# Connect research sources

Bring Zotero references, alphaXiv paper tools, and scholarly search into the workspace.

Open **Settings → Integrations** to connect research services. These connections add sources and tools to your workflow; your manuscript and bibliography remain project files.

## Zotero

1. Open **Settings → Integrations → Zotero**.
2. Follow **API key page** to your [Zotero account settings](https://www.zotero.org/settings/security#applications).
3. Create a key for the library you want to use and copy the numeric user ID shown on that page.
4. Enter **User ID** and **Zotero API key** in Oleafly, then choose **Connect**.
5. Open the assistant and ask it to find a known item in your Zotero library. Inspect the returned record before adding it to the manuscript.

Try a request with a title you already recognize:

> Find the paper titled “TITLE” in my Zotero library. Show its authors, year, and identifier, then prepare a BibTeX entry for this project.

Replace `TITLE` with the title in your library. A saved connection makes the integration available; the first request verifies that the key can reach the library. Use **Disconnect** to remove the saved connection.

For a one-time import without an API connection, export BibTeX, RIS, EndNote XML, or Zotero RDF from your reference manager and use [Connect sources](/docs/citations/#import-a-whole-reference-library).

## alphaXiv

1. Open **Settings → Integrations → alphaXiv**.
2. Follow **API key page** to [alphaXiv](https://www.alphaxiv.org/@api-key) and obtain a key.
3. Paste it into **alphaXiv API key** and choose **Connect**.
4. Open the assistant and request literature search or paper analysis for a concrete topic or paper.

> Find papers about uncertainty estimation for regression. Compare what the methods measure and include a source link for each description.

Open the returned papers to check the evidence. Use **Disconnect** in the same settings tab when you no longer want the connection.

## Citation Search services

The **Citation Search** settings tab holds the credentials used by individual indexes:

- **OpenAlex API key** gives your searches regular OpenAlex access. Without one, Oleafly uses a small shared keyless pool. A contact email can also place requests in OpenAlex's polite pool.
- **Semantic Scholar API key** is optional. Anonymous requests use its public limits.
- **Serper API key** enables the Google Scholar source. Oleafly skips Google Scholar when that source is selected without a key.
- **arXiv, Crossref, and PubMed** do not need credentials in Oleafly.

Credentials stay on this device and are sent only to the service they belong to. Remove a saved key from the same settings card when you no longer want Oleafly to use it.

Return to [Citation Search](/docs/literature-search/), select the indexes you need, and run a topic query. You can use the built-in scholarly indexes without configuring every optional service.

## Look up one known source

You do not need to connect Zotero or a search provider when you already have a reliable identifier. The [reference tools](/docs/tools/#build-references) can retrieve a DOI, arXiv ID, ISBN, or PubMed ID, then let you correct the fields before copying BibTeX or a formatted citation. Manual citation editing and formatting stay available offline; catalog lookup needs a connection.

## More integrations

- [GitHub](/docs/github-sync/) connects project source control to a repository.
- [External MCP servers](/docs/mcp/#add-external-tools-to-oleafly) add tools to Oleafly's assistant.
- [Oleafly's MCP server](/docs/mcp/) gives an external client access to project tools.
- [Model providers](/docs/ai-setup/) and [CLI agents](/docs/cli-agents/) choose which assistant performs the work.