zed-industries/zed · error

{prettier_description} failed to spawn: {error:#}

Error message

{prettier_description} failed to spawn: {error:#}

What it means

The prettier server process failed to spawn (bad node runtime, missing prettier installation, or OS spawn error); the error is fully chained ({error:#}) and the affected prettier instance is marked failed.

Source

Thrown at crates/project/src/prettier_store.rs:807

        Err(error) => {
            prettier_store
                .update(cx, |project, _| {
                    let instance_to_update = match prettier_path {
                        Some(prettier_path) => project.prettier_instances.get_mut(&prettier_path),
                        None => match &mut project.default_prettier.prettier {
                            PrettierInstallation::NotInstalled { .. } => None,
                            PrettierInstallation::Installed(instance) => Some(instance),
                        },
                    };

                    if let Some(instance) = instance_to_update {
                        instance.attempt += 1;
                        instance.prettier = None;
                    }
                })
                .log_err();

            Some(Err(anyhow!(
                "{prettier_description} failed to spawn: {error:#}"
            )))
        }
    }
}

#[derive(Debug)]
pub struct DefaultPrettier {
    prettier: PrettierInstallation,
    installed_plugins: HashSet<Arc<str>>,
}

#[derive(Debug)]
pub enum PrettierInstallation {
    NotInstalled {
        attempts: usize,
        installation_task: Option<Shared<Task<Result<(), Arc<anyhow::Error>>>>>,
        not_installed_plugins: HashSet<Arc<str>>,

View on GitHub (pinned to f4178619ac)

Solutions

1. Install a working Node.js runtime
2. Reinstall prettier packages via the prettier settings
3. Check the chained error for the underlying spawn failure

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/project/src/prettier_store.rs:807 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of zed-industries/zed@f4178619ac (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/54b0c51b30967582. Report an issue: GitHub.