Research workflows
Use AI with your Zotero library, inside Word.
Textmolt is a Word add-in for Windows that connects to the Zotero desktop app on the same computer. Search your library, insert citations, read PDFs beside your draft, ask AI about a paper, and research a collection or your whole library, with answers that cite your own sources.
- Works with
- Zotero 7–10 on the same Windows PC as Word
- Connection
- Viamolt, a companion app that reads Zotero’s local API
- Library scope
- Hand-picked papers, one collection or the whole library
Search your Zotero library and cite, without leaving Word
Open the library panel, find a paper in your Zotero collections and insert its citation at the cursor.
Recorded in the real add-in · Word on Windows
How the workflow works
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Let Zotero talk to local apps
Run Zotero and allow other applications on this computer to communicate with it. This is one setting in Zotero, changed once.
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Pair Viamolt
Install Viamolt, the companion app, and pair it with the 8-character code shown in the Textmolt sidebar.
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Open your library in Word
Your collections appear in the sidebar’s library panel. Search by title, author or year, and insert a citation at the cursor.
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Ask with your papers as context
Open a PDF and ask about a selected passage, attach a paper’s abstract or full text to a question, or type /zotero to research a collection.
What you can do with Zotero in Word
| Task | How it works in Textmolt |
|---|---|
| Search and cite | Search your library by title, author or year and insert a citation in APA, MLA, Chicago (notes), IEEE or GB/T 7714-2015. |
| Read a PDF | Open the paper from Zotero in a reader inside Word, in its original layout or a reflowed view. Highlight text and add notes. |
| Ask about a passage | Select text in the PDF. The excerpt arrives in the sidebar tagged with its page number. |
| Ask about a whole paper | Attach the abstract, or the full text on Pro, within page, character and model-context limits. |
| Research across papers | /zotero searches and reads the scope you choose, shows each step, and answers with citations to the papers it used. |
| Write the result back | Insert the reviewed paragraph into Word with live Zotero citations. |
AI answers can misread papers; check them against the source. The Zotero features need Zotero and Viamolt on the same Windows PC as Word. Mac and WPS Office are not officially supported.
A request to start from
/zotero What do the papers in this collection report about the effect of urban green space on summer surface temperature? Compare their methods, cite each claim, and tell me where the evidence is thin.
Example request, not a recorded result. What an answer can support depends on the papers in your library.
AI inside Zotero, or AI where you write?
You can add AI to Zotero itself, with a plugin that works in the Zotero window. Textmolt takes the other route: it brings your library into the Word document you are writing, so reading, questions and citations happen beside the draft.
- Zotero keeps managing your library, your PDFs and your citation styles.
- Textmolt does not replace Zotero’s Word plugin. Live citations it inserts are maintained by Zotero, and the bibliography is added with Zotero’s own Word tools.
What stays on your computer
Your Zotero database and PDF files stay on your PC. Textmolt never copies your whole library; it fetches only what you open, search for or ask about.
- Collections, items and citation text you request pass from Viamolt through the Textmolt gateway to your sidebar.
- When you ask AI, your question and the context you chose are sent through the gateway to the model provider.
- Before your first research run, Textmolt lists what research sends and waits for you to continue.
- You can unpair Viamolt from your account at any time.
Pair once with an 8-character code
Viamolt runs on the same PC as Zotero and Word. Enter the code shown in the sidebar, and your collections appear in the library panel.
Recorded in the real add-in · Word on Windows
Answers that cite your own papers
Library research answers with citations to the papers it actually used. A citation that cannot be matched to a real item in your library is marked unverified and cannot be inserted into your document.
- A matched citation shows that the source exists. You still need to check that the paper supports the claim.
- Choose the scope for each question: selected papers, one collection or the whole library.
Questions about this workflow
Is there an AI assistant for Zotero that works inside Microsoft Word?
Yes. Textmolt is a Word add-in for Windows that connects to the Zotero desktop app through its Viamolt companion app. You can search your library, read PDFs, ask AI about your papers and insert citations without leaving the document.
Which Zotero versions does it work with?
Zotero 7–10, running on the same Windows PC as Word. Zotero’s local API has to be enabled once in Zotero’s settings.
Is my whole Zotero library uploaded?
No. Your Zotero database and PDF files stay on your computer. Only what you open, search for or ask about is fetched, and the context you choose for a question is sent through the Textmolt gateway to the AI model.
Do I need my own API key?
No. You can connect your own provider key, or buy Textmolt credits and use Textmolt-provided models without one.
What can I do with Zotero on the Free plan?
Searching your library, inserting citations, reading and annotating PDFs, and asking AI about a selected passage or a paper’s abstract are available on the Free plan; AI model usage is separate, through your own key or Textmolt credits. Asking about a paper’s full text is a Pro feature. Library research and writing with citations include 5 trial runs a month on Free and 30 runs a day on Pro. See Pricing on the home page.
Does it work with EndNote or Mendeley?
Not at present. The library connection currently supports Zotero.