Configuration

Configuration for zotmd sync and zotmd status.

The Python paper-discovery API does not read this file or use synchronization state.

Locations

Data	macOS default	Linux default
Configuration	`~/Library/Application Support/zotmd/config.toml`	`~/.config/zotmd/config.toml`
State	`~/Library/Application Support/zotmd/sync.sqlite`	`~/.local/share/zotmd/sync.sqlite`

Show effective paths:

zotmd status

Example

[zotero]
library_id = "1234567"
api_key = "read-only-key"

[sync]
output_dir = "~/Documents/references"
deletion_behavior = "move"

[advanced]
db_path = ""
template_path = ""

Unknown sections and keys are rejected.

Zotero

Setting	Required	Value
`zotero.library_id`	Yes	Numeric personal-library user ID
`zotero.api_key`	Unless `ZOTMD_API_KEY` is set	Personal-library read-only key

Group library IDs are not supported.

ZOTMD_API_KEY always takes precedence over the stored key.

Synchronization

Setting	Required	Value
`sync.output_dir`	Yes	Generated-note directory
`sync.deletion_behavior`	Yes	`move` or `delete`

Changing output_dir moves state-managed active and removed notes after collision and permission checks. Unmanaged files remain in place.

Removal choices:

move: place removed notes under output_dir/removed/
delete: permanently delete removed notes

Use move unless permanent deletion is required.

Advanced

Setting	Default	Value
`advanced.db_path`	Platform state path	SQLite state file
`advanced.template_path`	Built-in template	Custom Jinja2 body template

An empty string selects the default. Relative paths resolve from the directory containing config.toml.

See Generated notes and templates for frontmatter, Notes ownership, and custom-template fields.

File and credential safety

Atomic configuration replacement
File mode 0600
API keys excluded from object representations and logs
Local paper discovery never uses the Web API key

Keep config.toml out of version control and shared diagnostics.