k-dense-byok vs llm-for-zotero
llm-for-zotero is much bigger: 2.9k stars against 1.1k. Over the days we have tracked them k-dense-byok moved +23.5% and llm-for-zotero +56.2%, so llm-for-zotero is growing faster right now.
Neither one leads on the six capability axes, so the choice comes down to which of them fits the way you already work.
Stars and commit dates come from our own daily tracking. The six axes are read off each project's documentation by our review pipeline, so they describe what a project says about itself, not what we measured in its code.
Where they stand today
A local-first, bring-your-own-keys AI research assistant that runs on your computer and bundles domain-specific scientific skills, workflows, and a living lab notebook.
- Stars
- 1.1k
- Tracked growth
- +23.5%
- Maturity
- ●●●●●
- Last commit
- 13h ago
- Language
- TypeScript
- License
- MIT
- Cost to run
- Your API key (pay-per-use) or free local models
Deep Zotero-native integration that provides grounded, citation-linked paper chat and library-wide agent actions (reads, writes, tagging, notes) not offered by generic agents.
- Stars
- 2.9k
- Tracked growth
- +56.2%
- Maturity
- ●●●●●
- Last commit
- 1d ago
- Language
- TypeScript
- License
- AGPL-3.0
- Cost to run
- Your API key or local models
Six axes, head to head
Each axis runs 0 to 5. The label under a score is what that project's own docs claim, not a category average.
| Axis | k-dense-byok | llm-for-zotero |
|---|---|---|
Context depth How much of your codebase it sees before it answers: the open diff, the diff plus related files, or the whole repository. | ●●●●● Whole-project access | ●●●●● Whole-library access |
Noise control How it keeps output volume down — severity thresholds, deduplication, incremental runs over new commits only. | ●●●●● Clarifying prompts & review | ●●●●● Citation gating & confirmations |
Customization How far it bends to your team: custom rules, prompts, style guides, per-path config. | ●●●●● Configurable skills & presets | ●●●●● Custom skills & settings |
Privacy Whether your code stays on your own infrastructure: fully local, self-hostable, or cloud API only. | ●●●●● Fully local optional | ●●●●● Local model support |
Model freedom Whether you can point it at any provider, or it is wired to one. | ●●●●● BYOK + local models | ●●●●● Bring-your-own model/key |
Setup ease What it takes to get a first useful run out of it. | ●●●●● Quick local start | ●●●●● Easy install + API key |
Which one to pick
Pick k-dense-byok if…
Privacy-first — run a full scientific assistant locally or use your own OpenRouter key while keeping projects and data on your machine, with many prebuilt scientific skills and workflows.
Pick llm-for-zotero if…
Zotero-native — pick this when you want a research assistant tightly integrated with your local Zotero library for grounded citations, file-based notes, and library-wide agent workflows.
What people want from each one
K-Dense-AI/k-dense-byok
yilewang/llm-for-zotero
Questions people ask
Is k-dense-byok better than llm-for-zotero?
Neither one leads on the six capability axes, so the choice comes down to which of them fits the way you already work. k-dense-byok is worth picking when privacy-first — run a full scientific assistant locally or use your own OpenRouter key while keeping projects and data on your machine, with many prebuilt scientific skills and workflows.
Which of k-dense-byok and llm-for-zotero keeps my code private?
k-dense-byok: Fully local optional (5/5). llm-for-zotero: Local model support (5/5).
What does each one cost to run?
k-dense-byok: Your API key (pay-per-use) or free local models. llm-for-zotero: Your API key or local models.
Full profiles: K-Dense-AI/k-dense-byok and yilewang/llm-for-zotero. Everything else in Research agents.