Zotero Library PDF Exporter

This Python script exports all PDF files from a specified Zotero collection — including its subcollections — by querying the Zotero SQLite database and locating the corresponding files in the local storage/ directory. The script then copies those files into an organized folder structure for easier backup, migration, or offline access.

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📜 Based on Original Work

This project is based on a script originally written by Jaime Ruiz Serra, found on the zotero forum: 🔗https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/118230/wild-idea-notebooklm-like-search-in-zotero

and published as a GitHub Gist:
🔗 https://gist.github.com/RuizSerra/6a657f6f0b2ce1e5d14a74a29fa68b8d

The original script retrieved files from a Zotero collection and copied them to a destination folder.

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✨ Modifications & Contributions

This version was generated and extended using OpenAI's ChatGPT (GPT4o), with my guidance and intent. I used ChatGPT to:

• Add support for nested collections (subfolders)
• Automate folder naming to avoid overwrites
• Improve file discovery logic using glob
• Enhance command-line usability with better defaults and documentation

These modifications were implemented through iterative prompts, testing, and manual adjustments.

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🚀 Usage

Requirements

• Python 3.x
• Local access to your Zotero directory (must include zotero.sqlite and storage/)

Run the script

• Don't forget to close Zotero before running the command

python3 zotero_exporter.py --zotero-base-path "/Users/you/Zotero" --destination-dir "directoryname"