“I tried to argue with Overleaf, but it said my syntax was invalid.”

Overleaf MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that gives Claude and other MCP clients access to Overleaf projects through Git integration. It can read LaTeX files, parse structure, and extract content , basically letting AI peek under the hood of your papers (ethically, of course). 🧠

🔗 Repo: https://github.com/GhoshSrinjoy/Overleaf-mcp

Executive Summary

This server bridges Overleaf and AI models through MCP. It lets clients list, read, and analyze LaTeX files as if Overleaf were a local workspace.

Everything’s Git-based, so you get versioned, safe access. A Redis queue manages concurrency, keeping multiple project operations from stepping on each other.

In short: It’s Overleaf → Git → Redis → MCP → Claude (or any client).

Business Problem

Overleaf is great for collaboration, but hard to integrate with tools like Claude or LLM-based assistants. You either:

• copy-paste LaTeX manually, or

• mess with API endpoints and tokens in ways that don’t scale.

This MCP server makes Overleaf “AI-readable.” It lets LLMs fetch content, inspect sections, and summarize papers without exposing tokens or corrupting repos. Perfect for research groups, AI note-takers, or publishing workflows.

Methodology

How it works

1. Uses Overleaf’s Git integration to clone and sync projects.

2. Reads file trees and parses .tex documents for sections, subsections, and content.

3. Dispatches jobs through a Redis-backed BullMQ queue.

4. Each project gets its own Redis lock to prevent race conditions.

5. Returns clean structured data through the MCP protocol.

Key features

• 📄 File management (list/read Overleaf files)

• 📋 Document structure parsing (sections & subsections)

• 🔍 Content extraction (get specific section by title)

• 📊 Project summary (status, structure overview)

• 🏗️ Multi-project support

• ⚙️ Redis-backed queue for concurrency safety

Installation

1. Clone this repository

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Set up your projects configuration:

   cp projects.example.json projects.json

4. Edit projects.json with your Overleaf credentials:

   { "projects": { "default": { "name": "My Paper", "projectId": "YOUR_OVERLEAF_PROJECT_ID", "gitToken": "YOUR_OVERLEAF_GIT_TOKEN" } } }

5. Start a Redis instance (locally or remotely). For example:

   docker compose up redis -d

6. Run the MCP server:

   npm start

Getting Overleaf Credentials

1. Git Token:

   • Go to Overleaf Account Settings → Git Integration

   • Click "Create Token"

2. Project ID:

   • Open your Overleaf project

   • Find it in the URL: https://www.overleaf.com/project/[PROJECT_ID]

Configuration & Environment

The server coordinates all tool calls through a Redis-backed BullMQ queue. Heavy Git operations are serialized per project using Redis locks to avoid repository corruption while still allowing concurrent work across different projects.

Key environment variables:

• PROJECTS_FILE: Path to the Overleaf project map (default: ./projects.json).

• OVERLEAF_TEMP_DIR: Cache directory for cloned repositories (default: ./temp).

• REDIS_URL or REDIS_HOST/REDIS_PORT/REDIS_PASSWORD/REDIS_DB: Redis connection details.

• REQUEST_QUEUE_NAME: Override the BullMQ queue name (default: overleaf-mcp-requests).

• REQUEST_CONCURRENCY: Worker concurrency for queued jobs (default: 4).

• REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS: Maximum time the server waits for a job to finish (default: 120000).

• PROJECT_LOCK_TTL_MS, PROJECT_LOCK_RETRY_MS, PROJECT_LOCK_MAX_WAIT_MS: Advanced tuning for per-project Redis locks.

• OVERLEAF_GIT_TOKEN, OVERLEAF_PROJECT_ID: Optional environment fallbacks if they are not defined in projects.json or tool arguments.

Claude Desktop Setup

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Linux: ~/.config/claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Option 1: Node.js Direct (Local Development)

Requirements: Node.js installed locally, Redis running locally, all dependencies installed via npm install.

Option 2: Docker Compose (Recommended for Production)

Requirements: Docker and Docker Compose installed, project built with docker compose build. Benefits: Isolated environment, automatic Redis management, ephemeral containers.

Option 3: Docker Exec (Persistent Container)

Example with specific container name:

Requirements:

• Containers already running via docker compose up -d

• Replace CONTAINER_NAME with your actual container name (find with docker ps)

• Container must remain running for MCP to work

When to use each approach:

• Option 1: Development and debugging

• Option 2: Clean, isolated production deployments

• Option 3: When you want persistent containers and direct execution control

Restart Claude Desktop after configuration.

Docker Usage

You can run the MCP server and its Redis dependency entirely in containers using the provided compose file.

Basic Docker Setup

1. Copy projects.example.json to projects.json and fill in your credentials.

2. (Optional) Create a cache directory so clones persist across runs:

   mkdir -p data/cache

3. Build the containers:

   docker compose build

4. Start both Redis and MCP containers:

   docker compose up -d

Advanced Docker Usage

For ephemeral containers (Option 2 above):

For persistent containers (Option 3 above):

The compose service maps projects.json into the container at /app/projects.json, and stores cloned repos under ./data/cache on the host.

Use docker compose down when you want to stop all containers.

Container Management

View container logs:

Troubleshooting container names:

Available Tools

list_projects

List all configured projects.

list_files

List files in a project (default: .tex files).

• extension: File extension filter (optional)

• projectName: Project identifier (optional, defaults to "default")

read_file

Read a specific file from the project.

• filePath: Path to the file (required)

• projectName: Project identifier (optional)

get_sections

Get all sections from a LaTeX file.

• filePath: Path to the LaTeX file (required)

• projectName: Project identifier (optional)

get_section_content

Get content of a specific section.

• filePath: Path to the LaTeX file (required)

• sectionTitle: Title of the section (required)

• projectName: Project identifier (optional)

status_summary

Get a comprehensive project status summary.

• projectName: Project identifier (optional)

Usage Examples

Multi-Project Usage

To work with multiple projects, add them to projects.json:

Then specify the project in tool calls:

File Structure

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. "Server disconnected" in Claude Desktop:

   • Check container names with docker ps

   • Verify containers are running with docker compose ps

   • Check Redis connection with docker compose logs redis

2. "Project does not exist" error:

   • Verify Project ID in your Overleaf URL

   • Check Git Token is valid and not expired

   • Ensure Git integration is enabled in Overleaf project settings

3. Redis connection errors:

   • Ensure Redis container is running: docker compose up -d redis

   • Check Redis logs: docker compose logs redis

4. Container name mismatch (Option 3 users):

   • Find correct container name: docker ps --format "table {{.Names}}"

   • Update Claude Desktop config with exact container name

   • Container names may include project directory prefix (e.g., overleaf_mcp-mcp-1)

Why Redis is Important

Redis provides several critical functions:

• Queue Management: Handles multiple simultaneous requests without blocking

• Project Locking: Prevents Git conflicts when multiple operations access the same project

• Worker Pool Management: Distributes workload across multiple worker processes

• Production Readiness: Makes the server scalable and robust for concurrent usage

Without Redis, the server would work for single-user scenarios but could face race conditions and resource exhaustion under load.

Security Notes

• projects.json is gitignored to protect your credentials

• Never commit real project IDs or Git tokens

• Use the provided projects.example.json as a template

• Container logs may contain sensitive information - secure appropriately

Citation

If you use this software in your research, please cite:

Skills

This project touches on: Node.js, Redis (BullMQ), Docker, Overleaf Git integration, file parsing (LaTeX), concurrent job queues, and MCP protocol design.
It also demonstrates practical engineering for AI × research integration — building bridges between human writing tools and model understanding. 🧩

Results & Business Recommendation

What it delivers

• Seamless Overleaf access for Claude and other MCP clients.

• Structured reading of LaTeX files and sections.

• Scalable multi-project handling via Redis queues.

• No need to expose Overleaf APIs publicly or store plaintext tokens.

Best for:

• Research labs building paper assistants or summarizers.

• AI tools integrating academic context.

• Developers needing safe, concurrent Overleaf sync.

Recommendation:
Use Docker Compose (Option 2) for production : it keeps Redis and the MCP server isolated and persistent.
For local testing, Node Direct (Option 1) is enough.
Option 3 (Docker Exec) is great when you want persistent containers and direct control. 🎯

Next Steps

🧠 Add smarter section extraction using regex or tree-based parsing.
🧵 Add worker scaling for large document sets.
🔒 Add encryption for cached repositories.
🧩 Extend support for Markdown and BibTeX parsing.
📦 Publish a prebuilt Docker image to Docker Hub.
🧰 Add CI tests for Redis + lock integrity.
🤖 Add optional Claude prompts for “auto-summarize LaTeX sections.”

MIT License