olcli — Overleaf CLI

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.

Features

• 📋 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 --latexdiff produces 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, .aux for 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

Installation

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

brew tap aloth/tap
brew install olcli

npm (all platforms)

npm install -g @aloth/olcli

Or use with npx without installation:

npx @aloth/olcli list

For AI agents (via AgentSkills)

npx skills add aloth/olcli

Quick Start

1. Authenticate

Session 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 history

The 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.

2. List Projects

olcli list

3. Pull, Edit, Push

olcli pull "My Thesis"
cd My_Thesis/
vim main.tex
olcli push

4. Compile PDF

olcli pdf
# Compile a specific .tex file (for multi-doc projects):
olcli pdf -r appendix.tex

5. Or use native git commands

git clone overleaf::https://www.overleaf.com/project/<id>
cd 
# edit, commit, push — standard git workflow
git push

See Git Remote Helper docs for details.

Commands