Zotero Cite Links
Cmd-click a Pandoc @citekey in your notes to open the cited PDF in Zotero at the page locator from the citation.
- Overview
- Scorecard
- Updates2
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
httpagainst 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
(pending review — for now, install manually below.)
Manual
- Download
main.js,manifest.json, andstyles.cssfrom the latest release. - Place them in
<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/zotero-cite-links/. - Reload Obsidian → Settings → Community plugins → enable Zotero Cite Links.
Usage
- Cmd-click any
@citekeyin 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.