Vale VSCode client: couldn't create connection to server.

[JamesRandom]

I just installed the VSCode extension and got the following error. I downgraded to 0.30.3 and it worked.

MacBook Pro x86 (16-inch 2019)
MacOS Sequoia 15.6.1
VSCode 1.106.0
vale version v3.7.1

Oddly, I have a MacBook Air with Apple silicon and MacOS 15.7.2 which works fine with the latest release of the extension.

[Error - 1:28:10 PM] Vale VSCode client: couldn't create connection to server.
Error: spawn Unknown system error -86
    at ChildProcess.spawn (node:internal/child_process:420:11)
    at Object.spawn (node:child_process:820:9)
    at /Users/jamiep/.vscode/extensions/chrischinchilla.vale-vscode-0.32.0/dist/extension.js:1:7885
    at w.createConnection (/Users/jamiep/.vscode/extensions/chrischinchilla.vale-vscode-0.32.0/dist/extension.js:1:827282)
    at w.start (/Users/jamiep/.vscode/extensions/chrischinchilla.vale-vscode-0.32.0/dist/extension.js:1:817736)
    at h (/Users/jamiep/.vscode/extensions/chrischinchilla.vale-vscode-0.32.0/dist/extension.js:1:874059)
    at Uy.n (file:///Applications/Visual%20Studio%20Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/api/node/extensionHostProcess.js:114:13382)
    at Uy.m (file:///Applications/Visual%20Studio%20Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/api/node/extensionHostProcess.js:114:13345)
    at Uy.l (file:///Applications/Visual%20Studio%20Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/api/node/extensionHostProcess.js:114:12801)

[JamesRandom]

Just upgraded the MacBook Pro to MacOS 15.7.2 and the problem still exists

[dosubot]

Hi @JamesRandom! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the vale-vscode team.

Upgrading macOS didn't resolve the issue because the root cause is likely an architecture mismatch: the extension sometimes downloads the arm64 version of the vale-ls binary on x86 Macs, which can't run and triggers the "system error -86" you saw. This is a known issue for x86 systems and not OS-specific (details).

To fix it, check the architecture of the vale-ls binary in your extension folder (e.g., ~/.vscode/extensions/chrischinchilla.vale-vscode-0.32.0/vale-ls). In Terminal, run:

file ~/.vscode/extensions/chrischinchilla.vale-vscode-0.32.0/vale-ls

If it says "Mach-O 64-bit executable arm64", delete the binary:

rm ~/.vscode/extensions/chrischinchilla.vale-vscode-0.32.0/vale-ls

Then restart VS Code. The extension should redownload the correct x86_64 binary. If it doesn't, you can manually download the right binary from the official vale-ls releases and place it in the extension folder (workaround details).

Downgrading to 0.30.3 works because it fetches the correct binary for your architecture. If you want to use the latest extension, the manual binary replacement above should resolve the issue.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

---

^{How did I do? Good | Irrelevant | Incorrect | Verbose | Hallucination | Report 🐛 | Other}    

[ChrisChinchilla]

You can probably ignore the bot. There was a recent change that people who experienced a particular issue tested but of course not those who didn't have the issue. So let me test later

[JamesRandom]

@ChrisChinchilla Well, the bot was correct about the immediate cause and workaround. It had downloaded the Arm binary of vale-ls and deleting that fixed the problem. It does sound like a variant of #61

Let me know if you want me to do any more testing — happy to help

[MLNW]

Seems like I had the same issue. VS Code was complaining it couldn't start the language server. I tried running it myself which didn't work. I then removed it and restarted VS Code which downloaded the executable again and made it work in VS Code. At that point I could also start the language server without error:

❯ ~/.vscode-server/extensions/chrischinchilla.vale-vscode-0.32.0/vale-ls
zsh: exec format error: /home/dev/.vscode-server/extensions/chrischinchilla.vale-vscode-0.32.0/vale-ls
❯ rm ~/.vscode-server/extensions/chrischinchilla.vale-vscode-0.32.0/vale-ls
❯ ~/.vscode-server/extensions/chrischinchilla.vale-vscode-0.32.0/vale-ls

[ChrisChinchilla]

@JamesRandom and @MLNW And it worked before the new version or you were both downloading from new?

[MLNW]

I don't think it ever worked in this installation. I lived with it for a while. The fix was to remove the vale-ls binary and let VS code redownload it.

[ChrisChinchilla]

@MLNW What do you mean by "this installation"? I am trying to separate any issues related to the new release from general issues. Have you had this issue since the LSP release or another version?

[JamesRandom]

I installed it for the first time yesterday and ran into the problem. I checked the open issues and didn't see any mention of it. When I noticed that the release was one hour old, I thought it might be a new bug and installed 0.30, which worked.

Updating broke it again but removing vale-ls fixed it.

It may be relevant that after I installed 0.30 there was a message "First launch: downloading Vale Language Server." However, installing the latest version there was no such message, it just went immediately to "couldn't create connection to server"

Edit: after deleting vale-ls and re-enabling the 0.32 version, I do get the "First launch: downloading Vale Language Server" message. (And it all works.)

[alcazaco]

Seems like I had the same issue. VS Code was complaining it couldn't start the language server. I tried running it myself which didn't work. I then removed it and restarted VS Code which downloaded the executable again and made it work in VS Code. At that point I could also start the language server without error:

❯ ~/.vscode-server/extensions/chrischinchilla.vale-vscode-0.32.0/vale-ls
zsh: exec format error: /home/dev/.vscode-server/extensions/chrischinchilla.vale-vscode-0.32.0/vale-ls
❯ rm ~/.vscode-server/extensions/chrischinchilla.vale-vscode-0.32.0/vale-ls
❯ ~/.vscode-server/extensions/chrischinchilla.vale-vscode-0.32.0/vale-ls

I had the same issue on my Linux machine. Managed to fix it exactly the same way.