Upgrade Storage[Plugin] Zotero Glossary - LLM-powered term lookup (DeepSeek) with personal multi-book glossary (EN/
Hi everyone!
I would like to share a plugin I have been building for reading research literature: Zotero Glossary.
It lets you look up unfamiliar technical terms right inside Zotero, which is especially useful when reading English papers in a non-English-speaking field.
What it does
Select a term in a PDF or EPub reader, or in a webpage or note, and a small button labeled Term Lookup appears right next to the selection. Click it, and an LLM explains the term with:
- a Chinese explanation
- an English definition
- the field or category
- an example sentence
You can then save the term into your own glossary books. Multiple books are supported, for example one per project or per paper, with create, rename, delete, search, and copy actions.
Key design choices
- Click-to-query, token friendly. Selecting text never calls the API. Only clicking the button does, so accidental or mid-drag selections do not waste tokens.
- Domain-aware prompts. You can configure your research field in settings, for example battery and battery management systems. Acronyms such as SOC, BMS, and SEI are then explained from that domain first.
- Uses the official Zotero Reader event, so selection handling works reliably across Zotero 7, 8, and 9.
- Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. DeepSeek is the default and only requires an API key, but you can point the plugin at any compatible service by changing the base URL and model in settings.
Install
1. Download the latest zotero-glossary.xpi from the Releases page.
2. In Zotero, go to Tools, then Add-ons, click the gear icon, and choose Install Add-on From File.
3. Restart Zotero.
4. Open Edit, then Settings, choose the Glossary tab, paste your API key, click Test Connection, then Save.
Links
- Repository: https://github.com/ChaoPlayer/zotero-glossary
- Releases with the XPI file: https://github.com/ChaoPlayer/zotero-glossary/releases
- An update manifest is included, so future versions are offered automatically.
- MIT licensed, works on Zotero 7.0 and above.
Feedback
This is an early open-source release. Bug reports, feature ideas, and contributions are welcome via GitHub Issues and Pull Requests.
If you have any problems，welcome to communicate with me through email:1847848758@qq.com
Happy reading!
I would like to share a plugin I have been building for reading research literature: Zotero Glossary.
It lets you look up unfamiliar technical terms right inside Zotero, which is especially useful when reading English papers in a non-English-speaking field.
What it does
Select a term in a PDF or EPub reader, or in a webpage or note, and a small button labeled Term Lookup appears right next to the selection. Click it, and an LLM explains the term with:
- a Chinese explanation
- an English definition
- the field or category
- an example sentence
You can then save the term into your own glossary books. Multiple books are supported, for example one per project or per paper, with create, rename, delete, search, and copy actions.
Key design choices
- Click-to-query, token friendly. Selecting text never calls the API. Only clicking the button does, so accidental or mid-drag selections do not waste tokens.
- Domain-aware prompts. You can configure your research field in settings, for example battery and battery management systems. Acronyms such as SOC, BMS, and SEI are then explained from that domain first.
- Uses the official Zotero Reader event, so selection handling works reliably across Zotero 7, 8, and 9.
- Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. DeepSeek is the default and only requires an API key, but you can point the plugin at any compatible service by changing the base URL and model in settings.
Install
1. Download the latest zotero-glossary.xpi from the Releases page.
2. In Zotero, go to Tools, then Add-ons, click the gear icon, and choose Install Add-on From File.
3. Restart Zotero.
4. Open Edit, then Settings, choose the Glossary tab, paste your API key, click Test Connection, then Save.
Links
- Repository: https://github.com/ChaoPlayer/zotero-glossary
- Releases with the XPI file: https://github.com/ChaoPlayer/zotero-glossary/releases
- An update manifest is included, so future versions are offered automatically.
- MIT licensed, works on Zotero 7.0 and above.
Feedback
This is an early open-source release. Bug reports, feature ideas, and contributions are welcome via GitHub Issues and Pull Requests.
If you have any problems，welcome to communicate with me through email:1847848758@qq.com
Happy reading!