Export a note with citations
Export an active Markdown note with citations and a bibliography to DOCX or HTML.
Export the active Markdown note as a Word document or web page with formatted citations and a bibliography.
For a guided comparison with native Pandoc, follow Build a Pandoc citation workflow.
Before you start
You need:
- Obsidian Desktop with a Markdown note open.
- The Pandoc engine installed under Settings > ZotLit > Citations > Formatting.
- Zotero running so ZotLit can collect bibliography data.
ZotLit uses Better BibTeX when it is available. Otherwise, it uses the Zotero local API.
Export the note
Select the output
Review these fields:
- Format starts with Word document. Select Web page for HTML output.
- Citation style starts with the style the note uses in Obsidian. The line under the picker names where that style comes from:
- This note sets this style. The note has its own
zotlit-cslproperty. - The Research profile sets this style. The note is an Imported Note, and its profile selects the style.
- Your vault settings set this style. The note uses your Citation and references style.
- This note sets this style. The note has its own
- Save to starts with the source note's path and filename stem.
Change the format, style, or destination as needed. When you pick another style, the line reads Only this export uses this style. The note keeps APA Style 7th edition. The dialog does not change the note.
Run the export
Select Export. ZotLit resolves the citations, retrieves bibliography data, and converts the complete note.
The destination contains a .docx Word document or an .html web page. The output includes formatted citations and a bibliography. The notice names the file and the style, for example Exported Draft.docx with APA Style 7th edition citations.
Export leaves the source note unchanged. The bibliography is generated in the exported document; your Markdown keeps the citations it was generated from. To place a bibliography elsewhere, copy it from the References Sidebar.
Which citations are exported
Built-in export uses its own citation membership. The following settings do not change export content:
- Pandoc citations
- Wikilink citations
- Show formatted citations
- Open citations as links
All wikilinks to Literature Notes are export members. A valid Citation Fragment such as #cite:locator=33 adds its citation details.
Literal Pandoc citations are export members in every form Pandoc reads: [@doe2024], [@doe2024, p. 12], [-@doe2024], and the in-text @doe2024. A work cited both by a wikilink and by a literal key takes one bibliography entry.
Each citation key must name one Zotero item in the Library scope. A key that matches no item, or several, stops the export and names the keys. See Fix an export error.
A nocite property in the note's frontmatter adds its item to the bibliography without citing it in the text.
Pandoc reads the note, so text it treats as ordinary (a key inside code or behind a \ escape) is no citation of the export.
Export is all-or-nothing. ZotLit writes the destination only after citation resolution, bibliography retrieval, and Pandoc conversion all succeed.
Fix an export error
| Symptom | Recovery |
|---|---|
| ZotLit asks you to install the Pandoc engine | Open Settings > ZotLit > Citations > Formatting, then install the engine. |
A #cite: fragment is malformed, points to a note that is not a Literature Note, or has an unresolved target | Correct the fragment or link target. |
| ZotLit cannot read the Zotero database | Check the Zotero settings, then run the export again. |
| Zotero holds no item for a Literature Note | Restore the missing item or update the Literature Note's zotero-key. |
| Better BibTeX holds no citation key for a Literature Note | Assign a citation key in Better BibTeX, then run the export again. |
| No Zotero item matches a literal citation key | Check the spelling of the key, or widen the Library scope. |
| A literal citation key matches multiple Zotero items | Change one of the keys in Zotero, or narrow the Library scope. |
| ZotLit asks you to start Zotero | Start Zotero and keep it running during export. |
| The Zotero local API is disabled | In Zotero, open Settings > Advanced and enable Allow other applications on this computer to communicate with Zotero. |
| Better BibTeX or the Zotero local API refuses the request | Check the named source in the error, then retry after it responds normally. |
| Zotero cannot supply the chosen style | Install the style in Zotero, or choose another style in the dialog. ZotLit does not export with a different style. |
| Pandoc stops the conversion | Correct the source or style problem named in the error, then run the export again. |
| ZotLit cannot write the exported document | Select a writable destination and run the export again. |
Each failure stops the complete export. ZotLit does not write a document with a partial bibliography.
For conversion with a user-installed Pandoc CLI, see Native Pandoc workflow. That workflow uses the Pandoc integration pair instead of this command.
See also
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