LocalLeaf Community

LocalLeaf Community lets you work on Overleaf projects from VS Code while keeping a real local copy of every file. It is the continuation of LocalLeaf, the extension created by Teddy van Jerry, and is now maintained here with contributions from the wider community.

LocalLeaf Community is an independent, community-maintained continuation. It is not sponsored, endorsed, or maintained by Teddy van Jerry or by Overleaf.

The idea is deliberately simple: write with the local tools you already like, and let LocalLeaf keep the project in step with Overleaf.

What it can do

• Synchronize files in both directions with Overleaf and self-hosted Overleaf instances
• Show and link remote projects from the VS Code sidebar
• Create blank Overleaf projects directly from the sidebar or Command Palette
• Sign in through an isolated Chrome or Edge window, with manual cookies as a fallback
• Keep documents updated in real time
• Show collaborators and jump to their cursor positions
• Help resolve local and remote conflicts with a visual diff
• Automatically merge independent edits in LaTeX, bibliography, and Markdown files
• Recover synchronization baselines and pending document writes after restarting VS Code
• Ignore build output and other generated files through .leafignore
• Preview and remove ignored folders or files that exist only on Overleaf, while keeping local files
• Work alongside LaTeX Workshop for local compilation and PDF preview

Installation

Install LocalLeaf Community from the Visual Studio Marketplace, or search for LocalLeaf Community in the VS Code Extensions view.

For a manual or offline installation, download the latest .vsix from GitHub Releases, then run Extensions: Install from VSIX... in VS Code.

To build the extension yourself:

npm install
npm test
npx @vscode/vsce package

If the original Marketplace extension is installed, disable or uninstall it first. Both versions currently keep the same commands and workspace format, so existing LocalLeaf projects continue to work.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome, whether they are code, documentation, bug reports, or testing against different Overleaf installations. The most useful starting points and the local development commands are collected in CONTRIBUTING.md.

Getting started

1. Open the folder that should contain your local project.
2. Run LocalLeaf: Login, choose your server and browser, then finish signing in in the isolated browser window.
3. Choose a project from the LocalLeaf sidebar and link it to the folder.
4. New remote files download automatically. Independent edits to supported text files merge automatically; overlapping changes remain available for review in the conflict prompt.

To start a new project, click Create New Project in the Projects header or the linked project's Tools tab. A dedicated editor page lets you enter the project name, choose the Overleaf server, check your account, and optionally select an empty local folder. Create project creates a blank project with main.tex and downloads it when a local folder is selected. Progress, errors, and the actions Open in Overleaf and Open local folder stay in the page. If the local download fails, Retry local setup resumes the same project. Opening the new folder starts synchronization without asking again about the connection you just chose.

Automatic text merging supports .tex, .bib, .md, .sty, and .cls. It needs a previously synchronized ancestor and preserves whitespace. Files above 2 MiB and merges that exceed the processing budget require review. Binary attachments are never merged as text. Unsaved editor changes remain unsaved.

Synchronization history is stored locally in VS Code's extension storage, separately for each server, project, and workspace. A copied or empty workspace starts by downloading the remote files. Connection interruptions recover automatically; a file conflict can remain pending while other files synchronize.

Healthy sessions stay connected without periodic project refreshes or reconnections. Socket.IO's heartbeat detects a lost connection and starts recovery with increasing delays. Returning to VS Code after at least 30 seconds away also checks for missed changes, at most once per minute. LocalLeaf: Sync Now starts that reconciliation on demand. If a server silently omits an event while the connection remains healthy, returning to the window or running Sync Now catches it up.

Dismissed or ignored prompts for unchanged local-only files stay quiet during that session's background checks. Changing those files or running Sync Now allows review again.

[!WARNING] Your Overleaf cookies grant access to your account. Only send them to the real server you intend to use, check the URL carefully, and treat them like a password. LocalLeaf stores them in VS Code Secret Storage rather than inside the workspace. Use LocalLeaf: Logout if you suspect they were exposed.

Browser login uses a temporary, isolated Chromium profile and removes it after the session is captured. If cleanup is blocked by another process, LocalLeaf reports the exact temporary folder so you can remove it manually. If the extension is running on a remote extension host (Remote SSH, WSL, or a Dev Container), use the manual cookie option because the browser cannot be opened safely on your local desktop from that host.

Commands

Settings

The people behind the project

LocalLeaf was started by Teddy van Jerry (Wuqiong Zhao), who designed and built the original extension and maintained its first releases. Xingyu Chen (Asixa / RFDT) later contributed a substantial 34-commit proposal for a broader interface, synchronization workflow, local compilation, PDF tooling, and Source Control integration in PR #3. Victor Stoica integrated and hardened parts of that work, fixed synchronization and security issues, and now maintains this continuation.

The full story is in ATTRIBUTION.md, and the commit-by-commit review is in docs/CONTRIBUTOR_INTEGRATION.md. Asixa's original PR history is preserved in the archive/asixa-pr-3 branch, while equivalent authored commits are present on the default branch for contributor visibility.

Related projects

LocalLeaf was inspired by Overleaf-Workshop, which offers a more deeply integrated Overleaf experience inside VS Code. LocalLeaf takes a different route: it keeps a normal local project that remains usable with Git, LaTeX Workshop, scripts, and any other local tool.

LocalLeaf and LocalLeaf Community are not affiliated with or endorsed by Overleaf.

License

The project is distributed under the MIT License. Teddy's original copyright notice is kept intact, with a separate notice for the community's later work. See NOTICE, ATTRIBUTION.md, and THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md for project history, credits, and dependency licenses.