📚 Reference appTool + skill
Zotero
The smallest useful tool, talking to an app on the computer.
What you'll learn
- Reaching the least possible.
- Reading is free, changing asks.
- Errors that tell people what to do.
What people get: Tallgeese that can search their Zotero reference library, make a bibliography file, and, only if they agree, add a reference. It's a tool plus a skill, and it is the smallest complete tool in the Marketplace: seven abilities, one allowed address, and no database.
network = "offline" # it only talks to the same computer
[[provides]]
kind = "sandboxedServer"
server = "zotero"
allow = { http = ["http://127.0.0.1:23119"] }
tools = { ask = ["add_reference"] }| Ability | Does | Asks? |
|---|---|---|
search_library | Search by title, author or year, 25 at a time | No |
list_collections | Show the collections, nested | No |
get_item | One item's details, optionally a formatted reference | No |
export_bibtex | Make a BibTeX file from some items, a collection or the library | No |
selected_collection | Which collection is selected, so a reference lands there | No |
read_attachment_text | The text of an attached paper, a part at a time | No |
add_reference | Add one reference to the library | Every time |
Decisions worth copying
- Reach the least possible. The tool may talk to one address on the same computer and nothing else, so the sentence people are shown is short and true.
- Reading is free; changing asks. Only the ability that changes the library asks, and it asks every time.
- Errors say what to do. "Zotero didn't answer on this computer. Ask the person to open Zotero (version 7 or later), then try again." If Zotero is open but refuses, the error names the exact setting to switch on.
- Check anything that goes into an address. A Zotero key is eight capital letters and digits. Anything else is refused before it can reach a web address.
- Bound the output. 25 items at a time, and a limit on how much of a paper is returned, each saying how to continue.
- The skill names the abilities and says "there is nothing to install", so it doesn't depend on anything else being set up.
The skill in four moves
- When Zotero doesn't answer, tell the person exactly what to do.
- Search, and show title, authors, year and key. Keep the list short and offer more.
- Make a bibliography file with the name they choose, and add only entries that aren't already in it.
- Add a reference only when they ask and agree.