Zotero Ask 0.2.5 — Reader-style sidebar

Zotero Ask now matches Reader’s new Ask interface.

• Sage accents, rounded chat tabs and question bubbles, quieter typography, and compact SVG buttons.
• Model, reasoning, and Fast controls inside the composer.
• Circular send/stop button, automatically growing input, and starter questions.
• Existing account controls, editable response instructions, selected passages, PDF docking, resizing, and LaTeX math remain available.
• Updated README preview generated from the actual interface with synthetic content.

Download zotero-ask-0.2.5.xpi below. In Zotero, open Tools → Plugins, click the gear, and choose Install Plugin From File…. Existing installations can use Zotero’s plugin update check.

Requires Zotero 9 and the Codex CLI. Sign in with your own account; no API key is bundled.

Checks: 39 existing tests passed, 1 skipped; packaged-XPI checks passed; installed version and sidebar verified in Zotero; light and narrow dark previews inspected. No model request was sent for this visual update.

Zotero Ask 0.2.4

• Ask now sits beside the PDF instead of on top of it: opening Ask narrows the reader's document area, so zoomed-in text is never hidden behind the panel, and resizing Ask moves the edge with it. The panel starts below the reader toolbar, so the toolbar stays usable.
• A calmer panel: the composer is just the text box and Ask. The save note, instructions line, key hint, and privacy line moved into Account and settings (the key hint is still announced to screen readers and shown as a tooltip).
• Answers render formatted Markdown, lists, and math while they stream, and the conversation only follows new text when you are already at the bottom.
• Bulleted and numbered lists now render as lists.

Zotero Ask 0.2.3

Zotero Ask 0.2.3

• Fix Zotero reader shortcuts hijacking typing, selection, copy/paste, Backspace, and Tab in Ask by isolating the sidebar in its own document.
• Keep long responses streaming with elapsed phase status, independent chat runs, and a Stop button for the active chat.
• Cache the PDF's extracted text and send relevant page images incrementally; attach selected passages automatically.
• Fix sidebar resizing while dragging across the PDF and reset width by double-clicking the edge.

Install zotero-ask-0.2.3.xpi from this release through Tools → Plugins → Install Plugin From File…. Requires Zotero 9.0.x and a signed-in Codex CLI.

Zotero Ask 0.2.2

Fixes

• “Ask about selection” now opens or focuses the sidebar without closing it.
• The selected passage appears above the composer with its source page and a remove control.
• Sign-out wording and installation/privacy guidance are clarified.

The update feed points to this release’s XPI for existing installations.

Zotero Ask 0.2.1

What’s new

• Add Codex account status and sign-in/sign-out controls in the Ask settings panel.
• Add editable response instructions with automatic saving and Reset.
• Refresh models after account changes and when the sidebar opens.
• Prevent stale Zotero script caches from mixing plugin versions; bound startup and account checks and show redacted diagnostics.
• Keep math rendering offline with bundled KaTeX; Enter sends and Shift+Enter inserts a new line.

Zotero Ask uses the Codex CLI signed in on your Mac. It contains no API key. See the README for installation, privacy details, and troubleshooting.

Zotero Ask 0.1.9

0.1.9 — 2026-09-23

• Typesets LaTeX in questions and answers ($…$, $$…$$, \(…\), \[…\]) with a bundled KaTeX 0.18.7; no network access. Code stays literal, prices such as $5 stay plain text, and math KaTeX cannot render is shown as its source.
• Enter sends a question and Shift+Enter starts a new line; Cmd/Ctrl+Enter still sends. Input-method composition, key repeat, and blank or in-progress questions no longer submit.
• The composer now explains how to focus a question on a highlighted passage.

Zotero Ask 0.1.8

Changelog

0.1.8 — 2026-09-23

• Public-ready Zotero PDF reader sidebar with local per-paper conversation history.
• Live Codex model discovery each time the sidebar opens.
• PDF-aware prompts with up to eight question-relevant page images.
• Compact light/dark interface refinements and improved keyboard focus.