Overleaf — Self-Hosted Collaborative LaTeX Editor

Introduction

Overleaf provides a full-featured web-based LaTeX editing environment with real-time collaboration, integrated compilation, and rich-text mode. Originally built as a commercial SaaS product, the Community Edition lets teams self-host the entire platform under the AGPL-3.0 license, giving institutions full control over their data and compilation pipeline.

What Overleaf Does

• Provides a browser-based LaTeX editor with syntax highlighting and autocompletion
• Compiles TeX documents server-side using a full TeX Live distribution
• Supports real-time multi-user editing with cursor tracking
• Tracks document history with version diffing and rollback
• Offers a rich-text mode for collaborators unfamiliar with LaTeX syntax

Architecture Overview

Overleaf is a Node.js monorepo backed by MongoDB for document storage and Redis for real-time session coordination. The compilation service wraps a sandboxed TeX Live installation. A reverse proxy (typically Nginx) handles TLS termination and WebSocket upgrades for the collaborative editing layer. The official Toolkit provides Docker Compose orchestration for all services.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Deploy with the official Overleaf Toolkit using Docker Compose
• Configure SMTP settings in overleaf.rc for email invitations
• Set OVERLEAF_SITE_URL to your public-facing domain
• Persist data by mapping MongoDB and project file volumes
• Enable LDAP or SAML authentication for institutional SSO

Key Features

• Full TeX Live distribution included for broad package support
• Git-bridge integration for syncing projects with external Git repos
• Project templates and file upload support (images, BibTeX, custom classes)
• Admin panel for user management and server health monitoring
• Works offline once loaded; syncs changes on reconnection

Comparison with Similar Tools

• ShareLaTeX — merged into Overleaf; the codebase is unified
• HackMD / HedgeDoc — Markdown-focused; lacks LaTeX compilation
• Authorea — SaaS-only with limited self-hosting options
• TeXstudio — desktop-only; no real-time collaboration

FAQ

Q: What are the system requirements for self-hosting Overleaf? A: At least 2 CPU cores, 4 GB RAM, and 10 GB disk. Docker and Docker Compose are required. A full TeX Live image adds roughly 4 GB.

Q: Can I use Overleaf without an internet connection? A: Yes. Once self-hosted, the instance operates fully on your LAN with no external calls required.

Q: Does the Community Edition support track changes? A: Basic history and diffing are available. The full track-changes UI with accept/reject is a Server Pro feature.

Q: How do I migrate from overleaf.com to a self-hosted instance? A: Export projects as ZIP from overleaf.com and import them via the self-hosted web UI or the project upload API.

Sources

• https://github.com/overleaf/overleaf
• https://github.com/overleaf/toolkit
• https://www.overleaf.com/for/enterprises