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Quick Start

This page walks you through a minimal, working setup so you can import a Zotero item and ask your first question.

Prerequisites

  • Obsidian (desktop)
  • Zotero 7 or 8 (desktop)
  • Docker Desktop or Podman (for Redis Stack)
  • A local or cloud OpenAI-compatible model provider

1) Enable the Zotero local API (read-only)

In Zotero:

  1. Open Settings → Advanced.
  2. Enable Allow other applications on this computer to communicate with Zotero.

No API key is needed for the local API.

2) Install the plugin

Recommended:

  1. Download the latest release zip.

  2. Unzip into your vault at:

  3. <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/zotero-redisearch-rag/

  4. Ensure the folder contains main.js, manifest.json, versions.json, and tools/.

Alternatives:

  • BRAT: Use BRAT to install jmiba/zotero-redisearch-rag.
  • Build from source:

bash npm install npm run build Then copy the plugin folder into your vault as above.

3) Start Redis Stack

In Obsidian, run:

  • Command palette → Start Redis Stack (Docker/Podman Compose)

If Docker or Podman isn’t running, start it first.

4) Start a model provider

Use any OpenAI‑compatible local server or a cloud provider.

Local options:

  • LM Studio: start the server and note the model ID shown in LM Studio.
  • Ollama: start the daemon and use the OpenAI‑compatible endpoint at http://localhost:11434/v1.

Cloud options:

  • OpenAI or OpenRouter with your API key.

5) Set up Python for Docling

Default (recommended):

  1. Open Settings → Community plugins → Zotero Redis RAG → Prerequisites.
  2. Set Python runtime to Python worker container (recommended).
  3. Click Start Redis stack now.
  4. Wait for startup to finish (first run may take longer while worker dependencies install).

Fallback (terminal, local runtime mode only):

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

For full details, see Python Setup.

6) Configure the plugin

Open Settings → Community plugins → Zotero Redis RAG and set:

  • Prerequisites: Python runtime, Docker/Podman path, Redis URL
  • LLM provider profiles (optional but recommended)
  • Embeddings and Chat models
  • Output folders (PDFs, notes, chats)

[!TIP] Templating: Customize note frontmatter/body with placeholders. See Templating reference.

7) Import your first item

Run:

  • Command palette → Import Zotero item and index (Docling → RedisSearch)

Pick an item with a PDF attachment. The plugin will create a note and index its chunks.

8) Ask your first question

Run:

  • Command palette → Ask my Zotero library (RAG via RedisSearch)

Answers include citations that link back to the exact chunk in your note or PDF.

If you want a deeper walkthrough, continue to How It Works and Daily Workflow.