Full-featured free trial — 7 days
· Requires macOS 14.0 or later
Why it's different
Other tools keep the agent outside. Scholardo seats it alongside you.
Zotero, Mendeley, and EndNote predate agents. They store references, but they can't see what you're reading right now — or share that context so your agent can search, annotate, compare, and draft. Scholardo is built differently: your agent lives in the same workspace, reads the same library, and acts through 40+ tools. You stay in the loop.
No. Everything stays in ~/.scholardo/ on your machine. The only network call is a license activation check — no telemetry, no usage data, no cloud sync.
Do I need an AI API key to use it?
No. Core features — search, annotations, citations, browser capture — work locally without any key. A key is only needed for AI-powered features like selection rewriting or feed digests.
How is this different from Zotero?
Zotero is built for one researcher. Scholardo is built for two: you and your agent share the same library, the same annotations, and live reading context — natively, not through a plugin.
Does it work without internet?
Almost entirely. Local search, annotations, citations, and terminal sessions all work offline. Exceptions: fetching web content, embedding API calls if configured, and the annual license refresh.
What's the license model?
One-time purchase, single-user license. Download the app and unlock it with a license key. No subscription, no App Store.
Which agents and terminals are supported?
Any MCP-compatible agent — Claude Code, Codex CLI, and others. The built-in terminal runs Ghostty; any agent you can invoke from a shell session works.
