Install kotlin-lsp with Homebrew Cask

Project links

• Homepage

Commands and aliases

• kotlin-lsp

Project history

JetBrains created the public Kotlin/kotlin-lsp repository on April 28, 2025, after years in which Kotlin editor support was strongest inside IntelliJ IDEA and Android Studio. The Kotlin documentation describes the server as based on IntelliJ IDEA, the IntelliJ IDEA Kotlin plugin, JetBrains AIR, and Fleet, which makes the package notable because it exports parts of JetBrains' Kotlin code-insight stack through a standard editor protocol.

JetBrains announced the Alpha release of official Kotlin support for Visual Studio Code at KotlinConf 2026 on May 21, 2026. The announcement framed the extension and language server as a way to support Kotlin developers who prefer VS Code while keeping IntelliJ IDEA and Android Studio as the most complete Kotlin environments.

Adoption history

The first public package-manager-visible releases appeared in 2025, with a GitHub release for kotlin-lsp/v0.252.17811 published on May 27, 2025. By 2026, Homebrew Cask distributed Kotlin LSP as a downloadable JetBrains language-server bundle, making the official server easy to install outside JetBrains IDEs on macOS.

Adoption is tied to the broader LSP ecosystem: editors such as VS Code, Neovim, and other LSP clients can reuse a language server rather than needing a dedicated Kotlin plugin. That mattered to Kotlin users because earlier community servers existed, but the official server brought JetBrains-backed analysis, diagnostics, formatting, and navigation to protocol-based editors.

How it is used

The package installs the `kotlin-lsp` executable. Kotlin's documentation says the server supports core language-server features including up-to-date Kotlin language versions, IntelliJ-powered completion and diagnostics, build-system support for JVM projects using Gradle and Maven, semantic highlighting, import organization, rename refactoring, formatting, hover, call hierarchy, and code folding.

Why package nerds care

For package-manager users, kotlin-lsp is a bridge between heavyweight IDE-quality language tooling and lightweight editor setups. Its cask form is also a good example of modern developer tooling being distributed as large vendor-built language-server artifacts rather than as small source-built Unix utilities.

Timeline

• 2025-04-28: Kotlin/kotlin-lsp repository created on GitHub.
• 2025-05-27: kotlin-lsp/v0.252.17811 release published on GitHub.
• 2026-05-21: JetBrains announced Alpha official Kotlin support for Visual Studio Code, powered by Kotlin Language Server.
• 2026-06-19: kotlin-lsp/v262.8190.0 release published on GitHub and used by the Homebrew Cask source archive in this batch.

Related projects

• Kotlin LSP is part of the Kotlin tooling family around the JetBrains Kotlin compiler, IntelliJ IDEA Kotlin plugin, Fleet, Android Studio, and the Language Server Protocol standard. It also relates to earlier community Kotlin language servers used by editor users before JetBrains published an official implementation.

Sources

• https://blog.jetbrains.com/kotlin/2026/05/official-kotlin-support-for-visual-studio-code-is-now-available-in-alpha/
• https://github.com/Kotlin/kotlin-lsp
• https://github.com/Kotlin/kotlin-lsp/releases/tag/kotlin-lsp/v0.252.17811
• https://github.com/Kotlin/kotlin-lsp/releases/tag/kotlin-lsp/v262.8190.0
• https://kotlinlang.org/docs/kotlin-lsp.html