Install Zotero MCP in Claude Desktop

What you need first

• Claude Desktop, installed.
• uv, which gives the uvx command the server starts with.

Steps

1. In Claude Desktop, open Settings › Developer and choose Edit Config. It opens claude_desktop_config.json.
2. Add this block. If the file already has mcpServers, add only the entry inside it.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zotero-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["zotero-mcp-server==0.15.1", "serve"]
    }
  }
}

3. Save the file, quit Claude Desktop completely and open it again.

Check it worked

Ask Claude Desktop: List the tools of zotero-mcp.

If it does not start

spawn uvx ENOENT

uv is not on the PATH that Claude Desktop sees. Install it, or write the full path of uvx in the config.

Nothing changes after a restart

The file is not valid JSON any more. Look for a missing comma where the block was added.