Editors (LSP)

Note

Tested only in VS Code / Cursor. Neovim, Helix, JetBrains, and VSCodium should work with a generic LSP-compliant configuration, but they’re currently unverified.

contextlint ships with @contextlint/lsp-server, a Language Server Protocol (LSP) implementation. When you embed it in an LSP-capable editor, the server lints in-progress edits the moment you make them, surfacing diagnostics, hover information, and Quick Fixes inside the editor.

What it provides

• Diagnostics — inline violations for every one of the 21 rules, on the offending line
• Hover — hover a violation to see the rule ID and message
• Quick Fix — one-click auto-fix for a few rules
  • CHK-001: mark a checklist item as checked
  • TBL-002: insert TODO into an empty cell
• Cross-file rules updated live — file-spanning rules like REF-001 / REF-002 / TBL-006 / GRP-* are evaluated against the workspace cache as you edit

The LSP uses the same contextlint.config.json as the CLI and MCP server. There’s no editor-specific config to maintain.

Installation

# bun
bun add -D @contextlint/lsp-server

# npm
npm install -D @contextlint/lsp-server

The LSP server provides the contextlint-lsp binary. Most editors launch it as npx contextlint-lsp.

VS Code

A VS Code extension contextlint-vscode is distributed as a VSIX. Marketplace publishing is on the roadmap.

Download contextlint-vscode-*.vsix from a GitHub Release.

code --install-extension contextlint-vscode-VERSION.vsix

You can also install it manually from the Extensions view:

1. Open the Extensions view
2. From Views and More Actions…, select Install from VSIX…
3. Pick the downloaded .vsix file

After installation, opening a Markdown file starts the LSP automatically and applies the nearest contextlint.config.json for diagnostics. No extra setup needed.

Cursor

Cursor is VS Code-compatible, so the contextlint-vscode VSIX installs directly. The procedure matches VS Code.

cursor --install-extension contextlint-vscode-VERSION.vsix

Generic LSP setup

For any LSP-capable editor, the following information is enough to wire it up:

Item	Value
Launch command	npx contextlint-lsp
Protocol	LSP (stdio)
Target file types	markdown
Root detection	Presence of contextlint.config.json, falling back to .git
Config file	Auto-detected from contextlint.config.json in the workspace root or any parent

contextlint-lsp speaks LSP over process.stdin / process.stdout. Single files outside any project aren’t supported — the server only operates on a workspace where it can find a contextlint.config.json.

Neovim (nvim-lspconfig)

local configs = require('lspconfig.configs')
local util = require('lspconfig.util')

if not configs.contextlint then
  configs.contextlint = {
    default_config = {
      cmd = { 'npx', 'contextlint-lsp' },
      filetypes = { 'markdown' },
      root_dir = util.root_pattern('contextlint.config.json', '.git'),
      single_file_support = false,
    },
  }
end

require('lspconfig').contextlint.setup({})

Helix (~/.config/helix/languages.toml)

[language-server.contextlint]
command = "npx"
args = ["contextlint-lsp"]

[[language]]
name = "markdown"
language-servers = ["contextlint"]

JetBrains IDEs (LSP4IJ)

1. Install the LSP4IJ plugin from the Marketplace
2. Go to Settings → Languages & Frameworks → Language Servers → Add and configure:
   • Name: contextlint
   • Command: npx contextlint-lsp
   • Mapping → File name patterns: *.md

Known limitations

• External file changes aren’t watched. If a file is changed by git pull or any script outside the editor, the LSP workspace cache isn’t refreshed automatically. Reload the editor window (Cmd+R / Ctrl+R in VS Code / Cursor) to rebuild the cache.
• Quick Fix supports only two rules right now (CHK-001 / TBL-002). Other rules surface diagnostics and hover only.