Re: Pike lsp

Hi-

That pike language server is new in the last week, and the first line in =
the readme is "This project was 100% coded by AI agents=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9D =
so it=E2=80=99s probably good to set expectations accordingly.

Trying to keep an open mind, I followed the instructions, which built a =
VSIX file that I was able to load into VSCode. However, the VSCode =
extension doesn=E2=80=99t start up due to some node errors. Those show =
up in the Output -> Extension Host window. I don=E2=80=99t know where to =
begin to fix that.

I /was/ able to use the LSP4J plugin in my JetBrains IDE to set up a =
mapping between *.pike, *.pmod and the language server. What I did:

cd pike-lsp
npm install -g pnpm
pnpm install
pnpm build

Then in the language server configuration, I put the following command =
in the spot in the configuration:

node --inspect =
/path/to/pike-lsp/packages/pike-language-server/src/server.js --stdio

You can also run that command yourself and it should spit out some json =
to let you know it=E2=80=99s running. There are other command line =
options to use sockets, etc.

It sort of works, if you type in invalid code, it highlights that and =
gives (not terribly helpful) descriptions of the problem. This might be =
a common problem with all lsp, but you get the red underline almost =
immediately, even though you=E2=80=99re still typing=E2=80=A6 that seems =
like it would get frustrating pretty quickly. It can sort of do =
completion suggestions. It could be quite interesting if it worked a bit =
better, and maybe is a worthwhile starting point for something more, =
just maybe?=20

Years ago I wrote an eclipse plugin that had a pike parser written in =
Java. Based on the parsing, it could highlight syntax errors and =
generated code folding and structure mapping. It was reasonably good but =
there were esoteric bits of pike that the grammar choked on.=20

What might be interesting for you is the debug adapter protocol =
implementation that I didn=E2=80=99t get around to committing. That=E2=80=99=
s the debugging equivalent of LSP. It wasn=E2=80=99t complete but could =
be genuinely useful. If folks are interested I could make an effort to =
start the process of getting it merged into the main Pike repo.

Some details:

https://wiki.gotpike.org/PikeDevel/PikeDebugger

Also, an older page that I think is probably still valid:

https://wiki.gotpike.org/PikeTools

There are a number of editors/ides that support TextMate plugins, so it =
should be possible to use the TextMate bundle to add some light language =
integration to a number of editors. I also had a config file for =
exuberant-ctags at one point that did structure generation, and there =
are a number of plugins that support that. I don=E2=80=99t exactly =
recall if I wrote that or if it came from someone else. Perhaps someone =
here could help, if that was of interest.=20

Ultimately, I guess it sort of depends on what features you need=E2=80=A6 =
I find the code navigation features most helpful. There have been times =
when a proper debugger would have been a huge help (hence my efforts to =
build one). Maybe the syntax highlighting stuff could be useful but pike =
code compiles so quickly, it=E2=80=99s not a huge time saver for me.

Hope this helps!



> On Jan 12, 2026, at 3:17=E2=80=AFPM, Duke Normandin =
<[email protected]> wrote:
>=20
> I'm trying to install:
>=20
> https://github.com/TheSmuks/pike-lsp
>=20
> on my Linux box to see if it will work with the `helix' editor.
>=20
> Not having much success with `npm' and `pnpm'.
>=20
> Anybody using this lsp? Any others available? Any other suggestions =
for a sweet
> Pike hacking workflow? TIA ...
> --=20
> Duke
>=20