Seerai LogoSeerai

Guides & Tutorials

Step-by-step tutorials for mastering Seerai

Getting Started with Seerai

Install the plugin and configure your AI provider

5 min
  1. Download the latest .xpi file from GitHub Releases
  2. In Zotero 7, go to Tools → Add-ons
  3. Click the gear icon → Install Add-on From File
  4. Select the downloaded file and restart Zotero
  5. Click the Seerai icon in the toolbar to open the sidebar

Configuring AI Providers

Set up OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or local Ollama models

3 min
  1. Open Zotero Preferences → Seerai
  2. Click "Add Model" under AI Model Configurations
  3. Choose a preset (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, etc.) or Custom
  4. Enter your API key and select your preferred model
  5. Set it as default to use in chat

Chatting with Your Papers

Ask questions about papers with full context awareness

4 min
  1. Select one or more papers in your Zotero library
  2. Open the Seerai sidebar and go to the Chat tab
  3. Click "Add to Context" to include selected papers
  4. Type your question and press Shift+Enter to send
  5. Seerai will analyze paper content and respond with citations

Extracting Data to Tables

Create structured comparisons across multiple papers

6 min
  1. Select multiple papers and open the Table tab
  2. Click the + icon in the side strip to add a column
  3. Enter a column title (e.g., "Sample Size", "Methodology")
  4. Add an AI prompt describing what to extract
  5. Click "Generate All" to fill the entire column at once

Finding Papers with Semantic Scholar

Discover related research with AI-powered search

4 min
  1. Go to the Search tab in the Seerai sidebar
  2. Enter your search query (keywords, paper title, or DOI)
  3. Use filters to refine by year, venue, or citations
  4. Click a result to preview and import to your library
  5. PDFs are automatically discovered and attached when available

Setting Up OCR for Scanned PDFs

Extract text from scanned documents with Mistral or DataLab

5 min
  1. Open Zotero Preferences → Seerai → OCR Configurations
  2. Choose your OCR service: Mistral (recommended), DataLab, or Local
  3. Enter your API key for cloud services
  4. Seerai will automatically process scanned PDFs when needed
  5. Extracted text is saved to notes for future reference

Using Agentic Chat Mode

Let AI autonomously interact with your library

5 min
  1. Enable Agentic mode in the chat settings
  2. AI can now use tools: search library, manage collections, read PDFs
  3. Try: "Find all papers about machine learning from 2024"
  4. Or: "Create a table comparing methodologies in my selected papers"
  5. Approve tool calls when prompted for full control

Need more help? Contact us or open an issue on GitHub