[BUG] LSP plugins fail on Windows: spawn typescript-language-server ENOENT for npm-installed language servers

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

The typescript-lsp and php-lsp plugins fail to start on Windows with ENOENT errors, even when the language servers are correctly installed globally via npm and are accessible from the
command line.

Error Messages

Plugin Errors
└ 2 plugin error(s) detected:
└ plugin:typescript-lsp:typescript: spawn typescript-language-server ENOENT
└ plugin:php-lsp:intelephense: spawn intelephense ENOENT

Environment

• OS: Windows 10 (Build 26200.7623)
• Shell: Git Bash (MSYS2/MinGW64)
• Node.js: (run node --version)
• npm: (run npm --version)
• Claude Code version: (2.1.12 (Claude Code))

What Should Happen?

The LSP Plugins should work

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install language servers globally:

npm install -g typescript-language-server typescript
npm install -g intelephense

1. Verify installation works from command line:

where typescript-language-server
# Output: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\npm\typescript-language-server
# C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\npm\typescript-language-server.cmd

typescript-language-server --version
# Works in Git Bash

1. Enable the plugins in Claude Code settings
2. Restart Claude Code
3. Observe ENOENT errors on startup

Root Cause Analysis

npm global installs on Windows create two files:

• typescript-language-server - POSIX shell script (for Git Bash/MSYS2)
• typescript-language-server.cmd - Windows batch file (for CMD/PowerShell)

$ file /c/Users/Sri/AppData/Roaming/npm/typescript-language-server
/c/Users/Sri/AppData/Roaming/npm/typescript-language-server: POSIX shell script, ASCII text executable

$ file /c/Users/Sri/AppData/Roaming/npm/typescript-language-server.cmd
/c/Users/Sri/AppData/Roaming/npm/typescript-language-server.cmd: DOS batch file, ASCII text, with CRLF line terminators

The plugin attempts to spawn typescript-language-server directly using Node.js child_process.spawn(). On Windows, this fails because:

1. Windows cannot execute POSIX shell scripts natively
2. The .cmd extension is required for Windows batch files when not using a shell

Running directly via Node.js works:
node "C:\Users\Sri\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\typescript-language-server\lib\cli.mjs" --version
# Output: 5.1.3

Suggested Fix

In the LSP plugin spawn code, use one of these approaches:

Option 1: Use shell: true on Windows
const child = spawn(command, args, {
shell: process.platform === 'win32'
});

Option 2: Append .cmd extension on Windows
const cmd = process.platform === 'win32' ? ${command}.cmd : command;
const child = spawn(cmd, args);

Option 3: Use cross-spawn package which handles this automatically
const spawn = require('cross-spawn');
const child = spawn(command, args);

Affected Plugins

• typescript-lsp@claude-plugins-official
• php-lsp@claude-plugins-official
• Potentially any LSP plugin that relies on npm-installed executables

Unaffected Plugins

• gopls-lsp - uses native Go binary
• rust-analyzer-lsp - uses native Rust binary
• csharp-lsp - uses native .NET binary

Workaround

Disable the affected plugins in .claude/settings.local.json:
{
"enabledPlugins": {
"typescript-lsp@claude-plugins-official": false,
"php-lsp@claude-plugins-official": false
}
}

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.12 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

Additional Context

This is a well-known issue with npm global packages on Windows. References:

• https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/3675
• https://github.com/moxystudio/node-cross-spawn#why