Configuration¶

Everything is configured through environment variables set where the MCP client starts the server, for example in the env block of the client's MCP configuration. Defaults suit www.overleaf.com.

Reference¶

Variable	Default	Purpose
`OVERLEAF_BASE_URL`	`https://www.overleaf.com`	Target Overleaf origin. Use the same value for `login` and `serve`.
`OVERLEAF_COOKIE_JAR_FILE`	Platform configuration directory	Saved-session path override
`OVERLEAF_BROWSER_PATH`	Auto-detected	Chrome-family executable used by `login`
`OVERLEAF_BROWSER_PROFILE_DIR`	Platform configuration directory	Dedicated login profile
`OVERLEAF_LOGIN_TIMEOUT_MS`	`300000`	Browser sign-in deadline, capped at 15 minutes
`OVERLEAF_PROTOCOL_VERSIONS`	`2`	Comma-separated accepted collaboration protocol versions
`OVERLEAF_MAX_DOC_LENGTH`	`2097152`	Fallback maximum UTF-16 document length
`OVERLEAF_MAX_UPDATE_CHARS`	`7340032`	Conservative serialized OT update limit
`OVERLEAF_SOCKET_CACHE_SIZE`	`2`	Maximum cached project sockets
`OVERLEAF_SOCKET_IDLE_TTL_MS`	`90000`	Idle project-socket lifetime
`OVERLEAF_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS`	`30000`	REST and collaboration-call timeout
`OVERLEAF_APPLY_TIMEOUT_MS`	`30000`	OT acknowledgement and application timeout
`OVERLEAF_RECOVERY_TIMEOUT_MS`	`30000`	Ambiguous-mutation observation window
`OVERLEAF_COMPILE_TIMEOUT_MS`	`120000`	Default compile wait, capped at 15 minutes

An ol-maxDocLength value advertised by the Overleaf deployment takes precedence over the fallback. Content at or above the limit returns DOC_TOO_LARGE; an oversized serialized update returns UPDATE_TOO_LARGE and must be split into smaller, independently revisioned writes.

compile_project.timeoutMs accepts 1 second through 15 minutes. It changes only how long the MCP call waits, not the account's server-side compile allowance.

Where the session is stored¶

The login command uses a separate browser profile and never reads your normal browser profile. Session files live under overleaf-web-mcp in the platform configuration directory:

Platform	Path
Linux	`${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-~/.config}/overleaf-web-mcp`
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/overleaf-web-mcp`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\overleaf-web-mcp`

Only cookies applicable to OVERLEAF_BASE_URL are saved. On POSIX systems the directory is created with mode 0700 and the cookie jar with mode 0600; a group- or world-readable jar is rejected. Filesystems without meaningful POSIX modes continue with a permissionsUnchecked warning in auth_status.

Cookie refreshes received during normal use are merged under an advisory lock and written through a protected temporary file followed by an atomic replace. If the session expires, run npx overleaf-web-mcp login again.

Presence¶

While a project socket is open, the account may appear online to collaborators in the Overleaf editor. By default at most two project sockets are cached, active sockets are never evicted, and idle sockets disconnect after 90 seconds. Lower OVERLEAF_SOCKET_IDLE_TTL_MS to shorten that window at the cost of reconnecting more often.