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Literate programming using LSP and org-mode(alpha)#

lsp-mode provides experimental support for running the language servers inside of org-mode source blocks. lsp-mode is achieving this by obtaining the information about the source block from the source block header(language + :tangle) then translating the point to the LSP positions back and forth so the language server thinks that Emacs has opened the original file. In order that to work the files has to be present on the disk as well because the server expects to find them.

Here it is a sample source block:

#+BEGIN_SRC python :tangle "python.py"
print "Hello!"
#+END_SRC

Demo#

Demo

Commands#

  • lsp-org start lsp-mode in source buffer. Must be executed with cursor being source block.
  • lsp-virtual-buffer-disconnect turn off lsp-mode.

What works#

  • lsp-mode core features (finding references, going to definitions, completion, lenses, highlighting, etc)
  • company-mode
  • flycheck
  • lsp-treemacs-symbols
  • lsp-treemacs-errors-list

Known limitations#

  • Incremental updates are performed by sending the whole buffer each time(they simulate full updates).
  • Deleting content that spans across the source block and the content of the org document is not handled.
  • Opening and editing the actual file from the disk might cause undefined behaviour because the server expects file to be open only once.

What does not work#

  • dap-mode
  • lsp-ui
  • flymake(?)

What's next#

  • Finishing the virtual buffers API.
  • lsp-ui support
  • dap-mode support
  • markdown-mode integration
Last update: April 22, 2024