Zotero Cite Links

Cmd-click a Pandoc-style @citekey in an Obsidian note to open the cited PDF in Zotero — at the page locator from the citation, with annotation-aware page-label offsetting.

[@hickman1987, p. 8] → Cmd-click hickman1987 → Zotero opens the linked PDF at page 8.

Why

Obsidian's citation-aware plugins (e.g. Pandoc Reference List) show a bibliography sidebar and tooltips, but their best "open" action drops you in the Zotero collection view — you still have to navigate to the PDF and the page yourself. This plugin closes the last step.

Requirements

• Obsidian 1.4.0+ (desktop only — uses Node http against localhost).
• Zotero with the Better BibTeX extension installed and running.

This plugin communicates only with your local Zotero/Better BibTeX over 127.0.0.1, to resolve citation keys to their PDF attachments and page locators — no data leaves your machine, and it makes no other network requests.

Installation

From the community plugin directory

In Obsidian, open Settings → Community plugins → Browse, search for Zotero Cite Links, then Install and Enable. See the directory listing.

Manual

1. Download main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css from the latest release.
2. Place them in <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/zotero-cite-links/.
3. Reload Obsidian → Settings → Community plugins → enable Zotero Cite Links.

Usage

• Cmd-click any @citekey in a note. If the citation includes a page locator ([@key, p. 5] or [@key, 5]), the PDF opens at that page.
• Command palette → "Zotero Cite Links: Open citation at cursor in Zotero" — opens the citekey nearest the cursor without clicking. Useful in source mode or when you'd rather use a hotkey.
• Command palette → "Zotero Cite Links: Refresh Zotero library list" — re-queries Better BibTeX for the list of libraries to search (groups and your personal library). Run after adding a new Zotero group.

Settings

• Zotero port — Better BibTeX JSON-RPC port. Default 23119.
• Click modifier — choose between Cmd/Ctrl-click (default, doesn't interfere with normal editor text selection) or plain click.

Acknowledgements

The Better BibTeX integration approach draws on patterns from mgmeyers/obsidian-pandoc-reference-list.