Verso

A collaborative real-time editor for Quarto presentations and documents.

Verso is a fork of Overleaf adapted to compile Quarto documents instead of LaTeX. It keeps Overleaf's real-time collaboration infrastructure while replacing the LaTeX/CLSI compiler with Quarto, enabling collaborative editing of .qmd files with instant PDF (via Typst) or HTML (RevealJS) preview.

---

Features

• Real-time collaboration — multiple users editing the same .qmd file simultaneously, powered by Overleaf's operational-transformation engine
• Quarto compilation — documents are compiled with Quarto on every save
• Two output formats — set format: typst in the YAML frontmatter for a PDF preview, or format: revealjs for an interactive HTML presentation rendered in an iframe
• Document outline — headings (#, ##, ###) are extracted and shown in the sidebar outline panel
• Math, code, tables — standard Quarto/Pandoc Markdown features all work
• Auto-compile — the preview refreshes automatically 2.5 s after you stop typing
• Project history — full change history inherited from Overleaf

Output formats

In the YAML frontmatter of your .qmd file:

format: typst     # → PDF preview via Typst (no LaTeX required)
format: revealjs  # → HTML slideshow preview

Typst is bundled with Quarto — no separate installation is needed.

Quick start

With Docker

docker run -d \
  -p 80:80 \
  -v ~/verso_data:/var/lib/overleaf \
  --name verso \
  registry.alocoq.fr/verso:latest

Then open http://localhost in your browser. On first run, visit /launchpad to create an admin account.

Build from source

# Build the base image (installs Quarto)
cd server-ce
make build-base

# Build the application image
make build-community

The two Dockerfiles are:

File	Purpose
server-ce/Dockerfile-base	Base OS image — installs system deps and Quarto
server-ce/Dockerfile	Application image — installs Node services, compiles frontend

Architecture

Verso is a microservices monorepo (Yarn workspaces). All services run inside a single container managed by runit, with nginx as the front router.

browser ──→ nginx:80
              ├── / ──────────────────→ web:4000      (main app, React UI)
              ├── /socket.io ──────────→ real-time:3026 (WebSocket, OT engine)
              └── /project/*/output/* → clsi-nginx:8080 (compiled output files)

web → document-updater → Redis pub/sub → real-time → browser
web → CLSI (quarto render) → output files → nginx → browser

Key services:

Service	Role
web	HTTP API, React frontend, auth, project management
real-time	WebSocket layer, live cursor and edit sync
document-updater	Operational transformation, Redis pub/sub
clsi	Quarto compiler — runs quarto render and serves output
docstore	Document text storage (MongoDB)
filestore	Binary file storage (S3 or local)
project-history	Change history and version tracking

Writing a Quarto document

Minimal working example (main.qmd):

---
title: My Presentation
author: Your Name
date: today
format: revealjs
---

## Slide one

Write **Markdown** here.

## Mathematics

$$\int_0^\infty e^{-x^2}\,dx = \frac{\sqrt{\pi}}{2}$$

For PDF output, change format: revealjs to format: typst.

Note on display math: put $$...$$ on a single line. Multi-line display math blocks can cause YAML parse errors in some Quarto versions.

Environment variables

Verso inherits all of Overleaf's environment variables (prefixed OVERLEAF_). The most commonly needed ones:

Variable	Default	Description
OVERLEAF_APP_NAME	Verso	Name shown in the UI
OVERLEAF_MONGO_URL	mongodb://mongo/sharelatex	MongoDB connection string
OVERLEAF_REDIS_HOST	localhost	Redis host
OVERLEAF_SITE_URL	—	Public URL (used in emails)
OVERLEAF_ADMIN_EMAIL	—	Email for the first admin account

See the Overleaf Server documentation for the full list.

Relation to Overleaf

Verso is a fork of Overleaf Community Edition with the following changes:

• LaTeX/CLSI compiler replaced by Quarto (PDF via Typst, HTML via RevealJS)
• Default project template changed from main.tex to main.qmd
• Document outline parser extended to read Markdown headings
• Compiler selector in the UI replaced with a single "Quarto" option
• Brand colours updated to Quarto's palette; name changed from Overleaf to Verso
• TeX Live removed from the base Docker image; Quarto installed instead

All other infrastructure — real-time collaboration, history, auth, file storage, project management — is unchanged from Overleaf.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please open an issue or pull request on the Verso repository.

The upstream Overleaf contribution guidelines are in CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

GNU Affero General Public License v3 — see LICENSE.

Copyright © Overleaf, 2014–2025 (original code).
Verso modifications © Aloïs Coquillard, 2026–present.