VS Code (web?) Integration

[hediet]

I love Overleaf! It is a pain to setup LaTeX on Windows (including minted for syntax highlighting which requires python and svg support with requires inkscape and so on) and it just works on Overleaf. VS Code supports dev containers which might make setups easier in the future, but Overleaf is great for an ubiquitous editing experience which VS Code alone cannot offer. It also seems like Overleaf is faster than offline alternatives.

However, the editing experience feels a little bit dated with VS Code web being around.

It seems really simple nowadays to quickly pull of custom flavors of VS Code. Here is how they did it.

It would be really nice if something similar could be built for Overleaf. Alternatively, or additionally, a VS Code extension would be nice that connects directly to Overleaf and would basically resemble an alternative frontend. (VS Code extensions can provide virtual file system implementations)

VS Code web has these advantages over the overleaf editor:

• The user can open multiple tabs and quickly switch between them
• VS Code has a rich set of themes
• The file explorer feels more elegant
• VS Code provides a common API for third party extensions that can be easily integrated

VS Code desktop has this additional advantage:

• Users can very easily install additional extensions to enhance their editing experience (like my draw.io extension for creating SVG diagrams that can be embedded into latex documents)

What do you think?

[HeroCC]

If someone wanted to take a stab at this, it may be worth looking at the clsi. I haven't written a VScode plugin before, but the preview renderer could send the content to be rendered by a remote instance of clsi, then display the result locally.

[iamhyc]

Hi, just notice this thread. I have posted my progress on vscode extension in another more recent thread #1073 . I will also copy it here.

Hi, I am working on the vscode extension, Overleaf-Workshop, to integrate overleaf with vscode.

I am seeking for possible audience and glad to know we have open issue discussions here.

We currently achieve almost 80% features of overleaf webpage frontend (though with defects), but you can actually enjoy copilot together with latex coding!

If you think vscode is a better editor, please give it a try 😃

P.S. the extension now cannot run on web like vscode.dev due to failure of packing the old socket.io-client.

[Musicminion]

Hi, just notice this thread. I have posted my progress on vscode extension in another more recent thread #1073 . I will also copy it here.

Hi, I am working on the vscode extension, Overleaf-Workshop, to integrate overleaf with vscode. I am seeking for possible audience and glad to know we have open issue discussions here. We currently achieve almost 80% features of overleaf webpage frontend (though with defects), but you can actually enjoy copilot together with latex coding! If you think vscode is a better editor, please give it a try 😃 P.S. the extension now cannot run on web like vscode.dev due to failure of packing the old socket.io-client.

Amazing! This is fantastic! I think overleaf editor is out of style and I can define my style in my own vscode.

In the mean time, I can also use global search!

Thanks for you extension ❤️