Integration with Other Editors

The MDL language server works with any editor that supports the Language Server Protocol. This page covers setup for editors other than VS Code.

General Setup

All editors need to:

1. Start mxcli lsp --stdio as a subprocess
2. Communicate via JSON-RPC over stdin/stdout
3. Associate the language server with .mdl files

Neovim

Using nvim-lspconfig

Add the following to your Neovim configuration:

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

-- Define the MDL language server
if not configs.mdl then
  configs.mdl = {
    default_config = {
      cmd = { 'mxcli', 'lsp', '--stdio' },
      filetypes = { 'mdl' },
      root_dir = function(fname)
        return lspconfig.util.find_git_ancestor(fname)
          or lspconfig.util.root_pattern('*.mpr')(fname)
      end,
      settings = {},
    },
  }
end

lspconfig.mdl.setup({})

File Type Detection

Add MDL file type recognition:

vim.filetype.add({
  extension = {
    mdl = 'mdl',
  },
})

Syntax Highlighting

For basic syntax highlighting without a full TreeSitter grammar, create ~/.config/nvim/syntax/mdl.vim with keyword highlights for MDL reserved words, or use the TextMate grammar from the VS Code extension via a plugin like nvim-textmate.

Emacs

Using lsp-mode

(require 'lsp-mode)

(add-to-list 'lsp-language-id-configuration '(mdl-mode . "mdl"))

(lsp-register-client
 (make-lsp-client
  :new-connection (lsp-stdio-connection '("mxcli" "lsp" "--stdio"))
  :activation-fn (lsp-activate-on "mdl")
  :server-id 'mdl-ls))

(add-hook 'mdl-mode-hook #'lsp)

Using eglot (Built-in since Emacs 29)

(add-to-list 'eglot-server-programs
             '(mdl-mode . ("mxcli" "lsp" "--stdio")))

(add-hook 'mdl-mode-hook #'eglot-ensure)

File Mode

Define a basic major mode for .mdl files:

(define-derived-mode mdl-mode prog-mode "MDL"
  "Major mode for editing MDL (Mendix Definition Language) files."
  (setq-local comment-start "-- ")
  (setq-local comment-end ""))

(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.mdl\\'" . mdl-mode))

Sublime Text

Using LSP Package

Install the LSP package, then add to your LSP settings:

{
  "clients": {
    "mdl": {
      "enabled": true,
      "command": ["mxcli", "lsp", "--stdio"],
      "selector": "source.mdl",
      "schemes": ["file"]
    }
  }
}

Helix

Add to ~/.config/helix/languages.toml:

[[language]]
name = "mdl"
scope = "source.mdl"
file-types = ["mdl"]
language-servers = ["mdl-ls"]
comment-token = "--"

[language-server.mdl-ls]
command = "mxcli"
args = ["lsp", "--stdio"]

Generic LSP Client

For any editor with LSP support, the key configuration values are: