Imports and integrations

You can always add a PDF, link or identifier directly. For a larger move, choose an import route based on what your existing tool can export.

Bring a library in

Source	Current path	Important limit
Mendeley	Export BibTeX or RIS, then use File → Import BibTeX or RIS… in the Library with an optional ZIP of PDFs.	The bibliography often lacks collections and does not contain the PDF files.
Other reference managers	Export BibTeX, RIS or CSL-JSON, then use Add paper → Import file or the Library’s File → Import BibTeX or RIS….	Supply PDFs separately in a ZIP if the bibliography only points to local files.
Zotero	Use File → Import from Zotero… with a read-only personal-library key or a Zotero RDF export with files.	Imports one PDF per item. WebDAV needs a public HTTPS endpoint; other attachments and rich note formatting are not imported.
Dropbox	New connections and imports are currently unavailable, and the File menu hides the action.	Public access awaits Dropbox approval and an outside-team import check. Existing connections retain status, stop-watch and disconnect controls.
Google Drive	Use Add paper → Google Drive to connect and pick PDFs.	Only the PDFs you pick are accessible; public folder import and watching are not enabled.

Google Drive only grants access to the files you pick, not their containing folders. See Add papers for the everyday intake flow.

Mendeley import

In the receiving project’s Library in the web app, use File → Import BibTeX or RIS… or Add paper → Import file. Outside the Library, the same File action is called Import library…. You need permission to add and organize papers and an internet connection.

In Mendeley Reference Manager, select the references you want and choose Export from the action panel. Save them as BibTeX (.bib) or RIS (.ris). These exports contain reference metadata and PDF references, but not the PDFs themselves.
If you want PDFs, collect them into one ZIP. Keep the PDF filenames from Mendeley’s file references when possible. You can put PDFs in folders inside the ZIP.
In Distari, choose the bibliography file and optional ZIP, then select Preview import. Review the matched PDFs, folders, tags, likely duplicates and errors. Preview changes nothing.
Select Import, followed by the number of ready papers, to start the background import.

Mendeley does not reliably include collection membership in a whole-library BibTeX or RIS export. If the preview does not show your collections, export one Mendeley collection at a time and enter its name in Collection folder before each import. A slash creates nested folders. When an entry has no collection field but its matched PDF is inside a ZIP folder, Distari uses that folder path. keywords and mendeley-tags become paper tags.

Import a library dialog with a bibliography file selected, an optional PDF ZIP and collection folder, and processing left off. Choose Preview import to check the file. — In the Library, choose File → Import BibTeX or RIS… to open this dialog. Add your bibliography and an optional ZIP of PDFs before previewing.

Processing imported PDFs is optional and off by default. If you have permission to spend the project’s plan usage, you can turn it on in the preview; how much it uses depends on page counts and project settings. Leaving it off keeps the PDFs ready for processing later.

Import preview showing one ready reference and one paper already in the project. Check each row before selecting Import 1 paper. — The preview separates ready references from duplicates before anything is added. This demo has one new reference and one paper already in the project.

Confirmed library imports continue in the background and show how many references have been checked. You can close the dialog and reopen it to see progress and the final report of imported, skipped and failed rows. Importing the same bibliography again skips papers already in that project; it does not replace an existing paper or attach a PDF to a duplicate record.

Completed import report showing one imported reference, one skipped duplicate and no errors, with a reason beside each row. — Reopen the dialog to inspect the completed report. A skipped duplicate stays in the project; the new reference here is metadata only because no PDF was supplied.

Zotero import

Open a project in the web app and choose File → Import from Zotero…. You need permission to add and edit papers in that project.

With the keyboard, Tab to the selected source. Left/Right switch sources and wrap at the ends; Home selects Zotero account and End selects RDF with files. The source opens as focus moves. Press Tab again to reach its first field.

For an account import, create a read-only personal-library API key in Zotero’s key settings. Paste it into Zotero account and choose Preview library. If Zotero stores your PDFs on WebDAV, expand PDFs stored on WebDAV? and enter its public HTTPS URL, username and password. Distari reads your library without changing anything in Zotero. Koofr is the verified WebDAV service; other services may differ.

For files on your computer, export your library from Zotero as Zotero RDF with Export Files and Export Notes enabled. Zip the exported .rdf file and its files folder together, choose RDF with files, select the ZIP and choose Preview library. This route brings PDFs that are only on your computer.

The preview counts papers, collections, PDFs and likely duplicates. Select the collections to bring across, or leave all selected to include the entire library and its unfiled papers. A selected collection includes its subcollections. Parse and summarize PDFs starts off because processing a large library uses a lot of the project’s plan usage. Enabling it requires permission to spend that usage; you can leave it off and process papers later.

Choose Start import to run it in the background. Progress shows added papers, papers already here and failures. You can close the dialog and reopen it from File in the same browser session. Nested collections become folders, tags become paper tags, and notes become private plain-text notes linked to their papers. Running the import again updates filing and tags without adding the same paper or note twice.

Only the first available PDF attached to each Zotero item is brought across. Other attachments and rich note formatting are not included. Papers without available PDFs remain searchable metadata records. If a PDF is unavailable from Zotero cloud or your WebDAV server, check the run’s warning and use an RDF export with files to bring it from your computer.

Import limits

A bibliography import accepts up to 1,000 references and an 8 MiB bibliography. Both bibliography and Zotero RDF imports accept a ZIP of up to 48 MiB. Each imported PDF must fit the current PDF size limit, which defaults to 50 MiB and may be lower, and contain at most 150 pages. A PDF whose page count cannot be verified is refused before processing or charging credits.

For bibliography imports, two PDFs with the same matching filename produce an ambiguous-match error instead of a guess. If the ZIP has no matching PDF, the reference becomes a metadata-only paper.

Send or sync material out

Send to Zotero

To connect Zotero, create a personal API key at Zotero’s key settings. Give it permission to read and write your personal library, plus file access if you want Distari to attach PDFs. In the web app, open Settings → Connections, paste the key into the Zotero card and select Connect Zotero.

With project export permission, open a paper, select papers or open a folder, then choose Send to Zotero from its menu. You can also use File → Send to Zotero for the current paper, folder or whole project. Choose a destination collection, decide whether to attach PDFs and select Send papers. The dialog shows progress, individual failures and PDF warnings.

Sending the same Distari paper again updates its mapped Zotero item and can overwrite edits to the exported metadata fields in Zotero. Sends are explicit actions, with no background sync. Disconnecting in Settings deletes the stored key; papers already sent stay in Zotero.

If you prefer a file, use Cite and export to download one paper, a selection, a folder or a project as BibTeX, RIS or CSL-JSON, then import that file in Zotero. To bring a library into Distari, follow Zotero import or Mendeley import for a bibliography and optional PDF ZIP.

Other connections

Notion: connect your account in Settings → Connections and send paper details, a summary and optionally your own notes to a shared Notion database. This is an explicit one-way send, with no background sync. Re-sending replaces the destination page’s content and can remove edits made in Notion; PDFs are not exported.
Obsidian: install and connect Distari sync to import papers, summaries and your own notes into a vault, one way from Distari. The guide covers manual installation, local-edit conflicts and updating without losing checkpoints. File > Export notes > Notes as Obsidian vault (.zip) provides a one-time notes export without a connection.

Connected services have their own access permissions and availability. Check the preview and the result report for skipped items, missing PDFs or failed sends before assuming everything transferred.

For your own scripts and event receivers, use the public API and webhooks. Zapier and Make integrations are private and still await public listing approval.