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Zotivity 1.1.0

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@github-actions github-actions released this 01 Nov 21:15
· 5 commits to main since this release
v1.1.0
f68ab07

ZotLLM is now Zotivity. The name fits what the application has become: comprehensive scholarly work with your Zotero
library, not only language models.

Moving from ZotLLM

  • On the first start, Zotivity takes over the data folders, settings and stored API keys of ZotLLM automatically.
  • Projects are saved as .zoty files; .zllm files from earlier versions can still be imported.
  • Replace the Zotero plugin: remove the old "ZotLLM" plugin in Zotero and install the new one (Settings → Zotero and export → Save plugin). The setup checklist reminds you. Word documents with existing citations keep working.
  • The installer updates an existing ZotLLM installation and removes its old program folder. The command zotllm and the environment variables ZOTLLM_* still work.

New

  • Database search (new project view, Ctrl+2; German: “Recherche”): the step before the literature review. A search project leads from the research question to the selected literature in Zotero, in nine tabs (Alt+1 … Alt+9). Everything is saved automatically:
    • Project and Databases: research question, criteria, up to three reviewers, target library in Zotero; disciplines and a database catalog with access, terms of use and keys.
    • Search strategy and Search & import: concept blocks → search strings per database with live hit counts; AI suggestions appear directly with the blocks; searches in PubMed, OpenAlex, Europe PMC, ERIC, EconBiz, Semantic Scholar, arXiv, OSF Preprints and swisscovery; RIS import for licensed databases (PsycInfo, CINAHL …) with the date of the search; other sources for the log. No browser automation.
    • Pool: de-duplicated records, check against the Zotero target library, prefilters that only mark (with exception terms that turn records into borderline cases), missing abstracts fetched, recall check with key papers.
    • Folders 1–20 (shortcuts 1–9) mapped to Zotero collections; Screening as cards (J/K, 1–9, X, ?, G, A, Z) or as a list with bulk apply, recording who decides; Handover to Zotero only after explicit confirmation, search log in the style of PRISMA-S and a PRISMA 2020 flow diagram (SVG).
    • Full texts (optional): status per included text, detected from Zotero where possible – still missing, available, not retrievable, included, excluded with reason. Missing PDFs hold nothing up. Items excluded at full text can be taken out of the search's collections after confirmation and tagged; nothing is deleted.
    • Report for the methods section (optional): a language model drafts sources, search, criteria, selection process and selection flow from the log data, in German or English. Missing information appears as a placeholder, and numbers not found in the log data are reported. It does not replace a complete PRISMA report.
    • Optional AI suggestions (screening, databases, concept blocks, subfolders, report) with the model of the pre-selection in literature reviews; token and cost estimate before each run; decisions are always made by hand.
    • Every database search belongs to a Zotivity project; the project page lists them with their screening status, and searches without a project (e.g. after deleting one) can be assigned again. Data lives in research.db in the data folder.
    • Keys for the databases are stored under Settings → Databases, the key for the optional Zotero web API under Settings → Zotero and export. Searches write through Zotero on this computer by default.

Changed

  • Project views in the order of the workflow: Project, Database search, Corpora, Ask, Literature review, and set apart Search (Ctrl+1 … Ctrl+6). Index moves to Ctrl+8, the CSL editor stays on Ctrl+7.
  • Setup is only the technical part and lives under Settings → Setup, where the first start leads. Zotivity then reopens the last project in the view used last, even if Zotero is closed.
  • New Guide, the top entry of the navigation bar: create a project, database search (optional), create and index a corpus, work with the corpora – with links into the views and the status in the active project. The project page names the next step.
  • Layout: reading text and forms stay readable and centred; lists and tables use the full width. Panels on the right adapt to the window until you drag them. The project page tiles no longer wrap as 4 + 1.
  • Zoom: in the program window the whole interface can be zoomed (status bar, Ctrl + mouse wheel, pinch, Ctrl +/−/0); the value is kept across restarts.

Also new

  • Language models can answer with a JSON schema where the provider supports it (Claude structured outputs, Gemini, OpenAI); otherwise the schema is part of the request.

Install (Windows)

Download Zotivity-Setup-1.1.0.exe below and run it (per user, no admin rights). Check the download against Zotivity-Setup-1.1.0.exe.sha256. The installer is built by GitHub Actions from the source code of this release and is not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen warns ("Unknown publisher"): click More info → Run anyway. If that option is missing (e.g. on managed PCs), right-click the file → Properties → tick Unblock → OK, then start it again.

Then enable Zotero's local API (Zotero → Settings → Advanced) and follow the setup checklist.

Please note

  • Zotivity is vibe-coded: it was written by Claude (Anthropic) in Claude Code and tested in daily use, not reviewed line by line by a human developer.
  • Use it as a tool, not as a replacement for your own scholarly work – read the sources, verify critically and do not submit generated text as your own. See the README section on the risk of deskilling.
  • Zotivity is an independent project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Zotero or the Corporation for Digital Scholarship. Zotero is a registered trademark of the Corporation for Digital Scholarship.
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