Disclaimer
Is this project open source? Yes
Is this project completely free? Yes
Is this project vibe-coded beyond the author’s ability to comprehend how it works? No
Community Directory: ZotLit
ZotLit v2: Zotero integration for Obsidian
ZotLit connects Obsidian to your Zotero library. v2 is a ground-up rewrite. The old version relied on a third-party SQLite binary (better-sqlite3) that broke every time Obsidian shipped an Electron update. v2 uses Node’s built-in node:sqlite module instead, so that class of breakage is gone. No more downloading a separate binary during setup.
For details on v2 rewrite, check out the blog: Rebuilding ZotLit: the v2 public beta | ZotLit
What it does
Annotation workspace — Browse your Zotero highlights, comments, and annotations in a side panel next to your Literature Note. Search by text, filter by color or tag, drag annotations into your note. Clicking an annotation jumps to that spot in the PDF in Zotero.
Batch Literature Notes — Create or update notes for many Zotero items at once, useful when onboarding an existing library or after a literature search.
Zotero-note import — Bring Zotero’s built-in notes into your vault as Markdown files with content and structure preserved.
Templates & Data Explorer — Customize how Literature Notes, annotations, and citations are formatted. v2 defaults to Liquid templates (easier to learn than v1’s Eta syntax), with JavaScript Templates available for full control. The Template Data Explorer shows the exact typed fields available for any Zotero item.
Technical changes from v1
- SQLite driver switched from
better-sqlite3 (external binary) to node:sqlite (built-in). No more binary downloads or Electron-version breakage.
- Database layer uses Drizzle ORM with field types generated from Zotero’s own schema definitions. Mismatches surface in the Data Explorer instead of silently wrong notes.
- Zotero companion add-on targets Zotero 9.
- v1 features annotation merging and topic-based imports are retired in v2.
Upgrading from v1
Same plugin ID — install the beta and it upgrades in place. Settings migrate automatically. You’ll need to rename template files and update it.* references to zt.* in your templates. Full migration guide: Migrate from v1
Links
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Excited to give it a try!
2.0.0-beta.4: Template Workbench
ZotLit 2.0.0-beta.4 is now available.
This release introduces Template Workbench, which adds ZotLit commands to obsidian-cli. Agents can use it to inspect template state, explore Zotero data, render templates in memory, and configure managed frontmatter.
You can install the companion zotlit-template skill and ask your agent to customize or troubleshoot your ZotLit templates in plain language.
This update also improves several other parts of the ZotLit workflow for managing Zotero literature in Obsidian:
- Reorder managed frontmatter fields by dragging them in the settings.
- Add new Liquid filters for transforming arrays and converting Zotero tags into valid Obsidian tags.
- Copy Zotero keys from items, attachments, notes, annotations, and literature notes.
- Import attachments from approved folders, including linked-attachment folders.
- Keep item summaries consistent across the Annotation View, Template Data Explorer, and Citation Suggester.
- Update the minimum requirement to Obsidian 1.13.4 and the latest Obsidian installer.
I would also welcome feedback from anyone willing to try the new zotlit-template skill and obsidian-cli workflow, especially on how well they support agent-assisted template customization and previewing rendered results.
v2 is now stable. Blog post with the full rundown:
ZotLit v2: A ground-up rewrite: what’s in the stable release and what’s next.
What changed since beta 4
- Collection-scope batch operations. You can now target an entire Zotero library or a specific collection (including subcollections) when creating or updating Literature Notes. Right-click a library or collection in Zotero’s sidebar, or use the command palette in Obsidian.
- Citation Key Links is disabled by default. If you had it enabled during the beta, your setting is preserved.
- Chinese (Simplified) is the first non-English language pack, shipped as a version-pinned release asset.
- ZotLit is now licensed under AGPL-3.0-or-later, matching Zotero’s own license for code that ZotLit ports.
Requires Obsidian 1.13.4+ desktop.
Plugin review
You may see a “Caution” label on the plugin listing page. ZotLit passes all of Obsidian’s developer guideline checks (verified in v2.0.1), but the automated review cannot finish due to a limitation in how the review system handles this project. We are in contact with the Obsidian team to get this resolved.
What’s next
Working on two things: searching and filtering your Zotero library from inside Obsidian, and improvements to the citation workflow. No timeline on either, but the groundwork is in place for both.
Questions and bug reports: community page.
ZotLit 2.1.0-beta.0 is out. This release adds a References Sidebar, formatted in-text citation rendering, and a new command to export notes with citations.
https://zotlit.aidenlx.site/changelog/2.1.0-beta.0
Highlights
- References Sidebar: a new view lists citations in the active note as a formatted bibliography, with actions to open the Literature Note, the Zotero item, or the attached PDF.
- In-text citation rendering: literal citation clusters like
[see @wang2020, p. 3; @lee2019] now render as formatted text in Live Preview and Reading view. Literature Note wikilinks can render the same way. Enable Wikilink citations in Settings > ZotLit > Citations.
- Export a note with citations: the new
ZotLit: Export note with citations command converts a note to DOCX or HTML with a formatted bibliography, no external Pandoc install required. This command is available to test but not finalized yet.
What’s New
- Citation keys in the editor are now styled as links, distinguishing resolved from unresolved keys. Click to open the Literature Note, or hover for a preview. Rendered citations in Reading view are also clickable.
- Citation keys now resolve against Zotero’s native citation keys instead of a frontmatter property. The old Citation Key Property setting is retired and migrated automatically.
- Pick a CSL style from your installed Zotero styles in Settings > ZotLit > Citations, used by the References Sidebar and in-text rendering.
- A native Pandoc CLI workflow: save integration files (a Lua filter and defaults file) to convert notes outside Obsidian, with wikilinks resolving to citation keys.
- New CSS classes on citation elements let theme authors style resolved, unresolved, pending, and rendered citation states.
ZotLit 2.1.0-beta.1 is out. This release adds a Cited By Sidebar that shows which vault notes cite the active Literature Note, plus author fields for filename templates.
Highlights
Cited By Sidebar. A new sidebar view shows which notes in your vault cite the active Literature Note. Open it from the command palette via “Open cited by”. Results are grouped by source file with occurrence counts, and each occurrence displays a search-result-style excerpt card. Click any occurrence to jump to its location. The toolbar offers search filtering, context toggling, six sort modes, and collapse/unfold controls.
What’s New
Filename templates can now include authors and authorsShort helper variables, consistent with the note template data.
ZotLit 2.1.0-beta.2 is out. This release adds a Citation Popover on hover, copy bibliography from the References Sidebar, and note-class Entry Serials.
Highlights
- Citation Popover: Hovering a citation shows a popover with each cited item’s formatted bibliography entry plus action buttons. A new Hover action setting lets you choose Citation Popover, Page preview, or Off, with modifier-key toggles per editing mode.
- Citation data commands for agents: Three new CLI commands (
zotlit:cited-by, zotlit:references, zotlit:citations-guide) let an AI agent query citation relationships.
What’s New
- Copy bibliography: One click copies the full reference list as rich text and plain text. Formatting and DOI links survive a paste into Word or Google Docs.
- Note-class citation styles: Footnote styles (like Chicago full-note) now show numbered Entry Serials beside each citation inline and in the References Sidebar gutter.
- Open citations as links: Now covers both Pandoc citations and Literature Note wikilinks. Off by default. While off, clicking a rendered citation places the cursor in its Markdown source.
- Style picker shortcut added to the References Sidebar toolbar.
- Two-creator summaries now follow your locale’s list formatting conventions.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed the Zotero database refreshing every few seconds due to a filesystem echo on APFS volumes.
- Fixed Mod+Enter in the note quick switcher not opening the note in a new pane.
- Fixed Shift+Enter in the citation insert modal not inserting the secondary citation form.
- Fixed citations inside inline footnotes rendering at body text size.
- Fixed
^[...] being read as a citation cluster instead of an inline footnote.
- Fixed References Sidebar engine banners overlapping with the reference list.
- Fixed two items with the same filename colliding in citation rendering.
ZotLit 2.1.0-beta.3 is out. This release adds Zotero 10 support, multi-library scope, ambiguous citation key handling, and per-note citation styling.
Both Obsidian plugin and Zotero add-on have been updated, make sure to update both:
Highlights
- Zotero 10 support. ZotLit now works with Zotero 10 and Zotero 9. The companion keeps the database current automatically, so changes in Zotero reach Obsidian without delay. A new Database Status panel on the Zotero sidebar confirms recent changes have landed.
- Library scope. ZotLit now searches across several Zotero libraries at once. A new Library scope setting replaces Default library, with two modes: All libraries (auto-includes new groups) and Selected libraries (explicit control). Results name the library each item comes from.
- Ambiguous citation keys. When one citation key matches several items, ZotLit reports the ambiguity instead of picking the first match. Opening such a citation asks which item you mean. Inserting one is refused with a notice.
What’s New
- Citation style and language per note. A note can render citations under its own style and language.
ZotLit: Set citation presentation opens a dialog to set both, stored in note properties (zotlit-csl and lang).
- Citation locale. A new Citation locale setting sets the language for citation terms, dates, names, and sorting across the vault.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed slow or broken database refreshes when the Zotero data directory sits on a different drive than the system temp folder.
- Fixed dragging an annotation inserting raw highlight text or the annotation key instead of the rendered template.
