zed-industries/zed · error · anyhow::Error

Default prettier is not installed and cannot be started

Error message

Default prettier is not installed and cannot be started

What it means

When a project has no prettier in node_modules, Zed falls back to a globally managed "default prettier" installed into default_prettier_dir(). start_default_server inspects the PrettierInstallation state; NotInstalled with no pending installation_task means there is nothing to start or await right now (crates/project/src/prettier_store.rs:335), so it bails.

Source

Thrown at crates/project/src/prettier_store.rs:335

    fn start_default_prettier(
        node: NodeRuntime,
        worktree_id: Option<WorktreeId>,
        cx: &mut Context<PrettierStore>,
    ) -> Task<anyhow::Result<PrettierTask>> {
        cx.spawn(async move |prettier_store, cx| {
            let installation_task = prettier_store.read_with(cx, |prettier_store, _| {
                match &prettier_store.default_prettier.prettier {
                    PrettierInstallation::NotInstalled {
                        installation_task, ..
                    } => ControlFlow::Continue(installation_task.clone()),
                    PrettierInstallation::Installed(default_prettier) => {
                        ControlFlow::Break(default_prettier.clone())
                    }
                }
            })?;
            match installation_task {
                ControlFlow::Continue(None) => {
                    anyhow::bail!("Default prettier is not installed and cannot be started")
                }
                ControlFlow::Continue(Some(installation_task)) => {
                    log::info!("Waiting for default prettier to install");
                    if let Err(e) = installation_task.await {
                        prettier_store.update(cx, |project, _| {
                            if let PrettierInstallation::NotInstalled {
                                installation_task,
                                attempts,
                                ..
                            } = &mut project.default_prettier.prettier
                            {
                                *installation_task = None;
                                *attempts += 1;
                            }
                        })?;
                        anyhow::bail!(
                            "Cannot start default prettier due to its installation failure: {e:#}"
                        );

View on GitHub (pinned to f4178619ac)

Solutions

1. Install prettier in the project itself (npm i -D prettier) - Zed prefers node_modules prettier and skips the default entirely
2. Verify node -v and npm -v work in the environment Zed launches from, then retrigger formatting or restart Zed so a fresh install task starts
3. If it keeps landing here, inspect the paired "Cannot start default prettier due to its installation failure" error for the root cause

Example fix

# before: project has no prettier, default install unavailable
format on save -> "Default prettier is not installed and cannot be started"

# after
npm install --save-dev prettier
# formatting now uses ./node_modules/prettier

# shell pre-check before relying on the default prettier
[ -d node_modules/prettier ] && echo "local prettier present" || npm install --save-dev prettier

match start_default_prettier(node, worktree_id, cx).await {
    Ok(server) => server,
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("Default prettier is not installed") => {
        // fall back to the language server's built-in formatter
        format_via_language_server(buffer, cx).await
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
}

When it happens

Trigger: Triggering prettier formatting while default_prettier is PrettierInstallation::NotInstalled with installation_task == None - e.g. a previous auto-install failed and the store cleared the task and bumped its attempts counter, or installation was never started for this worktree.

Common situations: Node/npm missing or offline during the first format of a project; retrying format right after a failed auto-install; formatting requested while the store is still initializing.

Related errors

• Cannot start default prettier due to its installation failur
• GitHub Copilot native language server binary was not install
• Failed to install or start judge proxy (exit {result.return_
• copilot was not started because of an error: {error}
• unsupported Copilot language server platform: {platform}

AI-assisted analysis of zed-industries/zed@f4178619ac (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a08f334ddd418c0c. Report an issue: GitHub.