lsp-cli

lsp-cli is a command-line tool for talking to Language Server Protocol (LSP) servers from the terminal without an editor.

It helps you do editor-style code navigation and inspection from a terminal:

detect which language and LSP server fit a project
download LSP server if it is missing in the system
call simple LSP commands like references, callers, list-symbols
collect diagnostics
format files
inspect server capabilities
keep a server warm in a background daemon

The goal is simple: point lsp-cli at a file or project directory, let it choose a matching LSP server, and query that server from the shell.

Getting Started

Install via cargo

The preferred installation method.

Assuming you already have cargo installed, install lsp-cli with Cargo:

cargo install lsp-cli

Check that it works:

lsp-cli --help

Generate SKILL.md for your code agent (if any):

mkdir -p .claude/skills/lsp-cli/
lsp-cli agent-skill >.claude/skills/lsp-cli/SKILL.md

Compiling from sources

Clone the repository with its data files and run:

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/segoon/lsp-cli.git
cd lsp-cli
cargo build

# Run the debug executable from ./target/debug/
cargo run -- detect playground/python
cargo run -- grep Order playground/rust
cargo run -- definition format_order playground/c --lsp clangd

Use cases

You might want to use lsp-cli if:

you want to make simple LSP requests from the terminal
your code agent doesn't support a rare/proprietary LSP server (e.g. for a rare language)
you implement an IDE/editor that should support a wide range of languages, but you don't want to mess around LSP server configuration / distribution

What lsp-cli Does

At a high level, lsp-cli usually does the following:

scans the given directory
detects matching languages from filenames
chooses one or more configured LSP servers for those languages
chooses a workspace root for the selected server
(downloads an LSP server if it is missing)[DOWNLOAD.md]
starts the server, or reuses a matching daemon
sends the requested LSP query
prints a human-readable result or JSON

This means you do not have to assemble server command lines by hand or even install LSP server at all.

Typical Workflows

Detect what lsp-cli would run:

lsp-cli detect path/to/project
lsp-cli detect --lang python path/to/project

Search for symbols across a workspace:

lsp-cli grep MySymbol path/to/project

Find definitions, declarations, and references by symbol name:

lsp-cli definition MySymbol path/to/project
lsp-cli declaration MySymbol path/to/project
lsp-cli references MySymbol path/to/project

Find callers and callees by function name:

```sh
lsp-cli callers format_order path/to/project
lsp-cli callees format_order path/to/project

List symbols in one file or all matching files in a workspace:

lsp-cli list-symbols path/to/project/src/main.rs
lsp-cli list-symbols path/to/project

List functions:

lsp-cli list-functions path/to/project

Collect diagnostics for the workspace:

lsp-cli diagnostics path/to/project

Format a file:

lsp-cli format path/to/file.rs

# exits with status 0 if the files is already formatted
lsp-cli format --check path/to/file.rs

# do not change the original file, the formatted content is written to stdout
lsp-cli format --stdout path/to/file.rs

Use JSON output for scripts and code agents:

lsp-cli grep --json MySymbol path/to/project

Inspect the selected server capabilities:

lsp-cli server-capabilities --lsp rust-analyzer path/to/project

You may start an LSP server in background to reuse it later:

# start
lsp-cli daemon playground/python

# reuse the existing background daemon, do not spawn a new one
lsp-cli references playground/python

# stop a specific daemon
lsp-cli stop playground/python

# stop all background daemons
lsp-cli stop-all

The same background daemon is spawned and left idle after lsp-cli <CMD> --detach is finished.

A new connection has two seconds to send its first complete message. Silent or incomplete connections are closed without interrupting the active client. Up to 16 connections can wait to start a session; additional connections are closed, including stop connections while all 16 slots are occupied.

Configuration Files

If you want to customize lsp-cli, the three important config layers are:

lsp-cli.yaml for defaults and preferences (especially LSP server preference order)
filetypes/*.yaml for language detection
lsp/*.yaml for server definitions

Data Root

The data root is ~/.local/share/lsp-cli/data. It contains:

filetypes/*.yaml - language detection settings
lsp/*.yaml - LSP server settings
lsp-cli.yaml

User Configuration File

User-specific overrides live in a separate file:

$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/lsp-cli/lsp-cli.yaml (or ~/.config/lsp-cli/lsp-cli.yaml if $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is empty).

Precedence

Settings are applied in this order:

global lsp-cli.yaml from the data root
user lsp-cli.yaml
command-line flags

User config overrides global config. Command-line flags override both.

lsp-cli.yaml

lsp-cli.yaml stores CLI defaults and server preference order:

# Install a missing server automatically when a command needs it.
download: false

# Which lsp-cli data release `update` should install.
download-version: latest

# Reuse or start background daemons for LSP-backed commands.
detach: false

# Print JSON.
json: false

# Print verbose logs and raw LSP traffic to stderr.
debug: false

# Default per-request timeout.
# It supports two formats:
# - 10.1 means 10.1 seconds
# - 100ms means 0.1 seconds
timeout: "10"

# Maximum outstanding document-symbol requests while finding a symbol by name
# (references, definition, declaration, callers, and callees). Default: 20.
# Use 1 for sequential requests or a smaller value to reduce server load.
max-requests-in-flight: 20
# A file-symbol timeout fails the query instead of returning incomplete results.

# Default maximum number of printed results.
# Useful for code agents.
limit: 100

detect:
  # Print only suggested command lines for `detect`.
  quiet: false

daemon:
  # Shut down an idle daemon after this much time.
  idle-timeout: "60"
  # Disconnect an output peer that remains backlogged for this long. Default: 2 seconds.
  write-stall-timeout: "2"

lsp:
  # Example server preference list for C++.
  cpp:
    - clangd

  # Prefer these Python servers in this order.
  python:
    - ty
    - pyright-langserver
    - jedi-language-server

Each daemon output uses an ordered writer queue. A queue is marked stalled at 64 messages or 8 MiB of framed data and unmarked after both values fall below those limits. The daemon continues accepting messages during the grace period, so memory can grow if traffic continues; it disconnects a slow client or stops an unresponsive server if the queue stays marked for write-stall-timeout. A message larger than 8 MiB is allowed and begins writing after earlier messages on that output. Server restart and shutdown also advance through daemon events. The daemon keeps accepting control traffic while a process starts or exits; an unresponsive server is force-stopped after the existing two-second shutdown and exit deadlines. Daemon traffic, lifecycle, error, and captured-server-stderr logs use a 64-record worker queue, so formatting, stderr, and the global log file do not block forwarding. New records are dropped when this queue is full, and the daemon reports the count after logging resumes. Normal shutdown waits at most 100 milliseconds for logs.

Language Configs: filetypes/*.yaml

Files in filetypes/ define how lsp-cli recognizes a language.

The filename becomes the language id:

filetypes/python.yaml defines the python language
filetypes/cpp.yaml defines the cpp language

Example:

# filetypes/python.yaml

# Match files by extension.
extensions:
  - "py"

# Match files by filename regex when needed.
patterns: []

Another example for a filename-based language:

# filetypes/BUILD.bazel.yaml

# No extension-based matching.
extensions: []

# Match special filenames.
patterns:
  - "^BUILD(\\.bazel)?$"

LSP Server Configs: lsp/*.yaml

Files in lsp/ define how lsp-cli can run a language server.

cmdline may include $WORKSPACE, which is replaced with the resolved workspace path

The workspace root is identified the following way. First, lsp-cli walks upward until it finds one of the configured root_markers. If no marker is found, it uses the input directory or input file parent directory as the workspace root.

Example:

# lsp/pyright.yaml

# Languages this server handles.
filetypes:
  - "python"

# Search upward for these files to choose the workspace root.
root_markers:
  - "pyrightconfig.json"
  - "pyproject.toml"
  - "setup.py"
  - ".git"

# User-visible server name.
# This is the value used with `--lsp`.
name: "pyright-langserver"

# Command used to start the server.
cmdline: "pyright-langserver --stdio"

Example with $WORKSPACE and indexing behavior:

# lsp/clangd.yaml

filetypes:
  - "c"
  - "cpp"

root_markers:
  - ".clangd"
  - "compile_commands.json"
  - ".git"

name: "clangd"

# `$WORKSPACE` is replaced with the resolved workspace path.
cmdline: "clangd --background-index --compile-commands-dir=$WORKSPACE"

# Whether commands that can wait for indexing should do so by default.
wait-for-index: false

Commands and options

$ lsp-cli --help
Query language servers from the command line

Usage: lsp-cli <COMMAND>

Commands:
  commands             List canonical top-level subcommands
  daemon               Start a background daemon for the selected workspace and server
  stop                 Stop the matching background daemon (same cmdline and cwd)
  stop-all             Stop every active lsp-cli daemon (any cmdline, any cwd)
  languages            List known languages
  servers              List known LSP servers
  server-capabilities  Show the selected server's advertised capabilities
  detect               Detect runnable language servers for a path
  diagnostics          Print workspace diagnostics
  format               Format a file
  grep                 Search workspace symbols (regex syntax is server-dependent)
  list-symbols         List symbols from a file or workspace
  list-functions       List functions, methods, constructors, and operators
  list-files           List files that match the selected workspace filters
  references           Find references to a symbol name
  callers              Find callers of a symbol name
  callees              Find callees of a symbol name
  definition           Find definitions of a symbol name
  declaration          Find declarations of a symbol name
  build-index          Wait for the server to finish indexing a workspace
  update               Force update langages/servers database
  completion           Generate a shell completion script, write it to stdout
  agent-skill          Generate a generic Markdown skill file for code agents
  run                  Replace lsp-cli with the selected language server process
  help                 Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options:
  -h, --help  Print help

$ lsp-cli daemon --help
Start a background daemon for the selected workspace and server

Usage: lsp-cli daemon [OPTIONS] [PATH]

Arguments:
  [PATH]  Path used to detect the workspace and server to daemonize. [default: .]

Options:
      --lang <LANG>       Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>         Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --download          Download LSP server if not found in PATH.
      --no-download       Do not install missing servers automatically.
      --debug             Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug          Disable verbose debug logs.
      --idle-timeout <T>  Shut the daemon down after this much idle time.
  -h, --help              Print help

$ lsp-cli stop --help
Stop the matching background daemon (same cmdline and cwd)

Usage: lsp-cli stop [OPTIONS] [PATH]

Arguments:
  [PATH]  Path used to resolve the daemon to stop. [default: .]

Options:
      --lang <LANG>  Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>    Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --debug        Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug     Disable verbose debug logs.
  -h, --help         Print help

$ lsp-cli stop-all --help
Stop every active lsp-cli daemon (any cmdline, any cwd)

Usage: lsp-cli stop-all [OPTIONS]

Options:
      --debug     Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug  Disable verbose debug logs.
  -h, --help      Print help

$ lsp-cli languages --help
List known languages

Usage: lsp-cli languages

Options:
  -h, --help  Print help

$ lsp-cli servers --help
List known LSP servers

Usage: lsp-cli servers [OPTIONS]

Options:
      --lang <LANG>  List servers configured for this language only.
  -h, --help         Print help

$ lsp-cli server-capabilities --help
Show the selected server's advertised capabilities

Usage: lsp-cli server-capabilities [OPTIONS] <DIRECTORY>

Arguments:
  <DIRECTORY>  Workspace directory used to initialize the server.

Options:
      --lang <LANG>  Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>    Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --detach       Use a background daemon socket when available, starting one if needed.
      --no-detach    Talk to the server in this process instead of using a background daemon.
      --download     Download LSP server if not found in PATH.
      --no-download  Do not install missing servers automatically.
      --debug        Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug     Disable verbose debug logs.
      --timeout <T>  Per-request LSP timeout. Plain numbers are seconds; values ending in `ms` are milliseconds.
  -h, --help         Print help

$ lsp-cli detect --help
Detect runnable language servers for a path

Usage: lsp-cli detect [OPTIONS] [PATH]

Arguments:
  [PATH]  Path to inspect for supported languages and servers. [default: .]

Options:
      --lang <LANG>  Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>    Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --download     Download LSP server if not found in PATH.
      --no-download  Do not install missing servers automatically.
      --json         Print results as JSON.
      --no-json      Print human-readable output instead of JSON.
  -q                 Print only the suggested server command lines.
      --no-quiet     Print labeled output instead of only command lines.
      --debug        Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug     Disable verbose debug logs.
  -h, --help         Print help

$ lsp-cli diagnostics --help
Print workspace diagnostics

Usage: lsp-cli diagnostics [OPTIONS] <DIRECTORY>

Arguments:
  <DIRECTORY>  Workspace directory to query.

Options:
      --lang <LANG>         Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>           Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --wait-for-index      Wait for background indexing before sending the workspace query.
      --json                Print results as JSON.
      --no-json             Print human-readable output instead of JSON.
      --debug               Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug            Disable verbose debug logs.
      --timeout <T>         Per-request LSP timeout. Plain numbers are seconds; values ending in `ms` are milliseconds.
      --limit <N>           Maximum number of results to print. Mainly usable for code agents.
      --download            Download LSP server if not found in PATH.
      --no-download         Do not install missing servers automatically.
      --detach              Use a background daemon socket when available, starting one if needed.
      --no-detach           Talk to the server in this process instead of using a background daemon.
  -l, --files-with-matches  Print only file paths that contain matches.
  -h, --help                Print help

$ lsp-cli format --help
Format a file

Usage: lsp-cli format [OPTIONS] <PATH>

Arguments:
  <PATH>  File to format.

Options:
      --lang <LANG>  Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>    Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --download     Download LSP server if not found in PATH.
      --no-download  Do not install missing servers automatically.
      --detach       Use a background daemon socket when available, starting one if needed.
      --no-detach    Talk to the server in this process instead of using a background daemon.
      --json         Print results as JSON.
      --no-json      Print human-readable output instead of JSON.
      --debug        Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug     Disable verbose debug logs.
      --timeout <T>  Per-request LSP timeout. Plain numbers are seconds; values ending in `ms` are milliseconds.
      --check        Exit with an error if formatting would change the file.
      --stdout       Write the formatted file to stdout instead of modifying it.
  -h, --help         Print help

$ lsp-cli grep --help
Search workspace symbols (regex syntax is server-dependent)

Usage: lsp-cli grep [OPTIONS] <PATTERN> <DIRECTORY>

Arguments:
  <PATTERN>    Pattern to send to `workspace/symbol`.
  <DIRECTORY>  Workspace directory to query.

Options:
      --lang <LANG>         Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>           Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --wait-for-index      Wait for background indexing before sending the workspace query.
      --json                Print results as JSON.
      --no-json             Print human-readable output instead of JSON.
      --debug               Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug            Disable verbose debug logs.
      --timeout <T>         Per-request LSP timeout. Plain numbers are seconds; values ending in `ms` are milliseconds.
      --limit <N>           Maximum number of results to print. Mainly usable for code agents.
      --download            Download LSP server if not found in PATH.
      --no-download         Do not install missing servers automatically.
      --detach              Use a background daemon socket when available, starting one if needed.
      --no-detach           Talk to the server in this process instead of using a background daemon.
  -l, --files-with-matches  Print only file paths that contain matches.
  -h, --help                Print help

$ lsp-cli list-symbols --help
List symbols from a file or workspace

Usage: lsp-cli list-symbols [OPTIONS] <PATH>

Arguments:
  <PATH>  File or directory whose symbols to list.

Options:
      --lang <LANG>     Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>       Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --detach          Use a background daemon socket when available, starting one if needed.
      --no-detach       Talk to the server in this process instead of using a background daemon.
      --wait-for-index  Wait for background indexing before sending the workspace query.
      --download        Download LSP server if not found in PATH.
      --no-download     Do not install missing servers automatically.
      --json            Print results as JSON.
      --no-json         Print human-readable output instead of JSON.
      --debug           Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug        Disable verbose debug logs.
      --timeout <T>     Per-request LSP timeout. Plain numbers are seconds; values ending in `ms` are milliseconds.
      --limit <N>       Maximum number of results to print. Mainly usable for code agents.
  -h, --help            Print help

$ lsp-cli list-functions --help
List functions, methods, constructors, and operators

Usage: lsp-cli list-functions [OPTIONS] <DIRECTORY>

Arguments:
  <DIRECTORY>  Workspace directory to query.

Options:
      --lang <LANG>         Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>           Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --wait-for-index      Wait for background indexing before sending the workspace query.
      --json                Print results as JSON.
      --no-json             Print human-readable output instead of JSON.
      --debug               Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug            Disable verbose debug logs.
      --timeout <T>         Per-request LSP timeout. Plain numbers are seconds; values ending in `ms` are milliseconds.
      --limit <N>           Maximum number of results to print. Mainly usable for code agents.
      --download            Download LSP server if not found in PATH.
      --no-download         Do not install missing servers automatically.
      --detach              Use a background daemon socket when available, starting one if needed.
      --no-detach           Talk to the server in this process instead of using a background daemon.
  -l, --files-with-matches  Print only file paths that contain matches.
  -h, --help                Print help

$ lsp-cli list-files --help
List files that match the selected workspace filters

Usage: lsp-cli list-files [OPTIONS] <DIRECTORY>

Arguments:
  <DIRECTORY>  Workspace directory to query.

Options:
      --lang <LANG>     Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>       Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --wait-for-index  Wait for background indexing before sending the workspace query.
      --json            Print results as JSON.
      --no-json         Print human-readable output instead of JSON.
      --debug           Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug        Disable verbose debug logs.
      --timeout <T>     Per-request LSP timeout. Plain numbers are seconds; values ending in `ms` are milliseconds.
      --limit <N>       Maximum number of results to print. Mainly usable for code agents.
  -h, --help            Print help

$ lsp-cli references --help
Find references to a symbol name

Usage: lsp-cli references [OPTIONS] <NAME> <DIRECTORY>

Arguments:
  <NAME>       Symbol name to search for.
  <DIRECTORY>  Workspace directory to query.

Options:
      --lang <LANG>         Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>           Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --wait-for-index      Wait for background indexing before sending the workspace query.
      --json                Print results as JSON.
      --no-json             Print human-readable output instead of JSON.
      --debug               Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug            Disable verbose debug logs.
      --timeout <T>         Per-request LSP timeout. Plain numbers are seconds; values ending in `ms` are milliseconds.
      --limit <N>           Maximum number of results to print. Mainly usable for code agents.
      --download            Download LSP server if not found in PATH.
      --no-download         Do not install missing servers automatically.
      --detach              Use a background daemon socket when available, starting one if needed.
      --no-detach           Talk to the server in this process instead of using a background daemon.
  -l, --files-with-matches  Print only file paths that contain matches.
  -h, --help                Print help

$ lsp-cli callers --help
Find callers of a symbol name

Usage: lsp-cli callers [OPTIONS] <NAME> <DIRECTORY>

Arguments:
  <NAME>       Symbol name to search for.
  <DIRECTORY>  Workspace directory to query.

Options:
      --lang <LANG>         Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>           Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --wait-for-index      Wait for background indexing before sending the workspace query.
      --json                Print results as JSON.
      --no-json             Print human-readable output instead of JSON.
      --debug               Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug            Disable verbose debug logs.
      --timeout <T>         Per-request LSP timeout. Plain numbers are seconds; values ending in `ms` are milliseconds.
      --limit <N>           Maximum number of results to print. Mainly usable for code agents.
      --download            Download LSP server if not found in PATH.
      --no-download         Do not install missing servers automatically.
      --detach              Use a background daemon socket when available, starting one if needed.
      --no-detach           Talk to the server in this process instead of using a background daemon.
  -l, --files-with-matches  Print only file paths that contain matches.
  -h, --help                Print help

$ lsp-cli callees --help
Find callees of a symbol name

Usage: lsp-cli callees [OPTIONS] <NAME> <DIRECTORY>

Arguments:
  <NAME>       Symbol name to search for.
  <DIRECTORY>  Workspace directory to query.

Options:
      --lang <LANG>         Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>           Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --wait-for-index      Wait for background indexing before sending the workspace query.
      --json                Print results as JSON.
      --no-json             Print human-readable output instead of JSON.
      --debug               Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug            Disable verbose debug logs.
      --timeout <T>         Per-request LSP timeout. Plain numbers are seconds; values ending in `ms` are milliseconds.
      --limit <N>           Maximum number of results to print. Mainly usable for code agents.
      --download            Download LSP server if not found in PATH.
      --no-download         Do not install missing servers automatically.
      --detach              Use a background daemon socket when available, starting one if needed.
      --no-detach           Talk to the server in this process instead of using a background daemon.
  -l, --files-with-matches  Print only file paths that contain matches.
  -h, --help                Print help

$ lsp-cli definition --help
Find definitions of a symbol name

Usage: lsp-cli definition [OPTIONS] <NAME> <DIRECTORY>

Arguments:
  <NAME>       Symbol name to search for.
  <DIRECTORY>  Workspace directory to query.

Options:
      --lang <LANG>         Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>           Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --wait-for-index      Wait for background indexing before sending the workspace query.
      --json                Print results as JSON.
      --no-json             Print human-readable output instead of JSON.
      --debug               Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug            Disable verbose debug logs.
      --timeout <T>         Per-request LSP timeout. Plain numbers are seconds; values ending in `ms` are milliseconds.
      --limit <N>           Maximum number of results to print. Mainly usable for code agents.
      --download            Download LSP server if not found in PATH.
      --no-download         Do not install missing servers automatically.
      --detach              Use a background daemon socket when available, starting one if needed.
      --no-detach           Talk to the server in this process instead of using a background daemon.
  -l, --files-with-matches  Print only file paths that contain matches.
      --full                Include full source text for each match in output.
  -h, --help                Print help

$ lsp-cli declaration --help
Find declarations of a symbol name

Usage: lsp-cli declaration [OPTIONS] <NAME> <DIRECTORY>

Arguments:
  <NAME>       Symbol name to search for.
  <DIRECTORY>  Workspace directory to query.

Options:
      --lang <LANG>         Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>           Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --wait-for-index      Wait for background indexing before sending the workspace query.
      --json                Print results as JSON.
      --no-json             Print human-readable output instead of JSON.
      --debug               Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug            Disable verbose debug logs.
      --timeout <T>         Per-request LSP timeout. Plain numbers are seconds; values ending in `ms` are milliseconds.
      --limit <N>           Maximum number of results to print. Mainly usable for code agents.
      --download            Download LSP server if not found in PATH.
      --no-download         Do not install missing servers automatically.
      --detach              Use a background daemon socket when available, starting one if needed.
      --no-detach           Talk to the server in this process instead of using a background daemon.
  -l, --files-with-matches  Print only file paths that contain matches.
      --full                Include full source text for each match in output.
  -h, --help                Print help

$ lsp-cli build-index --help
Wait for the server to finish indexing a workspace

Usage: lsp-cli build-index [OPTIONS] <DIRECTORY>

Arguments:
  <DIRECTORY>  Workspace directory to index.

Options:
      --lang <LANG>  Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>    Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --detach       Use a background daemon socket when available, starting one if needed.
      --no-detach    Talk to the server in this process instead of using a background daemon.
      --download     Download LSP server if not found in PATH.
      --no-download  Do not install missing servers automatically.
      --debug        Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug     Disable verbose debug logs.
      --timeout <T>  Per-request LSP timeout. Plain numbers are seconds; values ending in `ms` are milliseconds.
  -h, --help         Print help

$ lsp-cli update --help
Force update langages/servers database

Usage: lsp-cli update

Options:
  -h, --help  Print help

$ lsp-cli completion --help
Generate a shell completion script, write it to stdout

Usage: lsp-cli completion [SHELL]

Arguments:
  [SHELL]  Shell to generate completion for. Defaults to the current shell from $SHELL. [possible values: bash, elvish, fish, powershell, zsh]

Options:
  -h, --help  Print help

$ lsp-cli agent-skill --help
Generate a generic Markdown skill file for code agents

Usage: lsp-cli agent-skill

Options:
  -h, --help  Print help

$ lsp-cli run --help
Replace lsp-cli with the selected language server process

Usage: lsp-cli run [OPTIONS] [PATH]

Arguments:
  [PATH]  Path used to detect the workspace and server to run. [default: .]

Options:
      --lang <LANG>  Select this language.
      --lsp <LSP>    Use a specific configured LSP server.
      --download     Download LSP server if not found in PATH.
      --no-download  Do not install missing servers automatically.
      --debug        Print verbose debug logs to stderr.
      --no-debug     Disable verbose debug logs.
  -h, --help         Print help

Useful Examples

Detect candidate servers for a project:

lsp-cli detect playground/python
lsp-cli detect playground/python --lang python
lsp-cli detect playground/python --lsp pyright-langserver

Search workspace symbols:

lsp-cli grep Order playground/rust
lsp-cli grep --json Order playground/rust

List symbols and functions:

lsp-cli list-symbols playground/java/src/main/java/playground/order/Order.java
lsp-cli list-functions playground/rust

Find locations and call relationships:

lsp-cli definition format_order playground/c --lsp clangd
lsp-cli declaration format_order playground/c --lsp clangd
lsp-cli references OrderFormatter playground/csharp
lsp-cli callers format_order playground/c --lsp clangd
lsp-cli callees format_order playground/c --lsp clangd

Diagnostics and formatting:

lsp-cli diagnostics playground/python
lsp-cli diagnostics --json playground/python
lsp-cli format playground/rust/src/main.rs
lsp-cli format --check playground/rust/src/main.rs
lsp-cli format --stdout playground/rust/src/main.rs

Inspect the selected server:

lsp-cli server-capabilities playground/rust --lsp rust-analyzer
lsp-cli build-index playground/rust --lsp rust-analyzer

Use background daemons:

lsp-cli daemon playground/python
lsp-cli stop playground/python
lsp-cli stop-all

List known languages and servers:

lsp-cli languages
lsp-cli servers
lsp-cli servers --lang python

Generate shell completion:

lsp-cli completion bash > /tmp/lsp-cli.bash

Generate a generic Markdown skill file for a code agent:

lsp-cli agent-skill > SKILL.md

Playground

The repository contains small multi-file sample projects in playground/ for manual testing.

They are useful for learning what each command prints before pointing lsp-cli at a real project.

Limitations

lsp-cli works through LSP servers, so results are only as good as the selected server
not every server supports every feature
some features may silently fail with some LSP servers
symbol search quality (and regex syntax) varies between servers
background indexing support varies between servers

Links

lsp-cli on github and on crate.io
lsp-cli-data on github

References

LSP specification

Thanks

I'd like to say "thank you" to the following opensource projects:

nvim-lspconfig was used to fill LSP servers database
mason inspired me to implement LSP server autodownload
mason-registry is used as an LSP server registry

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
.github		.github
.memory/unprocessed		.memory/unprocessed
data @ 59ea883		data @ 59ea883
playground		playground
scripts		scripts
src		src
tests		tests
.gitignore		.gitignore
.gitmodules		.gitmodules
AGENTS.md		AGENTS.md
Cargo.lock		Cargo.lock
Cargo.toml		Cargo.toml
DOWNLOAD.md		DOWNLOAD.md
E2E_TESTS.md		E2E_TESTS.md
GOTCHAS.md		GOTCHAS.md
LICENSE.md		LICENSE.md
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md
SMELLS.md		SMELLS.md
TODO.md		TODO.md
clippy.toml		clippy.toml
deny.toml		deny.toml
opencode.json		opencode.json

Navigation Menu

Repository files navigation

lsp-cli

Getting Started

Install via cargo

Compiling from sources

Use cases

What lsp-cli Does

Typical Workflows

Configuration Files

Data Root

User Configuration File

Precedence

lsp-cli.yaml

Language Configs: filetypes/*.yaml

LSP Server Configs: lsp/*.yaml

Commands and options

Useful Examples

Playground

Limitations

Links

References

Thanks

About

Releases

Packages

Contributors

Languages

Latest commit

History

Folders and files

Repository files navigation

lsp-cli

Getting Started

Install via cargo

Compiling from sources

Use cases

What lsp-cli Does

Typical Workflows

Configuration Files

Data Root

User Configuration File

Precedence

lsp-cli.yaml

Language Configs: filetypes/*.yaml

LSP Server Configs: lsp/*.yaml

Commands and options

Useful Examples

Playground

Limitations

Links

References

Thanks

About

Resources

Stars

Watchers

Forks

Releases

Packages

Contributors

Languages