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Frequently asked questions

This is a collection of frequently asked questions. We do our best to ensure everything is included in the docs in the relevant places, but sometimes it's either hard to explain in the context of the docs or there just isn't a good enough place to stick it. This is an attempt to document some of the most common questions that we see related to Metals.

How do I get more debugging information?​

If you are using VS Code add -Dmetals.loglevel=debug to the metals.serverProperties setting, otherwise just add that property as an additional parameter for starting Metals server.

I'm using Scala 2.13.x but doctor shows me *-build and *-build-build at 2.12.x​

build-build-doctor

When using sbt and Metals you get completions and hovers in your sbt build files. This is done by extra BSP connections with Bloop. So your build is actually a build target as well as your meta-build. This is why for example you see nested project/project/metals.sbt files. The version of Scala that sbt uses is 2.12.12 at this moment, so you will see that reflected in Doctor since the *-build and *-build-build represent your build and meta-build. If you see that it's even an older version of Scala, like 2.12.7, this can be fixed by bumping your sbt version so you don't get a warning about unsupported versions of Scala in your project.

Note: If you use sbt as your BSP server as well as your build tool, you won't see this in the Doctor since sbt does not yet have sbt file support.

Why do I see this popup about Bloop when I upgrade?​

update-bloop

Sometimes when you update to the latest version of Metals you will see this popup. Remember that Bloop runs in the background on your machine. Once it's started, even if you close Metals, it doesn't shut down. So let's say you start Metals and no Bloop is running. Metals will then start Bloop with the current version that Metals knows about. For example, let's say it starts 1.4.4. Later that day a new version of Metals comes out that uses Bloop 1.4.5. When you update, Metals detects that 1.4.4 is running, and then you see the prompt in the image saying that it needs a newer version. Probably to either include a bug fix from Bloop, a new feature, etc. Why doesn't Metals just shut down Bloop and restart automatically? That's a great question, and one that we're exploring. However, it's a bit tricky since currently there is no way for Metals to know if it started Bloop or if you manually started Bloop. In the latter situation, we wouldn't want to shut down the server that you may have manually started at a specific version. For the vast majority of users, when you see this update, just click Turn off old server.

Worksheets​

Make sure to check out the worksheet section on your editor page. For example, you can find information on worksheets in VS Code here.

How do I run a worksheet?​

Keep in mind that worksheets work a bit differently than you may be used to with Metals. Whereas in other editors you may need to run your worksheet to see the results, worksheets in Metals evaluate on save, so there is no need to run your worksheet.

I don't see evaluations​

If you don't see any evaluations, make sure the name of your file is *.worksheet.sc.

I can't access symbols from my workspace in my worksheet​

If you find you can't include a package, class, or really any symbol from your workspace, keep in mind that where you create your worksheets matter. If you have created your worksheet in a src directory, you should have full access to your classpath and your worksheet Scala version should match that of your project. If you create your worksheet in the root of your project, you will be on the default Scala version (2.12.12), and you won't have access to anything except for the standard lib on your classpath.

I see spurious errors or worksheet fails to evaluate​

Worksheet code is entirely wrapped in a class (class MdocApp). The class wrapper is needed as a counter measure to dead locks issues, however the wrapper can cause issues for some valid Scala code snippets. Issues like getting stuck in a infinite loop while evaluating or throwing a StackOverflowException. Full description of the issue - mdoc/#853.

Ammonite scripts​

How do I use Scala 2.x.x for my script?​

Under the hood Metals uses alexarchambault/ammonite-runner to help with Ammonite support. One of the features of ammonite-runner is that it allows you to specify the version of Scala for your script in a comment before you code.

// scala 2.13.3

Can I use a specific version of Ammonite?​

Sure, the same as the above, but instead of specifying the version of Scala, specify the version of Ammonite.

// ammonite 2.2.0

Why do I get a warning to save my file when I try to organize imports?​

organize-imports-warning

You'll currently see this if you try to use your editor action to organize imports. You'll also see this if you use the following setting in VS Code.

"editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
  "source.organizeImports": true
}

This happens because Scalafix(which is used for this feature) needs your code saved before it can organize your imports. There are some conversations going on about how to achieve this in the future, but for now you'll need to save your file before using this feature.

For context: #2120

Can't connect to sbt BSP on Apple M1​

It might help to add an additional sbt setting to $HOME/.sbt/1.0/global.sbt

serverConnectionType := ConnectionType.Tcp,

then reload Metals. More on global settings here.

For context: