Get detailed bibliographic metadata for a specific item (title, authors, dates, identifiers, attachments, notes, tags). Use get_content for full text. Suitable for generating citations and references.
AI agents call get_item_details to retrieve information from Zotero without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool performs a query/fetch operation that retrieves existing data about a bibliographic item without creating, modifying, deleting, or executing any operations. It has no side effects and poses minimal risk if misused by an AI agent—at worst it exposes bibliographic information already stored in the user's Zotero library.
From the tool's definition Tool retrieves bibliographic metadata (title, authors, dates, identifiers, attachments, notes, tags) with no modification capability.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access get_item_details gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Zotero, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for get_item_details:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"get_item_details": {}
}
}get_item_details is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
Free to start. No card required.
Get detailed bibliographic metadata for a specific item (title, authors, dates, identifiers, attachments, notes, tags). Use get_content for full text. Suitable for generating citations and references. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Zotero MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Zotero MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get_item_details: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Zotero. Nothing to install.
get_item_details is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the get_item_details rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for get_item_details. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
get_item_details is provided by the Zotero MCP server (zotero-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Zotero, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
Free to start. No card required.
27 Zotero tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.