# Aldine [Health: Active]

**Category:** 💻 Developer Tools  
**Repository:** https://github.com/trahloff/Aldine  
**GitHub Stars:** 105  
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**Installs:** 0  
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**Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/aldine

## Description
Aldine: self-hosted, open-source collaborative LaTeX editor (an Overleaf alternative). Real-time editing, git branches, GitHub/GitLab/Gitea sync, Zotero, MCP server for Claude. Two containers, AGPL-3.0.

## Claude Desktop Quick Installation
No confirmed install details yet, so no config is published. Follow the setup steps in the repository above.

## Documentation

## What Aldine does

Aldine exposes a LaTeX editing workspace to Claude through an optional built-in MCP server. The surrounding Aldine application is a self-hosted collaborative editor in which every project is a real Git repository. Through MCP, Claude can modify the open document, run a typeset, and present the generated PDF in the conversation.

The integration is intended for agent-assisted work on existing LaTeX projects. It fits workflows where changes should remain visible and reviewable in the editor instead of being applied as untracked filesystem modifications.

## How it works

Enable the MCP service on an Aldine instance with `ALDINE_MCP=1`, then connect that instance to a supported Claude client over MCP. The README names claude.ai, Claude Desktop, Cowork, and Claude Code as connection targets. PDF results appear inline in claude.ai, Claude Desktop, and Cowork; elsewhere, Aldine provides a signed link.

Claude's edits are recorded as Git commits using the author name "Claude". Aldine shows those commits in the editor's history and provides a review-and-revert notification, allowing a collaborator to inspect or undo the agent's work. Typesetting uses Aldine's existing LaTeX compilation workflow, which runs TeX Live and latexmk in a restricted, no-egress container.

## Setup and configuration

Run Aldine as a self-hosted installation and enable its MCP functionality by setting:

- `ALDINE_MCP=1`

After the service is enabled, connect the Aldine instance from the Claude product being used. The integration is optional; Aldine remains usable as a collaborative LaTeX editor without it. MCP setup, reachability, and security details are part of Aldine's agent API documentation.

## Tools and capabilities

The MCP integration supports the core actions demonstrated for Claude:

- Edit the open LaTeX document.
- Typeset the project.
- Show the resulting PDF in the chat or through a signed link.
- Leave changes as identifiable Git commits for review.
- Revert agent changes from the Aldine editor.

These capabilities build on Aldine's project model: branches, Git history, collaborative editing, and sandboxed compilation. The server is therefore most useful when the target project already lives in Aldine and the agent needs to make changes that can be checked in the normal project history.

## Limitations and notes

The MCP service is an optional feature controlled by an Aldine server setting. Its behavior depends on the Aldine instance being reachable by the selected Claude client. Claude-authored changes are committed automatically, so teams should use the editor's review and revert controls when validating generated work. Aldine is licensed under AGPL-3.0.

_Full upstream README: https://allmcps.com/mcp/aldine/readme_