---

title: Editor Integration description: VS Code, Vim, Neovim, and Emacs setup

Editor Integration

Set up your editor for beancount editing with syntax highlighting, completion, and diagnostics.

VS Code

The VS Code extension is a thin wrapper that connects to rledger-lsp. All features require rledger-lsp to be installed.

1. Install rledger-lsp

# macOS
brew install rustledger

# Arch Linux
yay -S rustledger-bin

# Cargo
cargo install rustledger-lsp

2. Install the extension

Download rustledger-vscode.vsix from the latest release and install:

code --install-extension rustledger-vscode.vsix

Or in VS Code: Ctrl+Shift+P → "Extensions: Install from VSIX..." → select the downloaded file.

Optional: Enable format on save

Add to your .vscode/settings.json:

{
  "[beancount]": {
    "editor.formatOnSave": true
  }
}

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
rustledger.server.path	rledger-lsp	Path to the rledger-lsp binary
rustledger.server.extraArgs	[]	Extra arguments passed to rledger-lsp
rustledger.journalFile	""	Root journal file (auto-discovered if empty)
rustledger.checkForUpdates	true	Check for extension updates on startup

Auto-Update

The extension automatically checks for updates on startup and notifies you when a new version is available. Updates are downloaded directly from GitHub Releases. To disable, set rustledger.checkForUpdates to false.

You can also manually check via: Ctrl+Shift+P → "rustledger: Check for Updates"

Features

All features are provided by rledger-lsp:

• Semantic highlighting
• Real-time error diagnostics
• Account, payee, and tag completion
• Go to definition (accounts, commodities)
• Find all references
• Hover information (account balances, metadata)
• Document symbols / outline
• Code formatting
• Rename refactoring
• Inlay hints and code lens

Troubleshooting VS Code

If LSP features aren't working:

1. Ensure rledger-lsp is in your PATH:

   which rledger-lsp

2. Check the Output panel (View > Output) and select "rustledger" from the dropdown

3. If you installed via a package manager, you may need to restart VS Code after installation

Vim / Neovim

Using Native LSP (Neovim)

Neovim 0.5+ has built-in LSP support. Add to your config:

-- init.lua or lua/lsp.lua

local lspconfig = require('lspconfig')

-- rustledger LSP configuration
local configs = require('lspconfig.configs')
if not configs.rustledger then
  configs.rustledger = {
    default_config = {
      cmd = { 'rledger-lsp' },
      filetypes = { 'beancount' },
      root_dir = lspconfig.util.root_pattern('.git', 'main.beancount', 'ledger.beancount'),
      settings = {},
    },
  }
end

lspconfig.rustledger.setup{}

Using coc.nvim

Add to ~/.vim/coc-settings.json:

{
  "languageserver": {
    "rustledger": {
      "command": "rledger-lsp",
      "args": [],
      "filetypes": ["beancount"],
      "rootPatterns": [".git", "main.beancount", "ledger.beancount"]
    }
  }
}

Syntax Highlighting

For syntax highlighting without LSP, use the beancount vim plugin:

" vim-plug
Plug 'nathangrigg/vim-beancount'

" Or Packer (Neovim)
use 'nathangrigg/vim-beancount'

Filetype Detection

If .beancount files aren't detected, add to your config:

" ~/.vimrc or init.vim
autocmd BufNewFile,BufRead *.beancount setfiletype beancount

Complete Neovim Setup

Example init.lua with LSP, completion, and formatting:

-- Plugin manager (lazy.nvim example)
require('lazy').setup({
  'nathangrigg/vim-beancount',
  'neovim/nvim-lspconfig',
  'hrsh7th/nvim-cmp',
  'hrsh7th/cmp-nvim-lsp',
})

-- LSP setup
local lspconfig = require('lspconfig')
local configs = require('lspconfig.configs')

if not configs.rustledger then
  configs.rustledger = {
    default_config = {
      cmd = { 'rledger-lsp' },
      filetypes = { 'beancount' },
      root_dir = lspconfig.util.root_pattern('.git', '*.beancount'),
    },
  }
end

lspconfig.rustledger.setup{
  capabilities = require('cmp_nvim_lsp').default_capabilities(),
}

-- Completion setup
local cmp = require('cmp')
cmp.setup({
  sources = {
    { name = 'nvim_lsp' },
  },
  mapping = cmp.mapping.preset.insert({
    ['<C-Space>'] = cmp.mapping.complete(),
    ['<CR>'] = cmp.mapping.confirm({ select = true }),
  }),
})

-- Format on save
vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd('BufWritePre', {
  pattern = '*.beancount',
  callback = function()
    vim.lsp.buf.format()
  end,
})

Emacs

Using eglot (built-in, Emacs 29+)

;; init.el
(require 'eglot)

(add-to-list 'eglot-server-programs
             '(beancount-mode . ("rledger-lsp")))

(add-hook 'beancount-mode-hook 'eglot-ensure)

Using lsp-mode

;; init.el
(require 'lsp-mode)

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

(lsp-register-client
 (make-lsp-client
  :new-connection (lsp-stdio-connection '("rledger-lsp"))
  :major-modes '(beancount-mode)
  :server-id 'rustledger))

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

beancount-mode

Install beancount-mode for syntax highlighting:

;; Using use-package
(use-package beancount
  :mode ("\\.beancount\\'" . beancount-mode)
  :hook (beancount-mode . eglot-ensure))

Or manually:

(add-to-list 'load-path "/path/to/beancount-mode")
(require 'beancount)
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.beancount\\'" . beancount-mode))

Helix

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

[[language]]
name = "beancount"
scope = "source.beancount"
injection-regex = "beancount"
file-types = ["beancount"]
roots = [".git"]
language-servers = ["rustledger"]

[language-server.rustledger]
command = "rledger-lsp"
args = []

Sublime Text

LSP-rustledger

1. Install Package Control
2. Install "LSP" package
3. Add to LSP settings:

{
  "clients": {
    "rustledger": {
      "enabled": true,
      "command": ["rledger-lsp"],
      "selector": "source.beancount"
    }
  }
}

Syntax Highlighting

Install "Beancount" package from Package Control.

Troubleshooting

LSP Not Starting

Check that rledger-lsp is in your PATH:

which rledger-lsp
rledger-lsp --version

Test LSP manually:

echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{}}' | rledger-lsp

No Completions

Ensure your ledger file is valid:

rledger check ledger.beancount

LSP features require a parseable file.

Slow Diagnostics

For large ledgers, consider using include to split files. The LSP only processes files in the include tree.

File Not Recognized

Ensure .beancount extension and proper filetype detection:

# Check file type in Vim
:set ft?

# Should show: filetype=beancount

See Also

• Configuration - Config file reference
• format command - CLI formatting