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

# 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)

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:

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

3. Get Git Token:

   • Click Menu (top-left)
   • Click Git under "Sync"
   • Click Generate token (if not already generated)
   • Copy the URL: https://git:YOUR_TOKEN@git.overleaf.com/...
   • Extract the token (the part between git: and @)

Step 2: Create Configuration File

Create overleaf_config.json in the project directory:

{
  "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:

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:

{
  "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):

{
  "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):

{
  "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):

{
  "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

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

Editing Content

"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

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

Project Management

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

Section-Based Operations

"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

┌─────────────────┐     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.

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Acknowledgments

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