Loading skill
Install any skill in seconds. Free to start, no credit card required.
Get Started Free →brycewang-stanford/zotero-better-notes-guide
Guide to Zotero Better Notes for comprehensive note-taking in research
Passed 22 of 23 test cases with the skill, and 12 of 23 without it.
and 11 more in the full report
10 fixed12 passed either way1 still failing0 broke
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
One of 10 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
I need to include a paper's digital object identifier in my Zotero Better Notes template header. Which variable placeholder represents the DOI field?
| Checked | Without skill | With skill |
|---|---|---|
| The response specifies ${DOI} for the DOI field. | Missed | Passed |
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
Zotero Better Notes transforms Zotero from a reference manager into a full-featured research knowledge management system. With over 7,000 GitHub stars, it is one of the most popular Zotero plugins, addressing a critical gap in the academic workflow: the connection between reading papers and building structured knowledge.
The plugin introduces a powerful note editor with bidirectional linking, templates, and syncing capabilities directly within Zotero. Instead of jumping between Zotero and external note-taking applications like Obsidian or Notion, researchers can maintain their notes alongside the papers they reference, preserving the tight coupling between sources and ideas.
Better Notes supports Markdown editing, note templates, outline views, and export to external systems. It integrates with Zotero's annotation system so that highlights and comments made while reading PDFs can flow directly into structured notes. This creates a seamless pipeline from reading to writing that significantly reduces friction in the research process.
Install Better Notes through the standard Zotero add-on mechanism:
.xpi release from https://github.com/windingwind/zotero-better-notes/releases.xpi file and restart ZoteroInitial configuration steps:
For researchers using external knowledge bases, configure the sync feature:
Enhanced Note Editor: Better Notes replaces the default Zotero note editor with a Markdown-capable editor that supports rich formatting, code blocks, mathematical notation, tables, and more. The editor provides a live preview mode and an outline panel for navigating long notes.
Note Templates: Create and manage reusable note templates for different types of research activities:
test cases passed, vs 12 / 23 without
Published skills whose descriptions closely match this one, with their headline benchmark lift.
More skills from the same source and nearby in the registry, with their headline benchmark lift.