getting "Client is not running" in vscode

[dansahlin]

I am new to ELP and tried to install it in vscode using the command "ext install elp".

But I get the following error message repeated again and again:
Client is not running and can't be stopped. It's current state is: starting.

What can be the problem?

[robertoaloi]

Hi @dansahlin

I am not familiar with the ext install workflow. Is ext a command line tool? I normally install extensions via the "Extension" menu in VS Code.

Anyway, can you give a bit more details about your setup?

• Operating system
• VS Code version

The id for the extension is erlang-language-platform.erlang-language-platform, so I would assume any extension installer would require that.

[Mikaka27]

Hi I had similar problem.
I installed elp extension v0.36.0, and when I tried to execute:
~/.vscode-server/extensions/erlang-language-platform.erlang-language-platform-0.36.0-linux-x64/bin/elp version (I don't have command history, and I'm not sure if the path contained 'linux-x64', however I downloaded the extension on windows, and then used vscode command "Install local extensions in WSL: Ubuntu-22.04".

I received exec format error (like downloaded elp was for a different platform than mine).
My platform:

emiwaso@E-5CG20409QJ:~/Projects/otp$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS
Release:        22.04
Codename:       jammy
emiwaso@E-5CG20409QJ:~/Projects/otp$ uname -a
Linux E-5CG20409QJ 6.6.87.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Mon Apr 21 17:08:54 UTC 2025 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I resolved this by installing v0.35.0 and then updating again to v0.36.0.

[dansahlin]

I am not familiar with the ext install workflow. Is ext a command line tool? I normally install extensions via the "Extension" menu in VS Code.

"ext install" essentially is the same as the extension menu in VS Code.

Anyway, can you give a bit more details about your setup?

Operating system: RedHat 8.10
VS Code version: 1.98.2

I tried to run ELP 0.36.

[fowlay]

I may be seeing a similar problem. After starting VS Code and installing ELP, if I choose "Extensions: Show Installed Extensions" from the command palette, and hover over erlang-language-platform in the left pane, there is a popup saying "This extension has reported 11 uncaught errors". If I click "11 uncaught errors" I get them listed:

write EPIPE
Client is not running and can't be stopped. It's current state is: starting
write EPIPE
Cannot call write after a stream was destroyed
Client is not running and can't be stopped. It's current state is: starting
..... (more repetitions of the same)

When opening a small Erlang source file I could see syntax coloring, but things like "go to definition" did not work.

VS Code version: 1.102.2; no other extensions besides ELP installed
ELP 0.41.0
OTP 27 in the PATH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.10

[dansahlin]

Problem solved for me and elp now runs in vscode!
It turned out that the glibc version was old on our server (and cannot be upgraded).
But creating an elp binary with statically linked newer libraries it now works!

[robertoaloi]

Problem solved for me and elp now runs in vscode! It turned out that the glibc version was old on our server (and cannot be upgraded). But creating an elp binary with statically linked newer libraries it now works!

This is excellent. Any tip we could share with other users who may experience a similar behaviour?

• How did you find out about the issue?
• How did you create the binary?

We could add that to the troubleshooting section of the docs.

[dansahlin]

Well, the problem was found and solved in another team.
I think they simply knew that an old glibc was used so they relinked the binary elp file.
As I have not relinked a file myself, I do not have any specific instructions.