oraios/serena · error · RuntimeError

`clojure -Spath` failed; please upgrade to Clojure CLI ≥ 1.1

Error message

`clojure -Spath` failed; please upgrade to Clojure CLI ≥ 1.10.

What it means

Raised by verify_clojure_cli when the `clojure -Spath` command exits with a non-zero status. The library requires the Clojure CLI (clj/clojure) to support `-Spath`, which was introduced in CLI 1.10, to resolve classpaths for clojure-lsp. An old or broken CLI installation cannot provide that classpath, so setup aborts.

Source

Thrown at src/solidlsp/language_servers/clojure_lsp.py:82

        stdout=subprocess.PIPE if capture_output else None,
        stderr=subprocess.STDOUT if capture_output else None,
        text=True,
        check=True,
    )


def verify_clojure_cli() -> None:
    install_msg = "Please install the official Clojure CLI from:\n  https://clojure.org/guides/getting_started"
    if shutil.which("clojure") is None:
        raise FileNotFoundError("`clojure` not found.\n" + install_msg)

    help_proc = run_command(["clojure", "--help"])
    if "-Aaliases" not in help_proc.stdout:
        raise RuntimeError("Detected a Clojure executable, but it does not support '-Aaliases'.\n" + install_msg)

    spath_proc = run_command(["clojure", "-Spath"], capture_output=False)
    if spath_proc.returncode != 0:
        raise RuntimeError("`clojure -Spath` failed; please upgrade to Clojure CLI ≥ 1.10.")


class ClojureLSP(SolidLanguageServer):
    """
    Provides a clojure-lsp specific instantiation of the LanguageServer class.

    You can pass the following entries in ``ls_specific_settings["clojure"]``:
        - clojure_lsp_version: Override the pinned clojure-lsp version downloaded
          by Serena (default: the bundled Serena version).
        - source_paths: Explicit list of source paths (repo-root-relative) to
          inject into clojure-lsp's ``initializationOptions``. Skips both the
          ``.lsp/config.edn`` lookup and the project-tree scan.
        - config_edn_path: Path to a ``config.edn`` file whose ``:source-paths``
          entry should be parsed and injected. Skips the project-tree scan but
          is itself skipped if ``source_paths`` is also set.

    Source-path resolution order (first match wins):
        1. ``source_paths`` setting (explicit override)

View on GitHub (pinned to 7fcbca7e62)

Solutions

1. Upgrade the Clojure CLI to >= 1.10 (install from https://clojure.org/guides/install_clojure or use brew/apt official packages)
2. Run `clojure -Spath` manually to see the underlying failure and fix your deps.edn or clear ~/.clojure/.cpcache
3. Remove the distro `clojure` package and install the official Clojure CLI tools
4. Set/verify PATH so the modern CLI is the one found first

Example fix

// before
$ clojure -Sversion
Clojure CLI version 1.9.0.397 // too old
// after
$ curl -O https://download.clojure.org/install/linux-install-1.11.1.1435.sh
$ sudo bash linux-install-1.11.1.1435.sh
$ clojure -Spath # succeeds

import subprocess, shutil
def is_clojure_cli_ok():
    if shutil.which("clojure") is None:
        return False, "clojure not on PATH"
    help_out = subprocess.run(["clojure", "--help"], capture_output=True, text=True)
    if "-Aaliases" not in help_out.stdout:
        return False, "CLI too old: no -Aaliases support"
    sp = subprocess.run(["clojure", "-Spath"], capture_output=True, text=True)
    return sp.returncode == 0, sp.stderr

def has_modern_clojure_cli() -> bool:
    import subprocess
    try:
        return subprocess.run(["clojure", "-Spath"], capture_output=True, timeout=30).returncode == 0
    except (OSError, subprocess.TimeoutExpired):
        return False

try:
    server = ClojureLSP(repo_path)
except RuntimeError as e:
    if "-Spath" in str(e):
        fix_clojure_cli_install()  # upgrade CLI, clear ~/.clojure/.cpcache
        server = ClojureLSP(repo_path)
    else:
        raise

When it happens

Trigger: Calling clojure_lsp setup (_get_or_install_core_dependency) or _test_clojure_cli when an installed `clojure` executable returns non-zero from `clojure -Spath` — typically a CLI older than 1.10, or a broken deps.edn/config causing -Spath to fail.

Common situations: Developers on old distro-packaged Clojure CLI versions (e.g. Ubuntu apt packages pre-1.10), corrupted ~/.clojure/.cpcache, or invalid deps.edn that makes -Spath fail even on a recent CLI.

Related errors

• `clojure` not found. Please install the official Clojure CLI
• Detected a Clojure executable, but it does not support '-Aal
• Download failed? Could not find clojure-lsp executable at {c
• Expected exactly one runtime dependency for platform-{Platfo
• Crystalline (Crystal language server) is not installed or no

AI-assisted analysis of oraios/serena@7fcbca7e62 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/30812074ffdcc417. Report an issue: GitHub.