How to integrate Claude with Zotero (using MCP):

1. Go to claude[.]ai/download Download the Claude desktop app and install it.

2. Go to nodejs[.]org Download and install Node.js

3. Go to brave[.]com/search/api Click on "Get 2,000 free queries." You may need to create an account if you don't have a Brave account already.

4. Once you've logged into your Brave account, click on "API Keys." Then click on "Add API key" and choose a name for your API key. This will create your Brave API key.

5. Log in to your Zotero account. Click on your username and select "Settings" and then "Security." Scroll down to "Applications." Click on "Create new private key" to create your API key. Also note down your user ID for API. It's a numeric ID, not your user ID.

6. Open Claude desktop app. Click on the three horizontal bars in the top-left corner. Select "File" and then "Settings." In Settings, click on "Developer."

7. In Developer Settings, you will see "Edit Config" at the bottom. Click on it. You will be taken to a JSON file. Open it in your notepad.

8. Paste the following code in the file and save it. { "mcpServers": { "brave-search": { "command": "C:\\Program Files\\nodejs\\npx.cmd", "args": [ "-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search" ], "env": { "BRAVE_API_KEY": "Your Brave API Key" } }, "zotero": { "command": "mcp-zotero", "env": { "ZOTERO_API_KEY": "Zotero API Key", "ZOTERO_USER_ID": "Zotero API ID (numeric)" } } } }

9. Restart your Claude desktop app. It will show you MCP tools in the bottom-right corner of the chat box. Ask it to summarize an article from your Zotero library. Limitation: Claude can't access PDFs in your library. But it can access open access PDFs available on the web.

10. If the code doesn't work for you, open Claude in your browser and paste in your code. Ask Claude what's wrong with it and how can you correct it. Follow what Claude tells you. Repeat until it starts working. Thanks @drrobcincotta for teaching me this integration.

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