overleaf_MCP

Overleaf MCP server

16 stars PythonOthers Updated Aug 2, 2026

Documentation

Overleaf MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides full CRUD operations for Overleaf LaTeX projects. Enables AI assistants to read, edit, create, and delete files in your Overleaf projects.

Features

14 Tools for Complete Project Management

Category	Tool	Description
Create	`create_project`	Create new Overleaf projects from LaTeX content or ZIP files
`create_file`	Add new files to existing projects
Read	`list_projects`	View all configured projects
`list_files`	List files with optional extension filter
`read_file`	Read file contents
`get_sections`	Parse LaTeX structure (chapters, sections, subsections)
`get_section_content`	Get full content of a specific section
`list_history`	View git commit history
`get_diff`	Compare changes between versions
Update	`edit_file`	Surgical edit - replace specific text (old_string → new_string)
`rewrite_file`	Replace entire file contents
`update_section`	Update a specific LaTeX section by title
`sync_project`	Pull latest changes from Overleaf
Delete	`delete_file`	Remove files from projects

Key Capabilities

Git Integration: Uses Overleaf's Git integration for reliable sync
Multi-Project Support: Configure and switch between multiple projects
LaTeX-Aware: Understands document structure for section-based operations
Auto-Push: All write operations commit and push to Overleaf immediately
Local Caching: Fast access with local repository cache

Installation

Prerequisites

Python 3.10+
Git
Overleaf account with Git integration (requires paid plan)

Install with pip

bash

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/overleaf-mcp.git
cd overleaf-mcp

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

# Install
pip install -e .

Install with uv (faster)

bash

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/overleaf-mcp.git
cd overleaf-mcp

uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -e .

Configuration

Step 1: Get Your Overleaf Credentials

1. Open your Overleaf project in the browser

2. Get Project ID from the URL:

code

https://www.overleaf.com/project/YOUR_PROJECT_ID
                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

3. Get Git Token:

Step 2: Create Configuration File

Create `overleaf_config.json` in the project directory:

json

{
  "projects": {
    "my-thesis": {
      "name": "My PhD Thesis",
      "projectId": "abc123def456",
      "gitToken": "olp_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
    },
    "paper": {
      "name": "Research Paper",
      "projectId": "xyz789ghi012",
      "gitToken": "olp_yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy"
    }
  },
  "defaultProject": "my-thesis"
}

Alternative: Environment Variables

For single-project setups:

bash

export OVERLEAF_PROJECT_ID="your_project_id"
export OVERLEAF_GIT_TOKEN="your_git_token"

Client Configuration

Claude Desktop

Config file location:

macOS: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
Windows: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
Linux: `~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`

Configuration:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "overleaf": {
      "command": "/path/to/overleaf-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "overleaf_mcp.server"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/overleaf-mcp",
      "env": {
        "OVERLEAF_CONFIG_FILE": "/path/to/overleaf-mcp/overleaf_config.json",
        "OVERLEAF_TEMP_DIR": "/path/to/overleaf-mcp/overleaf_cache"
      }
    }
  }
}

Example (macOS):

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "overleaf": {
      "command": "/Users/username/dev/overleaf-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "overleaf_mcp.server"],
      "cwd": "/Users/username/dev/overleaf-mcp",
      "env": {
        "OVERLEAF_CONFIG_FILE": "/Users/username/dev/overleaf-mcp/overleaf_config.json",
        "OVERLEAF_TEMP_DIR": "/Users/username/dev/overleaf-mcp/overleaf_cache"
      }
    }
  }
}

After saving, restart Claude Desktop (Cmd+Q / Ctrl+Q, then reopen).

Claude Code (CLI)

Add to your Claude Code MCP settings (`~/.claude/settings.json`):

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "overleaf": {
      "command": "/path/to/overleaf-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "overleaf_mcp.server"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/overleaf-mcp",
      "env": {
        "OVERLEAF_CONFIG_FILE": "/path/to/overleaf-mcp/overleaf_config.json",
        "OVERLEAF_TEMP_DIR": "/path/to/overleaf-mcp/overleaf_cache"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or add per-project in `.claude/settings.json` in your project directory.

VS Code (with Claude Extension)

Add to your VS Code settings (`settings.json`):

json

{
  "claude.mcpServers": {
    "overleaf": {
      "command": "/path/to/overleaf-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "overleaf_mcp.server"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/overleaf-mcp",
      "env": {
        "OVERLEAF_CONFIG_FILE": "/path/to/overleaf-mcp/overleaf_config.json",
        "OVERLEAF_TEMP_DIR": "/path/to/overleaf-mcp/overleaf_cache"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or add to workspace settings (`.vscode/settings.json`) for project-specific config.

Usage Examples

Once configured, you can ask the AI assistant:

Reading Files

code

"List all .tex files in my thesis"
"Read the content of main.tex"
"What sections are in chapter1.tex?"

Editing Content

code

"Edit main.tex and replace 'teh' with 'the'"
"Rewrite the abstract.tex file with this new content: ..."
"Update the 'Introduction' section with this new content: ..."

Creating Files

code

"Create a new file called appendix.tex with a section for supplementary materials"
"Add a new bibliography file references.bib"

Project Management

code

"Show me the last 10 commits"
"What changed since yesterday?"
"Sync the project to get latest changes"

Section-Based Operations

code

"Get the content of the 'Methods' section"
"Update the 'Results' section with these findings: ..."
"What subsections are in chapter 2?"

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
`OVERLEAF_CONFIG_FILE`	`overleaf_config.json`	Path to configuration file
`OVERLEAF_TEMP_DIR`	`./overleaf_cache`	Local cache directory for git repos
`OVERLEAF_PROJECT_ID`	-	Default project ID (single-project mode)
`OVERLEAF_GIT_TOKEN`	-	Default git token (single-project mode)
`OVERLEAF_GIT_AUTHOR_NAME`	`Overleaf MCP`	Git commit author name
`OVERLEAF_GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL`	`mcp@overleaf.local`	Git commit author email

How It Works

code

┌─────────────────┐     MCP Protocol     ┌─────────────────┐
│  AI Assistant   │◄───────────────────►│  Overleaf MCP   │
│ (Claude, etc.)  │                      │     Server      │
└─────────────────┘                      └────────┬────────┘
                                                  │
                                                  │ Git (HTTPS)
                                                  ▼
                                         ┌─────────────────┐
                                         │    Overleaf     │
                                         │   Git Server    │
                                         └─────────────────┘

1. Clone/Pull: Server clones or pulls the latest from Overleaf's Git endpoint

2. Local Operations: Read/write operations happen on local cache

3. Commit/Push: Changes are committed and pushed back to Overleaf

4. Real-time Sync: Overleaf reflects changes immediately in the web editor

Security Notes

Tokens are sensitive: Git tokens provide full read/write access
Never commit secrets: `overleaf_config.json` is gitignored by default
Use environment variables: For CI/CD or shared environments
Token rotation: Regenerate tokens periodically in Overleaf settings

Troubleshooting

"No projects configured"

Ensure `overleaf_config.json` exists and has valid JSON
Check `OVERLEAF_CONFIG_FILE` points to the correct path

"Permission denied" or "Read-only filesystem"

Set `OVERLEAF_TEMP_DIR` to an absolute writable path
Ensure the cache directory exists and is writable

"Authentication failed"

Verify your git token is correct
Check if the token has expired (regenerate in Overleaf)
Ensure you have Git integration enabled (requires paid Overleaf plan)

"Server not appearing in Claude"

Restart Claude Desktop completely (Cmd+Q / Ctrl+Q)
Check the config JSON is valid (no trailing commas)
Verify Python path is correct (use absolute path to venv)

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Acknowledgments

Overleaf for the Git integration
Model Context Protocol for the MCP specification
Anthropic for Claude and the MCP SDK

Frequently asked questions

What is overleaf_MCP?

overleaf_MCP is Overleaf MCP server

How do I install overleaf_MCP?

Open the GitHub repository and follow its README. Most MCP servers are added to your client's MCP config, then called by your agent.

Is overleaf_MCP open source?

Yes — it is hosted on GitHub at https://github.com/tamirSida/overleaf_MCP and has 16 stars.

Related MCP tools

cognee

Cognee is the open-source AI memory platform for agents. Give your AI agents persistent long-term memory across sessions with a self-hosted knowledge graph engine.

30,433 Python

agent-memoryagent-skillsai+16

skyvern

Automate browser based workflows with AI

22,930 Python

apiautomationbrowser+13

hindsight

Hindsight: Agent Memory That Learns

22,468 Python

agentic-aimemoryagents+1

watermarks-remover

A privacy-first app that strips AI watermarks from content you own.

20,504 Python

agent-skillaic2pa+12

Qwen-Agent

Agent framework and applications built upon Qwen>=3.0, featuring Function Calling, MCP, Code Interpreter, RAG, Chrome extension, etc.

17,062 Python

pal-mcp-server

The power of Claude Code / GeminiCLI / CodexCLI + [Gemini / OpenAI / OpenRouter / Azure / Grok / Ollama / Custom Model / All Of The Above] working as one.

11,731 Python

Run your own MCP server? See who uses it and what to fix.

Measure it with TrackMCP