Overleaf MCP

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that lets AI assistants like Claude read, edit, and compile your Overleaf projects.

MCP spec compatibility: This server is built on FastMCP 3.x, which targets the classic handshake-based MCP spec (2025-11-25 and earlier) — it does not yet implement the stateless 2026-07-28 spec ("MCP 2.0"). Current clients (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, etc.) still support handshake-era servers, so it works fine today. It will move to the stateless spec once FastMCP 4 is released.

Works with free Overleaf accounts — no premium Git integration required. It authenticates with your browser session cookie and talks to Overleaf's web API via pyoverleaf.

Tools

Tool	Description
list_projects	List all projects on your Overleaf account
list_files	List files in a project (supports glob filters like *.tex)
read_file	Read any file from a project
write_file	Create or overwrite a file (preserves Overleaf history; creates folders as needed)
compile_project	Compile on Overleaf's servers; returns the log tail on failure
get_compile_log	Fetch the full LaTeX log from the latest compile
download_pdf	Download the compiled PDF to a local path

Projects can be referenced by id, exact name, or a unique name substring — e.g. read_file("thesis", "main.tex").

Setup

1. Clone and install

git clone https://github.com/SudheerNaraharisetty/overleaf-mcp.git
cd overleaf-mcp
python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Get your Overleaf session cookie

1. Log in at www.overleaf.com
2. Open browser DevTools (F12) → Application (Chrome) or Storage (Firefox) → Cookies → https://www.overleaf.com
3. Copy the value of the overleaf_session2 cookie

3. Configure the cookie

Create a .env file next to server.py:

echo 'OVERLEAF_SESSION_COOKIE=<paste cookie value here>' > .env

Note: The cookie expires when your Overleaf session does. If the server starts returning auth errors, grab a fresh cookie and update .env.

4. Add to your MCP client

Claude Code:

claude mcp add overleaf -- /path/to/overleaf-mcp/.venv/bin/python /path/to/overleaf-mcp/server.py

Claude Desktop — add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "overleaf": {
      "command": "/path/to/overleaf-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/overleaf-mcp/server.py"]
    }
  }
}

(Any other MCP client works the same way — run server.py with the venv's Python over stdio.)

5. Try it

Ask your assistant something like:

"List my Overleaf projects" "Fix the compile errors in my thesis project" "Update the abstract in main.tex and recompile"

How it works

• Authenticates with the overleaf_session2 cookie (same session your browser uses)
• Reads/writes files through Overleaf's project API — edits show up live in the web editor and in project history
• Compiles run on Overleaf's servers, so you get the exact same output as clicking "Recompile"

Security notes

• Your session cookie grants full access to your Overleaf account — keep .env private (it's gitignored)
• The server runs locally over stdio; nothing is exposed to the network

License

MIT