Archived

The functionality here has been merged into the LaTeX Utilities extension.

Zotero LaTeX extension

This is a VS Code extension for using Zotero with the Better BibTeX extension.

Features

The main feature of this extension is a command to insert citations from Zotero (Cite As You Write). In a LaTeX file, use Alt-Z and pick your source. A citation will automatically be inserted at the current cursor. This can use either Zotero's own UI or a dialog within VS Code.

If you have a citation key selected, you can jump to it in Zotero with the Zotero: Open in Zotero command.

Requirements

You need to have Zotero installed, along with the Better BibTex extension. You'll probably also want some kind of LaTeX editor extension installed, such as LaTeX Workshop.

Usage

First of all, you'll need to export your library from Zotero to a BibLaTeX file. Better BibTex supports several methods such as automatic export to a .bib file and pulling from Zotero when compiling your LaTeX document.

To insert a citation at the cursor, use the Zotero: Add Citation command (by default, Alt-Z). This will show the Zotero citation popup. From there, pick sources just like with the Microsoft Word plugin (including page numbers, prefixes, and other options).

If the cursor is on a citation key, the Zotero: Open in Zotero command will open the corresponding entry in Zotero.

Note that Zotero must be running while using this extension.

Extension Settings

This extension contributes the following settings:

Server URL (zotero.serverUrl)

This is the URL to the local Zotero connector HTTP server. It defaults to http://localhost:23119 and should not need to be changed.

Latex Command (zotero.latexCommand)

This controls which BibLaTeX citation command to use, such as autocite, cite, and parencite. This can be any citation command, but Better BibLaTeX works best with these three. By default, citations are added with autocite.

Minimize After Picking (zotero.minimizeAfterPicking)

Set this to true to minimize all Zotero windows after picking a citation. This is disabled by default.

Known Issues

After picking a reference in the Cite As You Write window, the Zotero app steals focus (at least on macOS).