Git integration password-based authentication

Overleaf's Git integration provides two authentication methods. This page describes the deprecated password-based method for accessing projects through Overleaf's Git integration. All users are encouraged to use the Git authentication token login method instead of the method documented here. If you’re using Overleaf Server Pro, the password-based method described here is not supported.

The Overleaf Git integration allows you to clone your Overleaf project to a local repository, treating your Overleaf project as a remote repository that changes can be pushed to and pulled from.

Summary

To perform Git operations on an Overleaf project using Git, you’ll need to authenticate as the owner of the project or as a collaborator. You can do this using your Overleaf-specific password. If you normally log in to Overleaf using SSO, you can create an Overleaf-specific password by requesting that a password-reset link be sent to your primary email using this form.

• You can obtain the Git URL and clone command from the Git option in your project Menu.
• Use your primary Overleaf email as your Git username.
• When prompted for a password, use your Overleaf-specific password.
• Overleaf does not currently support SSH-based authentication.

Step-by-step: How to clone a project

The following steps explain how to clone your Overleaf project when using the Git command line.

If you’re using another Git client, you can use a method appropriate for the client to provide the Git URL for the project, your primary email as the username, and your Overleaf-specific password as the password. See Understanding the Git URL for an explanation of the components of the Git URL.

1. Select Git from the the Menu within your project.

1. Copy the git clone command and URL displayed in the dialog box. You will use this when creating your local repository.
2. Paste the command and URL into a command prompt.
3. When prompted for a password, enter your authentication token. Top tip: You can set up Git credential helpers so that you don’t need to provide your password every time.

More help with authenticating

Troubleshooting authentication problems

• When providing your primary email address as your login, use lowercase only.
• The colon (:), at-symbol (@), and ampersand (&) can cause issues for the Git integration when used in passwords. If your password currently contains these symbols, you may need to set a new password that does not contain them.
• You should make sure your account has an Overleaf-specific password set. If you had registered your account through Google or ORCiD single sign-on, your Overleaf password should be set, and this should be used when accessing your project through Git. If you do not recall or have not set an Overleaf-specific password, you can request a reset link using this form.
• Some Git clients may have difficulty with the at-symbol (@) in the email address. In such cases, it may help to include your username in the URL. For example, by running:

$ git clone https://<email>%40<domain>@git.overleaf.com/<id>

When the url is provided this way, the %40 is necessary to escape the @ symbol in the email address, while the @ symbol before the hostname is used to separate the user name and the host name.

How to save your password using Git credential helpers

We recommend using a Git credential helper. This will allow your Git client to remember your password.

If you’re using the Git command line client, you can run this command to store your credentials:

$ git config --global credential.helper store

There’s more information about this on this Git documentation page.

Understanding the Git URL

The git clone and Git URL can be obtained by selecting Git in the project Menu. Alternately, you can find the Git URL from the project url (the url in the browser address bar when you are in a project). If your Overleaf project url looks like:

 https://www.overleaf.com/project/1234567

Then the Git url to use to clone the project will be:

https://git.overleaf.com/1234567

Your username will be your primary email address and the password will be your Overleaf-specific password

The command and URL provided on the Git modal in the project Menu consists of: (1) the git clone command used at the Git command line and (2) the full Git URL which contains the project id.

How to work with collaborators

If you’re using Overleaf's Git integration to collaborate with someone who doesn’t normally use Overleaf, you should share the project with them and they can create an Overleaf account. Once they have done this, they can obtain the Git URL for the project and use their own user id (primary email) and password in order to access the project.

You should never share your Overleaf user name and password. Please keep your account secure.