MCP Server

Connect an AI client such as Claude Code to a project through MCP, and check that the connection works.

Each project has its own MCP server, so an AI client on your computer can read and edit the project, compile it and answer its comments. The client signs in with a Git authentication token.

If you see no MCP server card, see MCP Server for your administrator.

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Connect a client

1. Open the dialog

   Open the project. In the left bar, click Integrations, then MCP server.

   

   The Integrations panel

   The dialog shows the address of this project’s server and a tab for each client: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code and Gemini CLI.

   

   The MCP server dialog

2. Create a token

   Click Go to settings. Your account settings open in a new tab. Under Git integration, click Generate token, or Add another token if you already have one. Click Copy and keep the token somewhere safe, because you only see it once. Then click Close.

   

   Your new token

   A token you already use for Git integration works too, and so does one token for all your projects.

3. Add the server to your client

   Back in the dialog, click the tab of your client and click Copy next to the configuration.

   Tab	Where it goes	The token
   Claude Code	Run the command in a terminal	Replace <token> in the command
   Codex	~/.codex/config.toml	Put it in the environment variable OVERLEAF_TOKEN
   Cursor	~/.cursor/mcp.json	Put it in the environment variable OVERLEAF_TOKEN
   VS Code	.vscode/mcp.json	The file has a password prompt called overleaf-token instead of the token
   Gemini CLI	Run the command in a terminal	Replace <token> in the command

   The address belongs to one project. To connect another project, add it under another name, because overleaf is taken. For Claude Code, for example, change overleaf in the command to overleaf-lab.

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Check the connection

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With Claude Code

claude mcp list

The server is listed as connected:

overleaf: https://<your-site>/project/<project-id>/mcp (HTTP) - ✔ Connected

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With curl

This works whatever your client is. Replace the address and the token, and send the initialize request of the MCP protocol:

curl -X POST https://<your-site>/project/<project-id>/mcp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-06-18","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"curl","version":"1.0"}}}'

The answer names the server, followed by its instructions for clients:

{"result":{"protocolVersion":"2025-06-18","capabilities":{"tools":{"listChanged":true}},"serverInfo":{"name":"overleaf","version":"1.0.0"},"instructions":"This server works on one Overleaf project. ..."},"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1}

To see the tools, send tools/list with the same command. The answer lists 17 tools.

  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"method":"tools/list","params":{}}'

To call one, send tools/call:

  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":3,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"list_files","arguments":{}}}'

{"result":{"content":[{"type":"text","text":"[\n  {\n    \"path\": \"main.tex\",\n    \"type\": \"doc\"\n  }\n]"}]},"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":3}

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In your account settings

Under Git integration, Last used shows the date for a token the server has received.

The first token has been used

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If it does not connect

What you see	What it means
Status 401, or in Claude Code ✘ Failed to connect with HTTP 401	The token is missing, wrong or deleted
Status 404	No project has this ID
Status 405	The request was not a POST
Status 406 with Not Acceptable	The Accept header is missing: the client must accept both application/json and text/event-stream

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What you see when a client works

Edits appear in an open editor as the client makes them, like a collaborator’s, without reloading. New files and folders appear in the file tree.

A line added by edit_file

edit_file only changes text that appears exactly once. Otherwise the client gets an error, such as oldString not found in main.tex, read_file again or oldString appears 2 times in main.tex, add context, and nothing changes.

Replies to comments appear in the review panel under your name, because the token is yours. A comment resolved through the server leaves the panel, and reopening it brings it back.

A reply sent by reply_to_comment

compile compiles the project and returns the list of output files. get_output_file_link then gives a link to download the PDF or another output file. The link needs no token and stops working after 5 minutes.

For the full list of tools and what each role may do, see Tools and Permissions.

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Disconnect a client

Delete the token: see Delete a token. From then on, the server answers 401 to that token. If you also use it for Git, Git stops accepting it too.