CB Clangd Client

From Code::Blocks
Revision as of 20:03, 17 November 2022 by Pecan (talk | contribs)

The repository page of this plugin is: https://sourceforge.net/projects/cb-clangd-client/

It uses clangd through Language Server Protocol.

The related forum discussion is: — Code completion using LSP and clangd

What is Clangd

   clangd understands your C++ code and adds smart features to your editor:
  • code completion
  • compile errors
  • go-to-definition
  • go-to-implementation
  • find references
and more.
   clangd is a language server that can work with your editor via a plugin.
   CodeBlocks provides Clangd_client as the needed plugin.

   Clangd_client additionally enhances the clangd server by providing:
  • call tips
  • function definitions
  • parameter definitions
  • previous and next function positioning
  • symbols browser
  • go-to-file
  • go-to-function
  • symbol renaming

Configuring clangd_client

Clangd_client requires the third-party binary clangd executable.
See Windows: Compiler Clangd/LLVM Package Installer below to install it.
or Linux: Clangd executable install process
After a success clangd executable install, perform the following:
Disable the "CodeCompletion" plugin.
  • Navigate to Setting->Plugins->Manage Plugins and disable CodeCompletion.
  • Navigate to Setting->Plugins->Manage Plugins and enable Clangd_client.
Restart Codeblocks.
Tell CodeBlocks (or verify) where the cland executable resides:
  • Navigate to Setting->Editor->Clangd_client->C/C++ parser(tab) and verify or enter the location of the cland executable in the box labeled "Specify clangd executable to use".

Installing Clangd_client from source or pre-built binary

  1. Install the LLVM or Clangd.exe as documented in the section below entitled:
    Windows Clangd executable install process

  2. Disable the Code completion plugin as follows:
    a) Open the Plugin manager via Code::Blocks menu
    "MainMenu=>Plugins=>Manage plugins..."
    b) In the Manage Plugin dialog do the following:
    i ) Find and select the "Code completion" plugin via it's title
    ii ) Press the "Disable" button on the right near the top
    iii) If you get any errors please try again.

  3. Install the Clangd-Client Plugin using one of the following options, which are documented below:
    a) Install via the Plugin Manager
    b) Manually install the plugin files

  4. Configure the Clangd-Client Plugin for use as follows:
    a) Select the CodeBlocks menu item "Settings->Editor..."
    b) In the list on the left click/select the "clangd_client" option.
    c) In the "C/C++ parser" tab change the "Specify clangd executable to use" to reference the clangd.exe you installed via step 1) above.
          Some examples of this could be:
             C:\msys64\clang64\bin\clangd.exe
             C:\msys64\clang32\bin\clangd.exe
             C:\LLVM\bin\clangd.exe
             C:\comilers\clang\clangd.exe

Manually Remove Clangd-Client Plugin

  1. Exit Code::Blocks!

  2. If you manually installed the files or used the Plugin manager then you can do the following:
    a) In the Code::Blocks ...\share\CodeBlocks folder delete the clangd_client.zip file
    b) In the Code::Blocks ...\share\CodeBlocks\plugins folder delete the clangd_client.dll file

  3. If you installed via the Plugin manager then you can delete the files with the following commands:
    a) del %APPDATA%\CodeBlocks\share\codeblocks\plugins\clangd_client.dll
    b) del %APPDATA%\CodeBlocks\share\codeblocks\clangd_client.zip

  4. If you want to reuse older code completion remember to re-enable the plugin

Windows: Clangd executable install process:

There are three main options to install the clangd.exe:
  1. Install the LLVM compiler.
  2. Manully extract the required files from the LLVM compiler.
  3. Install the Clangd package for the Windows compiler you are using if it is available.

The process for the three options above are detailed below.

Windows: Install the LLVM compiler

  1. Download the latest (non RC/Beta) LLVM Windows executable for your OS (Win32 or Win64) from the following
    Github LLVM download page:
    https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/releases

    As of Jan 2022 the Windows files are named as follows:
    LLVM-<version>-win64.exe
    LLVM-<version>-win32.exe
    where <version> is the LLVM version, like 13.0.0 or 13.0.1.

  2. Run the LLVM-<version>-win<xx>.exe you downloaded to install the LLVM compiler.

Windows: Manually Extract File from LLVM compiler

  1. Download the latest (non RC/Beta) LLVM Windows executable for your OS (Win32 or Win64) from the following
    Github LLVM download page:
    https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/releases
    As of Jan 2022 the Windows files are names as follows:
    LLVM-<version>-win64.exe
    LLVM-<version>-win32.exe
    where <version> is the LLVM version, like 13.0.0 or 13.0.1.
  2. Unzip the LLVM-<version>-win<xx>.exe file you downloaded using 7zip or your prefered ZIP program into a sub directory
  3. Create a new directory to put the clangd.exe and dll's
  4. Copy the following files into a the new directory created from the unziped #::LLVM directory:
    bin\clangd.exe
    bin\msvcp140.dll
    bin\vcruntime140.dll
    bin\vcruntime140_1.dll

Windows: Compiler Clangd/LLVM Package Installer

   Due to the number of different compilers available for Windows not all of the compilers will have either/both the Clang or LLVM required files.

   If you want to install the specific package(s) for the Windows compiler you are using in order to use it's clangd.exe file please follow the instructions below for the specific compiler you have installed:

   MSYS2 Compiler - MinGW64

       There are two main options to install the clangd.exe as follows:
       1) The first option in order to  minimise disk space is to install the Clang extra 
          tools using one of the following packages:

           +------------------------------------------+------------------------+
           |               Package                    | Clangd executable      |
           +------------------------------------------+------------------------+
           | mingw-w64-clang-x86_64-clang-tools-extra | clang64/bin/clangd.exe |
           | mingw-w64-x86_64-clang-tools-extra       | mingw64/bin/clangd.exe |
           +------------------------------------------+------------------------+

          To intall the package do the following:
           a) Open the msys2.exe bash shell 
           b) Run the following command:
                  pacman -S <Package name in the table above>
    
       '''OR'''
   
       2) The second option is to intall the full Clang tool chain as follows:
           a) Open the msys2.exe bash shell 
           b) Run the following command:
                  pacman -S mingw-w64-clang-x86_64-toolchain

   MSYS2 Compiler - MinGW32

       There are two main options to install the clangd.exe as follows:

       1) The first option in order to  minimise disk space is to install the Clang extra 
          tools using one of the following packages:

           +------------------------------------------+------------------------+
           |               Package                    | Clangd executable      |
           +------------------------------------------+------------------------+
           | mingw-w64-clang-i686-clang-tools-extra   | clang32/bin/clangd.exe |
           | mingw-w64-i686-clang-tools-extra         | mingw32/bin/clangd.exe |
           +------------------------------------------+------------------------+

          To intall the package do the following:
            a) Open the msys2.exe bash shell 
            b) Run the following command:
                  pacman -S <Package name in the table above>

        '''OR'''

       2) The second option is to install the full Clang tool chain as follows:
          a) Open the msys2.exe bash shell 
          b) Run the following command:
                  pacman -S mingw-w64-clang-i686-toolchain

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes from the CodeBlocks forum to avoid mixing incompatible gcc/clangd executables.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   https://forums.codeblocks.org/index.php/topic,24357.msg169412.html#msg169412
Don't mix mingw64 with clang64.
If you are using the gcc from msys2, (the compilers in the folder msys64\mingw64\bin),
you should use "mingw-w64-x86_64-clang-tools-extra",
(the clangd.exe is under the folder msys64\mingw64\bin) the same folder as your gcc.exe.

If you are using the clang tool chain, (the folder msys64\clang64\bin),
you should use "mingw-w64-clang-x86_64-clang-tools-extra".
I found that I just make a big mistake. That is: I used the gcc toolchain from
msys64\mingw64\bin, but I used the clangd.exe from msys64\clang64\bin.
The result is I got a lot of LSP diagnostics messages and errors.
Luckily I found the reason, and fixed this issue. Hope this will help others.

Linux: Clangd executable install process:

NOTE: Clangd_client plugin requires a cland executable version 13 or greater.
Check your current clangd version by running clangd --version
If the version is less than 13 you will have to install a newer version.
See https://clangd.llvm.org/installation.html

Installing the clangd package will usually give you a slightly older version.
Test this by issuing apt-get install --dry-run clangd
As of 2022/11/16, this suggest that cland version 10 will be installed.
If the clangd version shows less than version 13, you'll have to install a specific version as follows:

Install a packaged release (must be version 13 or greater):
sudo apt-get install clangd-13 (Must be version 13 or greater).
This will install clangd as /usr/bin/clangd-13.

You can now configure clangd_client plugin by following the above instructions at
[1] Configuring clangd_client

If you prefer to install the entire LLVM/Clang package, for convenience, there is
an automatic installation script available that installs LLVM for you.
To install the latest stable version: see Automatic installation script at
Note that you can specify the version number with this script.
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