zotero-md-note

A small Zotero plugin for creating one Markdown note per paper.

zotero-md-note creates a local .md note for the selected Zotero item. The note filename is based on Zotero item metadata, and the note includes links back to the Zotero item and, when available, its Zotero PDF.

Repository: https://github.com/haiyankong/zotero-md-note

Features

• Create a Markdown note from the currently selected Zotero item.
• Use Zotero metadata to create a stable Markdown filename.
• Add a Zotero item link and, when available, a Zotero PDF link to the note.
• Ask for the note saving folder each time.
• Skip existing Markdown files by default.

Compatibility

Tested with Zotero 9.0.4 on Windows.

Install

1. Download zotero-md-note.xpi from the GitHub Releases page.
2. In Zotero, open Tools -> Add-ons.
3. Click the gear icon.
4. Choose Install Add-on From File....
5. Select zotero-md-note.xpi.
6. Restart Zotero if Zotero asks you to.

Use

1. Select one or more Zotero items.
2. Choose Tools -> Create Markdown Note.
3. Choose your note saving folder.

The plugin creates one Markdown file per selected Zotero item.

Note Filename

The Markdown filename is based on Zotero item metadata:

year_first-author_title.md

For items with more than two authors, the filename uses first-author-et-al:

2026_guo-et-al_acute-stress-impacts-executive-social-function-eviden.md

The naming rule is:

{{ year suffix="_" }}
{{ if {{ authorsCount > 2 }} }}
{{ authors max="1" name="family" join="_" suffix="-et-al_" case="hyphen" }}
{{ else }}
{{ authors max="1" name="family" join="_" suffix="_" case="hyphen" }}
{{ endif }}
{{ title truncate="50" case="hyphen" }}

The title is converted to hyphen case and truncated to at most 50 characters, preferably at a word boundary.

Generated Template

# Paper Title

Full citation

- [Open Zotero item](zotero://select/library/items/ITEM_KEY)
- [Open Zotero PDF](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/PDF_KEY)

## Highlights

## Notes

The PDF link is omitted when the item has no PDF attachment.

Behavior

• Existing .md files are not overwritten.
• If a selected item has no PDF attachment, the plugin still creates a note and omits the PDF link.
• The plugin does not modify Zotero items, PDFs, annotations, or notes.

Development

This plugin uses the Zotero bootstrapped plugin format:

• manifest.json
• bootstrap.js
• zotero-md-note.js

To package the plugin, zip the contents of this directory and rename the archive to:

zotero-md-note.xpi