Offleaf

A local-first LaTeX workspace for writing papers when the internet has wandered off.

Offleaf is a small offline writing environment for people who like the Overleaf workflow but occasionally find themselves on trains, planes, basements, campuses with theatrical Wi-Fi, or anywhere else where "cloud editor" becomes more of a philosophical position than a usable tool.

Open a folder, edit LaTeX on the left, preview the compiled PDF on the right, and keep working against your normal local Git clone. When you are back online, push like nothing happened. Very dignified. Very academic. Slightly leafy.

Offleaf is an independent project and is not affiliated with Overleaf.

Why?

Overleaf is great. Being offline is less great. Offleaf is for the gap between those two facts.

It gives you the parts that matter most while commuting or hiding from connectivity:

• A familiar split editor/PDF layout
• Local compilation through your installed TeX toolchain
• A main-file selector, so you can edit sections/method.tex while compiling main.tex
• Fast recompilation for normal writing, and full compilation when references need a stern talking-to
• Local folders instead of accounts, sync state, or browser tabs named "Untitled Project (17)"

It is intentionally not a full Overleaf clone. There is no collaboration server, no user management, no cloud storage, and no mysterious spinner with tenure. It is a focused offline companion for local LaTeX projects.

Run

npm start

Then open:

http://localhost:3000

Node 20 or newer is expected. You will also need a working local LaTeX installation, such as MiKTeX, TeX Live, or whatever already makes pdflatex and bibtex available on your machine.

Daily Use

1. Start Offleaf with npm start.
2. Click the logo in the top-left if the toolbar is hidden.
3. Use Open Folder to load a local LaTeX project.
4. Pick the main file for the project.
5. Write.
6. Press Cmd+S to save and run a quick compile.

The app remembers opened folders in .offleaf.json. Older .offline-overleaf.json configs are still read, because renames should not eat your projects. Local path files are ignored by Git because local machine paths are nobody else's business.

Compile Modes

Recompile runs one fast pdflatex pass. This is the default path used by save and Cmd+S, so ordinary writing stays snappy.

Full Compilation runs the heavier reference-resolving sequence: pdflatex, bibtex when needed, then two more pdflatex passes. Use this when citations, references, or the table of contents are doing their classic LaTeX performance art.

Compile logs stay tucked away unless something fails. When compilation breaks, the log opens automatically so the error can have its little moment.

Features

• Open any local folder as a LaTeX project
• Expandable file browser with long-filename handling
• LaTeX editor with syntax highlighting
• Browser spellcheck enabled by default
• Source editor on the left, PDF preview on the right
• Drag-resizable panes that can collapse completely
• Per-project main file selection
• Quick and full compilation modes
• Toggleable compile log
• Hidden-by-default top toolbar for extra writing space
• Theme selector with Solarized, Material-inspired, Sage, Ink, Rose Pine, and Paper palettes
• A sample paper project on first start, because blank screens are hostile

Wishlist

Things Offleaf would like to be when it grows a few more rings:

• PDF/source sync: click in the PDF and jump to the matching LaTeX, click in the LaTeX and find the corresponding PDF spot. Basically SyncTeX, but domesticated.
• Smarter error navigation, so LaTeX's ancient riddles point at the relevant source line instead of making you excavate the log by candlelight.
• Project templates for papers, rebuttals, notes, and "I swear this is just a quick appendix."
• A cleaner first-run setup check for pdflatex, bibtex, and friends.
• Recent projects, because humans are not file paths.
• Better bibliography awareness, including nudges when refs need a full compilation.
• Optional Git helpers for status, commit, pull, and push, kept politely out of the way for people who prefer the terminal.

Notes

Offleaf compiles into .latex-output/, keeping generated PDFs, aux files, logs, and friends out of your source tree.

If a project has bibliography files or custom style files in subdirectories, Offleaf includes both the project root and the main file directory in the TeX search paths. In less ceremonial terms: ACL-style projects should behave.

Offleaf is released under the MIT License.

If the server is ever down, the single-command revival spell is:

npm start