Not sure if this is the best subforum for this: I do see a couple of plugin-oriented ones but they seem to be for plugin developers.
I’ve had the Zotero Integration plugin installed for…I don’t even know at this point, honestly. And it’s always worked fine. Until today. I kept getting messages that it couldn’t connect, and to make sure I had Zotero open and the BetterBibTex plugin installed. So I updated everything, as a standard initial troubleshooting step. There were no updates for the plugin, but Zotero updated to version 8—and there was something about migrating BibTex keys though I didn’t really understand it—and Obsidian updated as well.
The Zotero integration now loads properly: if I press the hotkey I assigned, I get the popup allowing me to select the source I want to cite, I can find the right source, I can select it, when I do that a progress bar briefly appears for less than a second…but then nothing happens. Nothing is added to my note in Obsidian.
I see that the integration hasn’t been updated in over two years, despite over 200 open issues, so it looks to be abandoned. Is there a better alternative I can use? I found a couple of other Zotero plugins, but they didn’t seem to do what I need, which is just quickly generating MLA bibliography citations.
The most likely cause is the Zotero 8 + Better BibTeX citation‑key migration: Zotero Integration is still “talking” to Zotero, but the plugin is no longer getting a usable citekey / format back, so the progress bar flashes and nothing is inserted.
Open Zotero Preferences → Advanced → Config Editor and verify extensions.zotero.httpServer.localAPI.enabled is true (Zotero’s local API has to be on for Obsidian to receive data).
In your Zotero library, check that items actually have a Citation Key (new Zotero-native field). If these are blank after the migration dialog, Zotero Integration may have nothing to insert.
If keys are missing (it was my case on the articles I uploaded after the new Zotero update), regenerate them.
How to regenerate them:
Regenerate for specific items:
Select one or more items in your Zotero library (use Ctrl/Cmd+A for all in a collection). Right-click → Better BibTeX → Refresh (or Refresh BibTeX key). This applies your BBT citation key pattern and populates the Citation Key field in the right pane.
Regenerate for entire library:
Go to Zotero → Edit → Preferences → Better BibTeX tab.
Confirm or set your Citation key pattern (default is auth.lower + shorttitle(3,3) + year; edit if needed for your academic style).
Select all items (Ctrl/Cmd+A across libraries/collections).
Right-click → Better BibTeX → Refresh. BBT will generate/pin stable keys based on authors, title, and year, avoiding clashes.
I saw this this post marked for Solution but the check was removed.
I tried just now. I had to restart Zotero 8 (was hanging at two different phases at first) and after I tried Zotero Intergration: Data Explorer first (worked) and my normal import (worked).
I read that post yesterday. There is a large warning sign that comes up before you change anything in the Config Editor - I was trepidatious. I appreciate this so much! I also see that Zotero and Better BibTex are making updates daily to fix the bugs so something that didn’t work yesterday works today ie being able to name a file {{citationKey}}.
I have one other question. I did not do the “REGENERATE THEM” steps. Is there a reason to regenerate my entire Zotero data base and deal with the repercussions in my Obsidian vault? Again, thank you so much.
