A lightweight self-hosted alternative to Overleaf for small, trusted research teams. Use your existing LaTeX distribution and coding agents, with no heavyweight service stack.
Documentation: English (this file) · Operations · Design · 简体中文
Website: TexLite GitHub Pages
demo.mp4
- Own the writing environment. Use the host's TeX installation and coding agents; keep sources, history, and compiled output in one local data directory.
- Collaborate without a large stack. The default deployment is one Node.js process, SQLite, and local files—plus real-time editing and source-level comments for a small trusted team.
Install Node.js 24 or newer, latexmk, and at least one TeX engine such as
pdflatex, xelatex, or lualatex. Git is needed only for the optional
Git/GitHub integration.
After installation, texlite requirements checks the relevant host software
and versions before initialization.
npm install --global texlite
texlite requirements
texlite init
texlite start
texlite statusOpen http://127.0.0.1:3000. texlite init creates the configuration and the
first administrator; public registration is deliberately unavailable.
To mount TexLite below an existing domain path such as /texlite, configure
server.basePath and follow the reverse-proxy guide.
For upgrades and routine management:
npm update --global texlite
texlite restart
texlite logstexlite serve runs in the foreground for debugging, Docker, or systemd.
start, stop, restart, status, and logs use the PM2 runtime bundled
with the npm package. Run texlite help for the complete command list.
Overleaf is a strong choice when its hosted product or broader ecosystem is the right fit. TexLite addresses a narrower self-hosted use case:
- A shared hosted service can queue, slow down, or time out at usage peaks.
- Overleaf's open-source Community Edition follows a more involved Docker deployment path, and several functionalities, such as source comments, are Server Pro features. If you do not mind a heftier Docker image, we have one ready too :)
- TexLite can run host-installed Coding Agent CLIs (e.g., Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode) directly in a project terminal. Agents can inspect and edit project files, while the team chooses the models and workflows; this goes beyond a built-in AI chat interface.
Self-hosting does not make every document compile faster: that still depends on the host and the document. It does give the team control over capacity, TeX updates, data location, and the collaboration workflow.
For a desktop-first, individual workflow, start with VS Code + LaTeX Workshop or TeXstudio instead. TexLite is purpose-built for shared browser writing, not a replacement for a personal IDE.
- Projects with folders, ZIP import/export, tags, sharing, ownership transfer,
archiving, and a private per-user citation library with topic folders, tags,
Markdown notes, and folder-wide BibTeX export with optional notes for sharing.
Import
.bibfiles or TexLite JSON exports. - Owner-managed read-only links for anonymous readers, with expiry, rotation and revocation. Readers can view source and existing PDFs without joining collaboration.
- CodeMirror editing with LaTeX/BibTeX highlighting, folding, completion, optional Vim mode, formatting, spelling/grammar/ChkTeX assistance, search/replace, and source/PDF SyncTeX navigation.
- Yjs-based collaborative source editing, active-session presence, comments anchored to source text, replies, resolution, and permissions that let reviewers comment without changing source.
latexmkcompilation with selectable engines, project settings, structured diagnostics, cached successful PDFs, downloadable artifacts, and optional project-levellatexmkrc.- Per-project history and owner-only Git/GitHub backup. Git is optional and is checked only when its integration is used.
- Optional browser terminals for host-installed coding agents, enabled by an administrator. See external agent terminals.
If the host does not have—or you do not want to maintain—Node.js, TeX Live, Git, and Harper locally, use the heavier TexLite-Docker deployment. Its published image bundles those runtime dependencies for you.
The Docker image currently does not include Coding Agent CLIs. For agent integration, we recommend deploying TexLite directly via npm and installing and configuring the CLIs on the host.
git clone https://github.com/SWUFE-DB-Group/TexLite-Docker.git
cd texlite-docker
cp deployment.example.json deployment.json
# Edit deployment.json before the first start.
./scripts/compose.sh pull
./scripts/compose.sh up -d
# Open <http://127.0.0.1:3040>See the TexLite-Docker README for its user-facing configuration and operations guide.
| Need | Read |
|---|---|
| Installation, configuration paths, effective defaults, environment overrides, service management, backups, and security boundaries | Operations guide |
| Collaboration, source persistence, compilation isolation, history, and design trade-offs | Design |
| TikZ gallery add-on (beta) | TikZ gallery add-on |
| Testing an npm package before publication | NPM testing guide |
| Complete configuration starting point | texlite.config.example.json |
TexLite is a single-host application for a small, trusted team. Accounts are
created by an administrator, and project access is enforced by the server. It
is not a compiler sandbox: LaTeX and an enabled project latexmkrc can run
powerful commands on the host, so only give accounts to people you trust.
Within a local network. TexLite listens on 127.0.0.1 by default, so only
the host itself can open it. To let colleagues on the same lab or office
network use it, set server.host to 0.0.0.0 in texlite.config.json (or
set TEXLITE_HOST=0.0.0.0) and run texlite restart. Others can then open
http://<host-ip>:3000; allow the port in the host firewall if needed.
texlite config prints the configuration file in use.
Outside the local network. Use a tunnel or a private network instead of
forwarding the port on your router. TexLite keeps listening on 127.0.0.1, and
its own login still protects every project.
TexLite Share: the simplest HTTPS link for TexLite
TexLite Share is currently hosted in Hong Kong, so access from mainland China or regions outside Southeast Asia may be slower. With TexLite running locally on its default port, install and launch the tunnel client:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ChenZhongPu/TexLite-Share/main/install-client.sh | bash
~/.local/bin/texlite-tunnel-client --server-url https://share.zhongpu.infoFor a non-default local port, specify the address explicitly:
~/.local/bin/texlite-tunnel-client \
--server-url https://share.zhongpu.info \
--local-addr 127.0.0.1:8080Other common options include Tailscale Serve, Cloudflare Tunnel, and frp.
TexLite is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0; see LICENSE. For proprietary modifications or commercial terms that differ from AGPL-3.0, contact the copyright holder.