# latex-live-without-overleaf

# 🧮 Live LaTeX Editing Without Overleaf

You can get a **free, Overleaf-style LaTeX editing experience** using **VS Code** or **GitHub**, with live PDF preview, collaboration tools, and full version control — all without paying for Overleaf.

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## 🧩 Option 1: VS Code Live LaTeX Editing (Recommended)

### ✅ What You Get
- Real-time PDF preview
- Syntax highlighting, autocompletion, and snippets
- Live reload on save
- Two-way PDF ↔ source navigation (SyncTeX)
- Collaboration through Git or VS Code Live Share

### ⚙️ Setup Steps

1. **Install VS Code**
[https://code.visualstudio.com](https://code.visualstudio.com)

2. **Install a LaTeX Distribution**
- **macOS:**

     brew install mactex
     # or for a smaller install
     brew install basictex

- **Linux:**

     sudo apt install texlive-full

- **Windows:**
[Download MiKTeX](https://miktex.org/download)

3. **Install the LaTeX Workshop Extension**
Search for `LaTeX Workshop` by James Yu in the VS Code Extensions Marketplace.

4. **Open a `.tex` File**
- Open your LaTeX file in VS Code.
- Press **Cmd+Option+V** (Mac) or **Ctrl+Alt+V** (Windows/Linux) to open the PDF preview.
- The preview updates automatically when you save the file (`Cmd+S`).

5. **Optional: Enable Auto Build**
- Open Command Palette → `LaTeX Workshop: Open Settings`
- Set:

     "latex-workshop.latex.autoBuild.run": "onFileChange"

6. **Enable SyncTeX**
Click a line in your `.tex` file to jump to the corresponding spot in the PDF — and vice versa.

7. **Collaborate**
- Use **VS Code → Live Share** for real-time co-editing.
- Or version your LaTeX project with **GitHub** for asynchronous collaboration.

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## 🌐 Option 2: GitHub Codespaces / VS Code .dev

You can also edit LaTeX directly **in the browser** using GitHub’s built-in VS Code interface.

### ✅ Advantages
- No local setup required
- Full VS Code experience in the browser
- Automatic sync with your GitHub repo

### ⚙️ Steps

1. Push your LaTeX project to a GitHub repository.
2. Open it in the browser:

[https://github.dev/](https://github.dev/)<your-username>/<your-repo>

3. Install the **LaTeX Workshop** extension inside the browser editor.

> ⚠️ Note: GitHub.dev alone can’t compile LaTeX (no backend compute).
> Use **Codespaces** for full compilation.

4. In a Codespace, install TeX Live:

sudo apt install texlive-full

5. Compile your document using LaTeX Workshop or directly via:

   pdflatex main.tex

---

## 🌐 Option 3: Other Free Web Editors

If you want an online LaTeX editor without setup or GitHub:

| Platform | Key Features |
| ------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| [Papeeria](https://papeeria.com/) | Free, collaborative, Overleaf-like interface |
| [CoCalc](https://cocalc.com/) | LaTeX with live preview and Jupyter support |
| [TeXLab](https://texlab.netlify.app/) | Lightweight local or web LaTeX editing |

---

## 🧠 Recommended Hybrid Workflow

1. **Write locally** in VS Code with **LaTeX Workshop** for live preview.
2. **Sync via GitHub** for backup and version control.
3. **Collaborate** using either:

* **VS Code Live Share** for synchronous editing, or
* **GitHub Codespaces** for fully cloud-based editing.

---

## ⚙️ Optional: Pre-Configured VS Code Settings

You can include the following in your `.vscode/settings.json` to make LaTeX Workshop “just work” out of the box:

{
  "latex-workshop.latex.autoBuild.run": "onFileChange",
  "latex-workshop.view.pdf.viewer": "tab",
  "latex-workshop.synctex.afterBuild.enabled": true,
  "latex-workshop.latex.recipes": [
    {
      "name": "latexmk 🔁",
      "tools": ["latexmk"]
    }
  ],
  "latex-workshop.latex.tools": [
    {
      "name": "latexmk",
      "command": "latexmk",
      "args": ["-pdf", "-interaction=nonstopmode", "-synctex=1", "%DOC%"]
    }
  ]
}

---

### 🪄 Summary

| Environment | Setup | Compiles PDFs | Live Preview | Collaboration |
| --------------------- | -------------------- | ------------- | ------------- | ---------------------- |
| **VS Code (local)** | Fast & full-featured | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ via Live Share |
| **GitHub Codespaces** | Browser-based | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ via shared Codespace |
| **GitHub.dev** | Browser-only | ❌ | ✅ (edit only) | ✅ via repo commits |
| **Papeeria / CoCalc** | Cloud-hosted | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ (basic) |

---

**Result:** A robust, free alternative to Overleaf — built around tools you control.