LeafRelay

Reliable two-way sync between Overleaf and a local project in Visual Studio Code.

LeafRelay is a VS Code extension for Overleaf and LaTeX users who edit the same project with a local IDE, terminal, scripts, or AI coding tools. It keeps the local folder and Overleaf synchronized while making conflicts visible instead of silently choosing a winner.

Already using Overleaf Workshop? LeafRelay is an independent extension with a new Marketplace ID: yunhaoli24.leafrelay. Existing .overleaf/settings.json project associations remain reusable.

中文说明

Why LeafRelay?

Overleaf Workshop pioneered the VS Code workflow, but older local-replica behavior was centered on editor-driven changes. That becomes fragile when the local folder is changed by another editor, a terminal, a script, or an AI tool: updates may wait for an editor save, reconnects may download far more than necessary, duplicate local replicas may compete, and simultaneous edits can overwrite one side without a clear decision.

LeafRelay is built around those failure modes:

• External edits sync automatically through file-system events, including edits made by another editor, a terminal, a script, or an AI tool.
• Incremental startup and reconnects transfer only changed files whenever the local checkpoint is usable.
• Conflicts stop safely when both local and Overleaf changed the same path; neither copy is silently overwritten.
• One active local replica per workspace prevents old folders from racing the project and pushing stale content.
• Rate-limit aware requests serialize project traffic and respect Overleaf 429 cooldowns instead of creating request bursts.
• Dot directories and symbolic links stay out of sync, including generated build folders such as .output.

LeafRelay keeps the original Overleaf Workshop virtual-project and collaboration features while prioritizing dependable local-folder synchronization for daily work.

Install

Install LeafRelay from the VS Code Marketplace. VS Code will receive future releases through its normal extension update mechanism.

Start syncing

1. Open the LeafRelay view in VS Code and add your Overleaf server.
2. Sign in, choose a project, and select Open Project Locally.
3. Open the selected folder in VS Code. Changes made locally or on Overleaf will then flow in both directions.

For project details, login options, self-hosted Overleaf, and troubleshooting, see the user documentation.

Development

corepack enable
pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
pnpm test
pnpm run compile

Pull requests run the VS Code activation check and a ShareLaTeX container integration test before packaging. Releases are prepared by Release Please and published automatically from the generated release pull request.

Project background

LeafRelay started from Overleaf Workshop and is now maintained as an independent project under the AGPL-3.0-only. The focus is reliable Overleaf-to-local synchronization, while the project continues to evolve toward reusable sync components beyond VS Code.

Links

• VS Code Marketplace
• Issues and feature requests
• Contributing
• Documentation
• Original Overleaf Workshop project