Support Zotero 7/8 native citation keys without Better BibTeX dependenc

[DevanCoop]

Since Zotero 7/8, citation keys are a native field in the Zotero database (citationKey in the
item data). They are exposed via the standard Zotero local API at
http://localhost:23119/api/users/0/items without requiring Better BibTeX.

Currently, the plugin relies entirely on BBT's JSON-RPC endpoint (/better-bibtex/json-rpc) to
resolve citation keys and fetch bibliography data. This means users must install Better
BibTeX even though Zotero now provides the same citation key information natively.

Why this matters

• Redundant dependency: BBT is no longer needed for citation key management in Zotero 7/8 —
  it's a 9,000+ item indexing overhead for functionality Zotero now provides out of the box.
• Slow initial setup: BBT needs to index the entire library before the plugin works, which
  can take significant time on large libraries.
• Sync issues during migration: BBT and Zotero 8 native keys can conflict during migration,
  causing citekey mismatches.

Proposed change
Add an option to query the standard Zotero local API directly:
GET http://localhost:23119/api/users/0/items?format=json

Each item's data.citationKey field contains the native citation key. This would allow the
plugin to work with Zotero 7/8 without BBT installed.

Environment

• Zotero 8
• Plugin version 2.0.25
• ~9,000 library items

[wjvg-gif]

@DevanCoop, agreed – I've also had a problem that the plugin now no longer recognised any of my references. Since I had a pressing deadline, I – with the help of Claude (tsk-tsk) – have cloned the repo & tinkered with it to come to some kind of workable fix.

[sammiditto]

This is an issue I'm also experiencing. @DevanCoop - is your workaround currently that you run BBT in parallel with Zotero and update both, or how are you managing in the meantime?

[DevanCoop]

This is an issue I'm also experiencing. @DevanCoop - is your workaround currently that you run BBT in parallel with Zotero and update both, or how are you managing in the meantime?

so far I cloned the repo and used ClaudeCode to implement the workaround using the citationKey directly, so no longer need BBT plugin for it to work), so I did what @wjvg-gif did. Let me know if you need help, can maybe share my cloned version.

[animusastralis]

Seems like this and related plugins are abandoned, maybe someone can make a fork? Maybe there is someone who can maintain it further, although its code looks quite complex.