Commercial use of Zotero Web API — permission/clarification request
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NecroNook
Aug 7, 2026, 4:25:22 PM (12 days ago) Aug 7
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Hello,
I'm building a paid research assistant tool that helps users search, synthesize, and cite academic literature, and I'm planning a feature that pushes citations into a user's own Zotero library via the Web API.
How it would work: each user generates their own Zotero API key (write access to their own personal library) and enters it into the app. The app then uses that key, on the user's behalf, to create items in their own library via the Web API — basically automating what they could already do manually by importing a file.
Before I build this out further, I want to check something in the Terms of Service. Section 6 says commercial exploitation of the Services needs express prior written permission from CDS. Since this only ever touches a user's own account under their own key — not anything on the Zotero side that I control — I'm not sure if that clause is even meant to cover this kind of integration, or if it does and I should be requesting permission here.
Has anyone dealt with this before, or is there someone at CDS who'd be the right person to ask directly? Happy to share more detail about the integration if useful.
Best,
Hassan
I'm building a paid research assistant tool that helps users search, synthesize, and cite academic literature, and I'm planning a feature that pushes citations into a user's own Zotero library via the Web API.
How it would work: each user generates their own Zotero API key (write access to their own personal library) and enters it into the app. The app then uses that key, on the user's behalf, to create items in their own library via the Web API — basically automating what they could already do manually by importing a file.
Before I build this out further, I want to check something in the Terms of Service. Section 6 says commercial exploitation of the Services needs express prior written permission from CDS. Since this only ever touches a user's own account under their own key — not anything on the Zotero side that I control — I'm not sure if that clause is even meant to cover this kind of integration, or if it does and I should be requesting permission here.
Has anyone dealt with this before, or is there someone at CDS who'd be the right person to ask directly? Happy to share more detail about the integration if useful.
Best,
Hassan
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