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Save papers with metadata to Zotero via its API programmatically
Passed 22 of 23 test cases with the skill, and 19 of 23 without it.
and 1 more in the full report
3 fixed19 passed either way1 still failing0 broke
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
One of 3 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
Write a curl command to test Zotero API credentials by fetching the 5 most recent items from a user's personal library in JSON format.
| Checked | Without skill | With skill |
|---|---|---|
| The curl request URL targets the /items endpoint. | Passed | Passed |
| The curl URL query string includes limit=5. | Passed | Passed |
| The curl URL query string includes format=json. | Missed | Passed |
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
Zotero is the most widely used open-source reference manager in academia, offering a powerful combination of local storage, cloud sync, browser integration, and a comprehensive API. While most researchers use Zotero through its desktop application and browser connector, the Zotero API enables programmatic access that is essential for automated research workflows—saving papers from scripts, batch-importing search results, organizing libraries algorithmically, and integrating reference management into custom research pipelines.
This skill covers using the Zotero Web API to create, read, update, and organize library items programmatically. It is designed for researchers who want to automate parts of their reference management workflow: importing papers from arXiv or OpenAlex searches directly into Zotero, auto-tagging papers based on content analysis, organizing collections programmatically, and exporting citations in various formats.
The skill complements the existing zotero-api skill by focusing specifically on practical scholar workflows—the common patterns a researcher uses when integrating Zotero into their daily literature management.
# Store your credentials as environment variables
export ZOTERO_API_KEY=your-zotero-key # from zotero.org/settings/keys
export ZOTERO_USER_ID="your_user_id" # Found on the API keys page
# Verify API access
curl -H "Zotero-API-Key: $ZOTERO_API_KEY" \
"https://api.zotero.org/users/$ZOTERO_USER_ID/items?limit=5&format=json" \
| python3 -m json.tool | head -20
If you see your recent library items, authentication is working correctly.
test cases passed, vs 19 / 23 without
More skills from the same source and nearby in the registry, with their headline benchmark lift.