zotero paths directly to your Claude configuration file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotlink": {
      "command": "path/to/zotlink",
      "args": [],
      "zotero_database_path": "/Users/yourname/Zotero/zotero.sqlite",
      "zotero_storage_dir": "/Users/yourname/Zotero/storage"
    }
  }
}

Claude config file locations:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: ~/AppData/Roaming/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

3. Local config file (traditional method)

Create ~/.zotlink/config.json:

{
  "zotero": {
    "database_path": "/Users/yourname/Zotero/zotero.sqlite",
    "storage_dir": "/Users/yourname/Zotero/storage"
  }
}

Default search locations when not configured:

• macOS: ~/Zotero/zotero.sqlite or ~/Library/Application Support/Zotero/Profiles/<profile>/zotero.sqlite
• Windows: C:\\Users\\<User>\\Zotero\\zotero.sqlite or %APPDATA%\\Zotero\\Zotero\\Profiles\\<profile>\\zotero.sqlite
• Linux: ~/Zotero/zotero.sqlite or ~/.zotero/zotero.sqlite

Restart ZotLink after changing configuration.

🧩 Supported Sources (Open)

• arXiv (preprint)
• CVF (OpenAccess) (CVPR/ICCV/WACV)
• bioRxiv / medRxiv / chemRxiv (preprint servers)

Auth-required sources (e.g., Nature) are planned via bookmark-based cookie sync.

🧰 Troubleshooting

• Zotero not detected: ensure Zotero Desktop is running (port 23119)
• No PDF attached: some pages only expose links; the server falls back to link attachments
• Browser mode errors: verify Playwright is installed and Chromium is available
  • Install error: ensure Python 3.10+ is installed

🧪 Development

pip install -e .
python -m playwright install chromium
zotlink  # or: python run_server.py

See docs/DEVELOPMENT.md for code structure, adding new extractors, and release tips.

🗺️ Roadmap (To‑Do)

• Sources

  • arXiv
  • CVF (OpenAccess)
  • bioRxiv
  • medRxiv
  • chemRxiv
  • Nature (cookies)
  • Science (cookies)
  • IEEE Xplore (cookies)
  • Springer (cookies)
  • ACM Digital Library (cookies)
  • OpenReview
  • PLOS / PMC / Frontiers / MDPI

• Stability & Quality

  • Configurable Zotero DB path (ENV + ~/.zotlink/config.json)
  • Windows browser-mode hardening (headful, retries, anti-bot, graceful fallback)
  • Post-save title correction when placeholder detected
  • Enhanced PDF heuristics and alternative URL strategies
  • Crossref DOI enrichment as fallback
  • Unified error taxonomy with auto-retry/backoff

• Integration & DX

  • Cookie sync bookmark flow for Nature-family and other publishers
  • Example templates for Claude Desktop / Cherry Studio
  • Extended MCP interoperability docs and samples
  • CI and tests (unit/integration) for extractors
  • Packaged releases (optional)

📄 License

MIT (see SPDX identifier in packaging metadata)