Command-line interface for Overleaf — Sync, manage, and compile LaTeX projects from your terminal.
Work with Overleaf projects directly from your command line. Edit locally with your favorite editor, version control with Git, and sync seamlessly with Overleaf's cloud compilation.
- 📋 List all your Overleaf projects
- ✨ Create blank or example projects
- ⬇️ Pull project files to local directory for offline editing
- ⬆️ Push local changes back to Overleaf
- 🔄 Sync bidirectionally with smart conflict detection
- 🔍 Diff local files against the live remote before pushing
- 📝 Marked-up revisions —
diff --latexdiffproduces the struck-through/underlined PDF advisors and journals ask for - 🔀 Git remote — use Overleaf as a native git remote (docs)
- ✌️ Two-way deletions — files removed locally are deleted on Overleaf on next sync
- 🗑️ Delete and ✏️ rename remote files by path
- 🚫 Smart ignore — LaTeX build artifacts and OS noise filtered automatically; extend with
.olignore - 📄 Compile PDFs using Overleaf's remote compiler
- 📦 Download individual files or full project archives
- 📤 Upload files to projects
- 💬 Review comments — list, add, resolve, reopen, delete, and reply to threads
- 🗂️ Preserve folder structure when pushing nested files
- ⏱️ Configurable timeout for slow connections
- 🔑 Password login for self-hosted instances (no browser required)
- ⚙️ Self-hosted Overleaf/ShareLaTeX support
- 📊 Output compile artifacts (
.bbl,.log,.auxfor arXiv submissions) - 🤖 MCP server for AI assistants (docs)
Perfect for:
- Editing LaTeX in your preferred text editor (Vim, VS Code, Emacs, etc.)
- Version control with Git while using Overleaf's compiler
- Automating workflows and CI/CD pipelines
- Offline work with periodic sync
brew tap aloth/tap
brew install olclinpm install -g @aloth/olcliOr use with npx without installation:
npx @aloth/olcli listnpx skills add aloth/olcliSession cookie (overleaf.com and self-hosted):
olcli auth --cookie "your_session_cookie_value"Email/password (self-hosted without reCAPTCHA):
olcli auth --email "you@example.com"
# prompts for the password, so it stays out of your shell historyThe password is not stored unless you pass --save-password. A session
cookie is saved either way and is what later commands use; the password only
buys an automatic re-login once that cookie expires. For scripts, set
OVERLEAF_EMAIL and OVERLEAF_PASSWORD — every command reads them, so a
scripted run never needs olcli auth at all.
olcli listolcli pull "My Thesis"
cd My_Thesis/
vim main.tex
olcli pusholcli pdf
# Compile a specific .tex file (for multi-doc projects):
olcli pdf -r appendix.texgit clone overleaf::https://www.overleaf.com/project/<id>
cd <project>
# edit, commit, push — standard git workflow
git pushSee Git Remote Helper docs for details.
All commands auto-detect the project when run from a synced directory (contains .olcli.json).
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
olcli auth |
Set session cookie or login with email/password |
olcli whoami |
Check authentication status |
olcli logout |
Clear the global config and the local .olauth, reporting each |
olcli list |
List all projects |
olcli info [project] |
Show project details and file list |
olcli pull [project] [dir] |
Download project files to local directory |
olcli push [dir] |
Upload local changes to Overleaf (--delete also removes files deleted locally) |
olcli sync [dir] |
Bidirectional sync (pull + push) |
olcli diff [project] [dir] |
Show content-level changes between local files and the remote |
olcli upload <file> [project] |
Upload a single file (--to <path> sets the remote destination) |
olcli download <file> [project] |
Download a single file |
olcli delete <file> [project] |
Delete a remote file or folder (alias: rm) |
olcli rename <old> <new> [project] |
Rename a remote file or folder (alias: mv) |
olcli project create <name> |
Create a blank or example project (--template blank|example) |
olcli project rename <new> [project] |
Rename the project itself (--dry-run) |
olcli project rename-bulk |
Rename many projects by pattern (dry-run unless --apply) |
olcli compile [project] |
Trigger PDF compilation |
olcli pdf [project] |
Compile and download PDF |
olcli output [type] |
Download compile output files |
olcli zip [project] |
Download project as zip archive |
olcli comments list [project] |
List comments (--status, --context) |
olcli comments add <file> <msg> |
Add a comment to selected text |
olcli comments reply <id> <body> |
Reply to a comment thread |
olcli comments resolve <id> |
Resolve a comment thread |
olcli comments reopen <id> |
Reopen a resolved thread |
olcli comments delete <id> |
Delete a comment thread |
olcli ignored [dir] |
List ignore patterns in effect |
olcli config set-url <url> |
Set self-hosted base URL |
olcli config get-url |
Show the configured base URL |
olcli config set-cookie-name <name> |
Set session cookie name |
olcli config get-cookie-name |
Show the configured session cookie name |
olcli config set-timeout <ms> |
Set default HTTP timeout |
olcli config get-timeout |
Show the configured HTTP timeout |
olcli check |
Show config paths and credential sources |
The compile-related commands (compile, pdf, output) accept:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
-r, --resource <path> |
Compile a specific .tex file as the root document (e.g. appendix.tex, folder/test.tex) |
Useful in multi-doc projects: each -r run compiles the file as if it were the main document.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--verbose |
Print HTTP requests and responses to stderr |
--base-url <url> |
Override Overleaf instance URL |
--cookie-name <name> |
Override session cookie name |
--timeout <ms> |
Override HTTP timeout (default: 10000) |
- Downloads all files from Overleaf
- Skips local files modified after last pull (won't overwrite your changes)
- Use
--forceto overwrite local changes
- Uploads files modified after last pull
- Preserves nested folder structure
- Filters out LaTeX build artifacts and OS noise
- Use
--allto upload all files,--dry-runto preview
- Pulls remote changes, then pushes local changes
- Local modifications win if newer
- Propagates local deletions — use
--no-deleteto opt out - Use
--dry-runto preview without applying
olcli diff compares the bytes of your local files against the project's
current contents and prints a unified diff.
olcli diff # every changed file, as patches
olcli diff --name-only # just the changed paths
olcli diff --file main.tex # one file
olcli diff -U 8 # wider context
olcli diff --exit-code # exit 1 if anything differs, for CIThe remote side is fetched fresh on every run. The diff describes the
project as it is at that moment — which is what a subsequent push would
overwrite — not a comparison against your last pull. .olcli.json records
remote paths, never remote contents, so there is no stored snapshot to
compare against; and the whole project arrives in a single request, the same
one pull makes, so fetching fresh costs one round trip rather than one per
file. A collaborator editing between diff and push can still change the
outcome, which is why the fetch time is printed.
In the output, a/ is the remote and b/ is local: a + line is content
push would upload, a - line is content it would overwrite. Files that
differ only in bytes that are not text (PDFs, images) are reported as
Binary files ... differ. Both sides pass through the same ignore layers, so
build artifacts sitting on Overleaf are not reported as locally deleted.
diff --name-only and push --dry-run answer different questions and will
disagree. push --dry-run lists files whose modification time is newer
than the last pull, because that is what push uploads; diff lists files
whose contents actually differ. A file you touched without editing appears
in the first and not the second.
A unified diff is the right artifact for a developer and the wrong one for a
thesis advisor. --latexdiff marks the same revision up inside the document
instead — deletions struck through, additions underlined — which is what
advisors and journals ask for.
olcli diff --latexdiff # write .olcli-diff/main-diff.tex
olcli diff --latexdiff --pdf # ...and compile it, download .olcli-diff/main-diff.pdfRequires latexdiff on your PATH. It ships with TeX Live and MacTeX; nothing
else in olcli diff needs an external tool.
--pdf compiles on Overleaf, so you do not need a local TeX installation.
The compile endpoint can only build a file that is in the project, so the
marked-up document is uploaded as olcli-latexdiff.tex next to your root
document, compiled, downloaded, and then removed. The command says so before it
does it, refuses to overwrite a file of that name if one already exists, and
prints the exact olcli rm command if the cleanup itself fails.
\input and \include are inlined before comparing (--no-flatten to opt
out). Without that, a remote compile would resolve those against the files
sitting in the project — the old content — and quietly produce a PDF showing
every input file as unchanged.
Output goes to .olcli-diff/, which is dotted so that push and sync never
pick it up; -o <path> puts it elsewhere. The root document is the .tex file
declaring \documentclass; if several do, --main <path> picks one rather
than the command guessing. --latexdiff-opt passes anything else straight
through, e.g. --latexdiff-opt --math-markup=0.
One limit worth knowing: --pdf compiles against the project, not against your
working directory, so anything the markup needs must already be on Overleaf. A
.sty or .cls you added locally fails the compile — the compiler log is
written next to the marked-up source when that happens. A figure you added
locally does not fail it; Overleaf draws a placeholder box naming the missing
file and the rest of the PDF is fine.
--exit-code turns the command into a check, with the statuses diff(1) uses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
0 |
Nothing differs |
1 |
Something differs |
2 |
The run failed — bad flags, no session, project unreachable |
- name: Fail if the paper on Overleaf has drifted from the repo
run: olcli diff --exit-code --name-only
env:
OVERLEAF_SESSION: ${{ secrets.OVERLEAF_SESSION }}The 1 versus 2 split is the point of the flag. Without it a pipeline
cannot tell a changed file from an expired session cookie, and a job that goes
red for the second reason sends whoever reads the log hunting for a diff that
was never computed. Every other olcli command reports failure as 1, and
olcli diff still does when --exit-code is absent, so adding the flag does
not change what existing scripts see.
The gate covers whatever was compared: --file main.tex narrows it to one
file, the way a git diff --exit-code pathspec does, and a --file that
matches nothing is 0 rather than an error. Under --latexdiff it still
reports on the project as a whole — a changed figure is a real difference even
though a marked-up root document cannot show it.
Note that this compares against Overleaf now, not against your last pull, so the check is "has anyone drifted from what is committed here", which is what makes it worth running on a schedule as well as on a push.
olcli records a manifest of remote files in .olcli.json. On next sync:
- File missing locally + still on remote → deleted on Overleaf
- File new locally → uploaded
- File modified locally → uploaded (local wins)
- File only on remote → downloaded
First-time syncs skip the deletion phase (no prior manifest to compare).
| Layer | Source | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Built-in | LaTeX intermediates, OS noise, build dirs. Always on. |
| 2 | .olignore |
Project-level patterns (gitignore syntax). |
| 3 | .olignore.local |
Machine-specific patterns. |
Later layers override earlier ones. Negation (!important.aux) is supported.
X.pdf is ignored only if X.tex (or .ltx) exists in the same folder.
olcli ignored # list patterns in effect
olcli push --show-ignored # see what was skipped
olcli sync --no-default-ignore # only .olignore applies
olcli sync --no-ignore # upload everythingCredentials are checked in order:
OVERLEAF_SESSIONenvironment variable.olauthfile in current directory- Global config — run
olcli checkto see the exact path
The global config path is platform-dependent (conf resolves it), so it is not
hardcoded here: on macOS it lands under ~/Library/Preferences/, on Linux under
~/.config/. olcli auth prints the path it wrote to.
olcli auth --save-local writes .olauth into the current directory,
which is usually your LaTeX project. Add it to that project's .gitignore
before committing.
Everything is stored in plaintext, so it is worth knowing what is on disk:
| Credential | Stored by default | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Session cookie | yes | global config, or .olauth with --save-local |
| Email + password | no — only with --save-password |
global config |
olcli check reports what exists without printing any secret.
olcli logout clears the global config and the .olauth file in the
current directory, then lists what it removed. It cannot unset environment
variables, so if OVERLEAF_SESSION or OVERLEAF_EMAIL/OVERLEAF_PASSWORD are
set, it says so instead of implying you are logged out — those take precedence
over anything on disk.
olcli config set-url https://latex.example.org
olcli config set-cookie-name overleaf.sidOr pass per-command: olcli --base-url https://latex.example.org list
olcli config set-timeout 60000 # persist
olcli --timeout 60000 pull "Big Thesis" # one-off
export OVERLEAF_TIMEOUT=60000 # env varPrecedence: --timeout > OVERLEAF_TIMEOUT > config > default (10000ms).
# Daily thesis workflow
olcli pull "PhD Thesis" thesis && cd thesis
vim chapters/methods.tex
olcli sync && olcli pdf -o draft.pdf
# Quick PDF download
olcli pdf "Conference Paper" -o paper.pdf
# Compile a specific root document
olcli pdf "Conference Paper" -r appendix.tex -o appendix.pdf
olcli compile "Conference Paper" -r folder/test.tex
# Upload figures
olcli upload figures/diagram.png # relative path is preserved
olcli upload /tmp/build/diagram.png # absolute path lands in the project root
olcli upload /tmp/build/diagram.png --to figures/diagram.png # explicit destination
# arXiv submission prep
olcli output bbl -o main.bbl
olcli output bbl -r folder/test.tex -o main.bbl # compile artifacts from a specific root doc
olcli zip -o arxiv-submission.zip
# Backup all projects
for proj in $(olcli list --json | jq -r '.[].name'); do
olcli zip "$proj" -o "backups/${proj}.zip"
done@aloth/olcli exposes OverleafClient and all public interfaces as a library.
npm install @aloth/olcliimport { OverleafClient } from '@aloth/olcli';
const client = await OverleafClient.fromSessionCookie(cookie);
const created = await client.createProject('My Paper');
const projects = await client.listProjects();
const info = await client.getProjectInfo(projectId);
const zipBuf = await client.downloadProject(projectId);
const pdfBuf = await client.downloadPdf(projectId);
await client.uploadFile(projectId, null, 'main.tex', readFileSync('main.tex'));
const comments = await client.listComments(projectId, { status: 'open' });import {
OverleafClient,
// Types
Project, ProjectInfo, ProjectTemplate, CreateProjectOptions, CreatedProject,
FolderEntry, DocEntry, FileEntry,
CommentMessage, ProjectComment, CommentContext, CommentStatus,
ListCommentsOptions, AddCommentOptions, Credentials, SessionCookiePair,
// Config utilities
getBaseUrl, setBaseUrl, getSessionCookie, setSessionCookie,
getSessionCookieName, setSessionCookieName, getCsrf, setCsrf,
getLastProject, setLastProject, clearConfig, getConfigPath, saveOlAuth,
getTimeout, setTimeout, getPasswordCredentials, setPasswordCredentials,
clearPasswordCredentials, type PasswordCredentials,
// Ignore utilities
DEFAULT_IGNORE_PATTERNS, loadIgnore, shouldIgnore, buildTexSiblingSet,
IgnoreContext, LoadIgnoreOptions,
} from '@aloth/olcli';- MCP Server — AI assistant integration (Claude, Cursor, Windsurf)
- Git Remote Helper — use Overleaf as a native git remote
Session expired — Get a fresh cookie from the browser and run olcli auth again.
Compilation fails — Check the Overleaf web editor for detailed error logs (missing packages, syntax errors, missing bibliography files).
Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for local setup, which tests need a real Overleaf account, and what to expect from CI on a pull request.
docs/ARCHITECTURE.md explains how the client works — there is no public Overleaf API, so it authenticates as a browser session.
MIT © Alexander Loth