# Work together

See who is in a shared project, follow their cursors, jump to a collaborator, read the sync status, and compile matching PDFs.

In a shared project, everyone types into the same files at once. Edits merge as you type, so two people can work in the same paragraph. You never press save or send.

## See who's here

The avatars on the toolbar are the people in the project right now. Hover over one to see the person's name, their role and the file they have open. A guest also has a **Guest** badge. When more people are here than fit, a number stands in for the rest. Hover over it for the list.

The **People** section of the **Live collaboration** pane lists everyone in the project, you first. Under each name you see their role and where they are:

- **Here now in** a file path: they're in the project with that file open.
- **Here now**: they're in the project, but not in a file.
- **Not here right now**: they don't have the project open.

In the Explorer, a small dot in a person's colour sits beside each file they have open. Hover over the dot to see who it is.

## Cursors and selections

Each person has their own colour. Their cursor shows in the editor as a thin line with their name above it, and the text they select is tinted in their colour. You see these only in the file you have open, and only for people who share their cursor.

Each person chooses what others see under **What others see** in **Settings → Collaboration**. Read [Choose what others see](/docs/collaboration/get-started/#choose-what-others-see).

## Jump to a collaborator

Select a person's avatar on the toolbar, or their row under **People**, to go to where they are. Oleafly opens their file, scrolls to their cursor and tints the line in their colour for a moment. Your own cursor and selection stay where they were in that file, so you don't lose your place.

When someone isn't in a file, their avatar says "Not in a file, so there is nowhere to go", and selecting it does nothing.

## The sync status

The icon at the top of the **Live collaboration** pane, beside **Manage sharing**, shows whether your work has reached everyone. The tooltip on the toolbar's **Share** button shows the same status. Hover over the icon or select it for details: the server's name and address, your role and how many changes are waiting.

| Status | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **Up to date** | The server has all your changes, and you have everyone else's. |
| **Syncing** | Changes are on their way. |
| **Offline. Changes waiting:** and a number | There's no connection. That many changes wait on this computer and go out when you reconnect. |
| **Reconnecting** | The connection dropped, and Oleafly is trying again. Nothing of yours is waiting. |
| **Signed out** | This computer is signed out of the server. Select **Sign in**. Your changes stay on this computer. |
| **Account paused** | An admin paused your account. Your changes stay on this computer, and you can sign in again once it's turned back on. |
| **No access** | You no longer have access to the server. Your copy stays on this computer. |
| **Access removed** | The owner removed you from the project. |
| **Sharing stopped** | The owner stopped sharing the project, or an admin archived it. |
| **Paused** | Syncing stopped on this computer. It starts again the next time you open the project. |

[When your access changes](/docs/collaboration/access-changes/) covers the last few in detail.

## Undo

Undo takes back only your own edits. If a co-author typed in the same paragraph, their text stays where it is.

## Activity

The **Activity** section of the **Live collaboration** pane keeps a short history of the project:

- people opening and closing the project, joining it and leaving it
- people added to or removed from the project, and changes to your role
- going offline and coming back, and how many changes from others were merged while you were away
- someone in the project signing in on a new device
- a rename of yours that crossed with someone else's rename of the same file
- someone mentioning you in a comment, with **Show comment**

A merge entry has **Show files** to list the files that changed. **Review** opens a read-only view of those changes, grouped **By person** and **By file**.

## Compile and export

Each person compiles on their own computer. The PDF and build files aren't shared.

The project's compile settings are shared, so they're the same for everyone: the main document, the compiler, the spelling language, and for Typst projects the Typst version, fonts and build options. When someone changes one of them, everyone's copy follows and **Activity** says who changed what. If someone renames or moves the main document, it stays the main document. Viewers can see these settings but can't change them.

Each person still needs that engine on their own computer, or uses the one bundled with Oleafly. [Choose an engine](/docs/engines/) explains the options.

Allowing external commands, also called shell escape, isn't shared. Each person decides it for their own computer. Before turning it on, Oleafly warns you that anyone who can edit the project could then run programs on your computer when you compile. Read [Allow external commands](/docs/latex-engines/#allow-external-commands).

If people compile with a system TeX installation, small differences between installations can still change the PDF. Keep everyone's TeX at a similar version.

The PDF comes from the files as they are, so it includes any suggestions still waiting for review. [What's in the file](/docs/collaboration/suggesting/#whats-in-the-file) explains why.

Export works the same as in any project. It uses the files on your computer, which match everyone else's once your status says **Up to date**.