Overleaf Community Edition is an open-source, web-based collaborative LaTeX editor that allows teams to write, edit, and compile LaTeX documents in real time through a browser-based interface. Built by the team behind the popular Overleaf.com platform, it brings the same real-time collaboration and live preview features to self-hosted environments. This edition is designed for trusted internal teams—such as academic departments or research labs—who need full control over their document infrastructure but do not require user isolation. The system runs on Docker and includes a complete TeXLive installation, making it suitable for complex academic publishing workflows. Note that due to the lack of sandboxed compiles in Community Edition, users have full filesystem and network access during compilation, making it unsuitable for multi-tenant or untrusted environments.
What You Get
- Real-time collaborative editing - Multiple users can edit the same LaTeX document simultaneously with live updates, similar to Google Docs, enabling seamless co-authoring of research papers and technical reports.
- Full TeXLive integration - The Docker image includes a complete TeXLive distribution, allowing compilation of complex LaTeX documents with all standard and custom packages without external dependencies.
- Self-hosted deployment - Deploy Overleaf on your own infrastructure using Docker, giving you full control over data privacy, storage, and network access.
- Docker-based architecture - Uses a two-layer Docker image system (
sharelatex/sharelatex-base and sharelatex/sharelatex) to optimize build times and manage heavy TeXLive dependencies separately.
- Runit service management - Runs services using Phusion Baseimage with runit for process supervision, ensuring reliable operation of web, compilation, and file services in containerized environments.
Common Use Cases
- Building academic research papers with multiple authors - A university research team collaborates on a 50-page paper with complex equations, figures, and bibliographies using real-time editing and live PDF preview, eliminating version control conflicts.
- Creating university course materials with consistent formatting - Professors and TAs co-author lecture notes, problem sets, and exams using shared templates with standardized LaTeX styles across departments.
- Problem: Managing LaTeX document versions across team members → Solution: Overleaf’s real-time sync and history tracking - Team members no longer need to manually merge .tex files or resolve conflicting changes; Overleaf handles concurrent edits and provides revision history.
- Team workflow: Research labs deploying LaTeX editors internally - Departments with strict data governance policies use Overleaf Community Edition to avoid cloud-based platforms, while maintaining full LaTeX feature parity and collaboration capabilities.
Under The Hood
The project is a modular monorepo system built with JavaScript and TypeScript, emphasizing backend Node.js services and reusable internal libraries. It provides a cohesive architecture for handling complex distributed systems through well-defined components and shared utilities.
Architecture
This system adopts a layered monolithic design with clear separation of concerns across modules.
- The architecture follows a modular structure with distinct libraries for authentication, logging, metrics, and utilities
- Design patterns such as strategy, factory, and middleware are consistently applied to manage functionality and interactions
- Services like logging and metrics are integrated across the codebase using dependency injection and shared components
Tech Stack
Built primarily in JavaScript and TypeScript, the project leverages a range of modern tools and frameworks.
- The runtime is Node.js with Express for web server capabilities and TypeScript for enhanced type safety
- Key libraries include lodash, bunyan, node-fetch, prom-client, and OpenTelemetry for monitoring and tracing
- Development tools encompass ESLint, Mocha, Chai, Sinon, and Docker for consistent builds and testing
Code Quality
Code quality is solid with a strong emphasis on testing and consistent error handling practices.
- A comprehensive test suite ensures reliability, with extensive unit and acceptance tests covering core functionality
- Error handling is implemented using try/catch blocks, custom error classes, and clear validation logic
- The codebase maintains consistent naming and style patterns, supporting maintainability and readability
What Makes It Unique
This project distinguishes itself through its modular monorepo approach and domain-specific utility integration.
- It uniquely structures internal libraries for reuse across services, enabling scalable and maintainable system design
- The combination of distributed system abstractions with modular architecture provides a robust foundation for complex applications
- Extensive use of shared components and standardized patterns allows for seamless integration across modules