This tool provides an easy way to synchronize Overleaf projects from and to your local computer. No paid account necessary.
- 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)
The package is available via PyPI. Just run:
moritz@github:~/test$ pip3 install overleaf-sync
That's it! Depending on your local Python installation, you might need to use pip instead of pip3.
- 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.
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 Qt5). 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.
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.
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.
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
- 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.
All pull requests and change/feature requests are welcome.
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.
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