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
3 Likes
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.
