Overleaf-Sync

Easy Overleaf Two-Way Synchronization

This tool provides an easy way to synchronize Overleaf projects from and to your local computer. No paid account necessary.

Features

• Sync your locally modified .tex (and other) files to your Overleaf projects
• Sync your remotely modified .tex (and other) files to computer
• Works with free Overleaf account
• No Git or Dropbox required
• Does not steal or store your login credentials (works with a persisted cookie, logging in is done on the original Overleaf website)

How To Use

Install

The package is available via PyPI and needs Python 3.11 or newer. Install it including the login window (gui extra):

moritz@github:~/test$ pip3 install "overleaf-sync[gui]"

Depending on your local Python installation, you might need to use pip instead of pip3. pipx works too: pipx install "overleaf-sync[gui]".

2.0 pre-release: Overleaf changed its website in a way that broke version 1.2.0. The fixes are available as a pre-release: pip3 install --pre "overleaf-sync[gui]". Please report any problems in the issues.

Prerequisites

• Create your project on Overleaf, for example a project named test. Overleaf-sync is not able to create projects (yet).
• Create a folder, preferably with the same name as the project (test) on your computer.
• Execute the script from that folder (test).
• If you do not specify the project name, overleaf-sync uses the current folder's name as the project name.

Usage

Login

moritz@github:~/test$ ols login [--path]
Login successful. Cookie persisted as `.olauth`. You may now sync your project.

Logging in will be handled by a mini web browser opening on your device (using Qt via PySide6, from the gui extra). You can then enter your username and password securely on the official Overleaf website. You might get asked to solve a CAPTCHA in the process. Your credentials are sent to Overleaf over HTTPS.

It then stores your cookie (not your login credentials) in a hidden file called .olauth in the same folder you run the command from. It is possible to store the cookie elsewhere using the --path option. The cookie file will not be synced to or from Overleaf.

Keep the .olauth file save, as it can be used to log in into your account.

Login without the login window

On a server without a display, or if the login window doesn't work for your account (e.g. single sign-on via ORCID or your institution), log in with a session cookie instead:

1. Log in to Overleaf in your normal browser.
2. Open the developer tools → Application (Firefox: Storage) → Cookies → https://www.overleaf.com and copy the value of overleaf_session2.
3. Run ols login --cookie and paste the value at the (hidden) prompt, or provide it via the OLSYNC_COOKIE environment variable.

This works without installing the gui extra.

Listing all projects

moritz@github:~/test$ ols list [--store-path -v/--verbose]
10/31/2021, 01:23:45 - Project A
09/21/2020, 01:23:45 - Project B
08/11/2019, 01:23:45 - Project C
07/01/2018, 01:23:45 - Project D

Use ols list to conveniently list all projects in your account available for syncing.

Downloading project's PDF

moritz@github:~/test$ ols download [--name --download-path --store-path -v/--verbose]

Use ols download to compile and download your project's PDF. Specify a download path if you do not want to store the PDF file in the current folder. Currently only downloads the first PDF file it finds.

Syncing

moritz@github:~/test$ ols [-l/--local-only -r/--remote-only --store-path -p/--path -i/--olignore]

Just calling ols will two-way sync your project. When there are changes both locally, and remotely you will be asked which file to keep. Using the -l or -r option you can specify to either sync local project files to Overleaf only or Overleaf files to local ones only respectively. When using these options you can also sync deleted files. If a file has been deleted it can either be deleted on the target (remote when -l, local when -r) as well, restored on the source (local when -l, remote when -r) or ignored.

The option --store-path specifies the path of the cookie file created by the login command. If you did not change its path, you do not need to specify this argument. The -p/--path option allows you to specify a different sync folder than the one you're calling ols from. The -i/--olignore option allows you to specify the path of an .olignore file. It uses fnmatch internally, so it may have some similarity to .gitignore but doesn't work exactly the same. For example, if you wish to exclude a specific folder named out, you need to specify it as out/*. See here for more information.

Sample Output:

Project queried successfully.
✅  Querying project
Project downloaded successfully.
✅  Downloading project

Syncing files from remote to local
====================

[SYNCING] report.tex
report.tex does not exist on local. Creating file.

[SYNCING] other-report.tex
other-report.tex does not exist on local. Creating file.


✅  Syncing files from remote to local

Known Bugs

• When modifying a file on Overleaf and immediately syncing afterwards, the tool might not detect the changes. Please allow 1-2 minutes after modifying a file on Overleaf before syncing it to your local computer.

Contributing

All pull requests and change/feature requests are welcome.

Disclaimer

THE AUTHOR OF THIS SOFTWARE AND THIS SOFTWARE IS NOT ENDORSED BY, DIRECTLY AFFILIATED WITH, MAINTAINED, AUTHORIZED, OR SPONSORED BY OVERLEAF OR WRITELATEX LIMITED. ALL PRODUCT AND COMPANY NAMES ARE THE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF THEIR ORIGINAL OWNERS. THE USE OF ANY TRADE NAME OR TRADEMARK IS FOR IDENTIFICATION AND REFERENCE PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT IMPLY ANY ASSOCIATION WITH THE TRADEMARK HOLDER OF THEIR PRODUCT BRAND.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

THIS SOFTWARE WAS DESIGNED TO BE USED ONLY FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES. THIS SOFTWARE COMES WITH NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER. USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK! IF THESE TERMS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE, YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO USE THE CODE.