Insert citations
Insert Markdown citations while typing or from the command palette, using the primary or secondary citation format.
ZotLit inserts Markdown citations from your Zotero library in two ways: an inline suggester that appears while you type, and a command-palette picker.
Insert while typing
The citation suggester opens when you type [@ (or 【@) in the editor. A dropdown appears with items from your Zotero library.
With the opt-in @ trigger enabled, a bare @ at a word boundary (start of line, after a space, or after an opening bracket or quote) also opens the suggester.
Start a citation
Type [@ in the editor. A suggestion list appears.
With @ trigger enabled, typing @ at a word boundary does the same thing. A mid-word @ (e.g. in an email address) is ignored.
Search and select
Continue typing to filter the list. Select an item and press Enter to insert the citation. The citation is inserted with a trailing space so you can keep typing immediately.
By default, this inserts the primary citation format (e.g. [@citationKey]).
An @ query ends at the first space. Type _ where the search needs a space: @machine_learning finds "machine learning". Bracket trigger queries ([@) accept real spaces.
Insert the secondary format (optional)
To insert the secondary citation format instead (e.g. @citationKey), do one of:
- End your query with
/before pressingEnter. - Press
Shift+Enteron the selected item.
The instruction row in the suggester shows these shortcuts as a reminder.
If the selected item has no citation key, nothing is inserted and a notice appears: "Selected item has no citation key: {key}."
Suggester settings
- Citation suggester (default: on): enables or disables the inline suggester. Find it in Settings → ZotLit → Citations.
@trigger (default: off): also opens the suggester on a bare@at a word boundary. Visible only while Citation suggester is on. Find it in Settings → ZotLit → Citations.- Show citation key in suggestions (default: off): shows each item's citation key beside its title in the suggester list. Find it in Settings → ZotLit → Citations.
Insert from the command palette
Open the citation picker
Open the command palette (Ctrl+P on Windows/Linux, Cmd+P on macOS) and run:
A picker appears with your Zotero library.
Select an item
Search for an item and press Enter to insert the primary citation.
Press Shift+Enter to insert the secondary citation instead.
Citation formats
ZotLit ships two citation templates:
| Template | Settings label | Default output | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | Citation | Bracketed citation | [@citationKey] |
| Secondary | Alternate citation | Bare citation | @citationKey |
These are the default outputs. You can change them by editing the Citation and Alternate citation templates in Settings > Templates. The rendered citation is normalized to a single line (leading/trailing whitespace trimmed, line-break runs collapsed to a space). Each insert ends with a trailing space and places the cursor after it; if a space already follows the insert position, it is reused rather than doubled.
When Citation Key Links is enabled, the bracketed primary form becomes clickable in Live Preview and Source mode. The default secondary form is bare, so it stays plain text.