configure cider to use PowerShell 7.x and not Windows PowerShell 5.1 on windows

[shishini]

Cider fails to jack in a repl , and this initially seem to be because its trying to start the repl using

c:/Windows/System32/WindowsPowerShell/v1.0/powershell.exe
instead of
C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe

I installed Clojure CLI in a path that is only accessible for PowerShell 7.x not for Windows PowerShell 5.1

So how can i configure cider (or emacs) to use pwsh (which is the command for Powershell 7.x) not powershell (which is the command for the older Windows Powershell 5.1)

---

I can confirm that adding the clojure cli module to a Windows Powershell 5.1 modules path, fixes my initial issue
so i just want the ability to configure either cider or emacs to use pwsh not powershell

---

Also you might want to check this calva issue BetterThanTomorrow/calva#1000 for suggestion on how to solve this, since this is basically the same issue but in emacs

[vemv]

cider/cider.el

Lines 139 to 147 in 5261886

	(defcustom cider-clojure-cli-command
	(if (and (eq system-type 'windows-nt)
	(null (executable-find "clojure")))
	"powershell"
	"clojure")
	"The command used to execute clojure with tools.deps (requires Clojure 1.9+).
	Don't use clj here, as it doesn't work when spawned from Emacs due to it
	using rlwrap. If on Windows and no \"clojure\" executable is found we
	default to \"powershell\"."

is customizable.

Let us know if you have further questions!

Cheers - V

[shishini]

I am really not that experience
Can you give more detail on how to use this feature to fix the problem
what do i need to add in my .emacs for example ?

[vemv]

Yes, please add something like (setq cider-clojure-cli-command "pwsh") in your Emacs init file. After a restart, that should be it

[shishini]

thanks i did just that but now i am getting this error

error in process sentinel: nrepl-server-sentinel: Could not start nREPL server: Error while parsing option "--config-data {:deps {nrepl/nrepl {:mvn/version \"\"1.0.0\"\"} cider/cider-nrepl {:mvn/version \"\"0.43.3\"\"}} :aliases {:cider/nrepl {:main-opts [\"\"-m\"\" \"\"nrepl.cmdline\"\" \"\"--middleware\"\" \"\"[cider.nrepl/cider-middleware]\"\"]}}}": java.lang.NumberFormatException: Invalid number: 1.0.0

 ("finished")
error in process sentinel: Could not start nREPL server: Error while parsing option "--config-data {:deps {nrepl/nrepl {:mvn/version \"\"1.0.0\"\"} cider/cider-nrepl {:mvn/version \"\"0.43.3\"\"}} :aliases {:cider/nrepl {:main-opts [\"\"-m\"\" \"\"nrepl.cmdline\"\" \"\"--middleware\"\" \"\"[cider.nrepl/cider-middleware]\"\"]}}}": java.lang.NumberFormatException: Invalid number: 1.0.0

setting this variable to use powershell, removes the error, but i am back to using powershell not pwsh

[vemv]

It looks like a quoting problem. Quoting can be tricky on windows, although we specifically handle it if cider-clojure-cli-command equals "powershell" or "pwsh"

For reference, this is our quoting code:

cider/cider.el

Lines 801 to 810 in 5261886

	(defun cider--shell-quote-argument (argument &optional command)
	"Quotes ARGUMENT like `shell-quote-argument', suitable for use with COMMAND.
	Uses `shell-quote-argument' to quote the ARGUMENT, unless COMMAND is given
	and refers to PowerShell, in which case it uses (some limited) PowerShell
	rules to quote it."
	(if (cider--jack-in-cmd-powershell-p command)
	;; please add more PowerShell quoting rules as necessary.
	(format "'%s'" (replace-regexp-in-string "\"" "\"\"" argument))
	(shell-quote-argument argument)))

What I would suggest is:

• note in the *Messages* buffer the entire "jack in" command
• paste it into your terminal (not emacs)
  • it should also fail with Invalid number: 1.0.0
• try fixing it
  • probably there's insufficient or excessive quoting
  • chatgpt may help!

[shishini]

Not sure how i can help but

PS C:\> clojure -Sdeps " {:deps {nrepl/nrepl {:mvn/version ""1.0.0""} cider/cider-nrepl {:mvn/version ""0.43.3""}} :aliases {:cider/nrepl {:main-opts [""-m"" ""nrepl.cmdline"" ""--middleware"" ""[cider.nrepl/cider-middleware]""]}}} " Clojure 1.11.1 user=>

Kinda works I think, does this help

[vemv]

I see! That's promising, I guess.

Could you paste the exact output shown in *Messages*?

Example on Mac:

[nREPL] Starting server via /Users/vemv/bin/lein update-in :dependencies conj \[nrepl/nrepl\ \"1.0.0\"\] -- update-in :dependencies conj \[refactor-nrepl/refactor-nrepl\ \"3.9.0\"\] -- update-in :plugins conj \[refactor-nrepl/refactor-nrepl\ \"3.9.0\"\] -- update-in :plugins conj \[cider/cider-nrepl\ \"0.43.3\"\] -- with-profile "+async-checking,+test,+dev,+emacs-backend,+emacs-backend-init,+yourkit,+g1gc,+cider-nrepl-latest" repl :headless :host localhost

[shishini]

When I use powershell (which succeed) this is what is in Messages*

[nREPL] Starting server via "c:/Windows/System32/WindowsPowerShell/v1.0/powershell.exe" -encodedCommand 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

when I use pwsh this is the Messages
[nREPL] Starting server via "c:/Program Files/PowerShell/7/pwsh.exe" -encodedCommand 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 error in process sentinel: nrepl-server-sentinel: Could not start nREPL server: Error while parsing option "--config-data {:deps {nrepl/nrepl {:mvn/version \"\"1.0.0\"\"} cider/cider-nrepl {:mvn/version \"\"0.43.3\"\"}} :aliases {:cider/nrepl {:main-opts [\"\"-m\"\" \"\"nrepl.cmdline\"\" \"\"--middleware\"\" \"\"[cider.nrepl/cider-middleware]\"\"]}}}": java.lang.NumberFormatException: Invalid number: 1.0.0 ("finished")

Now I need to add that I research if there was any quoting rules changes between pwsh and powershell, and there should not be, the languages should be the same, the differences are in the underlying .net framework uses, which mainly only impact the availability of some modules , but quoting rules should be the same, so this issue should not exist

[vemv]

It may be worth trying to skip the double quotations.

Maybe (and this is speculation of mine), with pwsh it suffices to encode the command.

Please try the following

• add this to your emacs init

(require 'cider) ;; Important - make sure we're actually overriding the defun

(defun cider--shell-quote-argument (argument &optional command)
  "Patch to skip the quoting on windows"
  (if (cider--jack-in-cmd-powershell-p command)
      argument
    (shell-quote-argument argument)))

• Restart Emacs

• Jack-in again

[shishini]

Sorry didnt work
Now I get this error

[nREPL] Starting server via "c:/Program Files/PowerShell/7/pwsh.exe" -encodedCommand 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 error in process sentinel: nrepl-server-sentinel: Could not start nREPL server: Unknown option: "-i" Unknown option: "-n" Unknown option: "-p" Unknown option: "-u" Unknown option: "-t" Unknown option: "-F" Unknown option: "-o" Unknown option: "-r" Unknown option: "-m" Unknown option: "-a" Unknown option: "-t" Unknown option: "-o" Unknown option: "-u" Unknown option: "-t" Unknown option: "-p" Unknown option: "-u" Unknown option: "-t" Unknown option: "-F" Unknown option: "-o" Unknown option: "-r" Unknown option: "-m" Unknown option: "-a" Unknown option: "-t"

Now this is probably not it, but could the space in te folder name Program Files be causing the issue, the path for powershell have no spaces

[vemv]

Now this is probably not it, but could the space in te folder name Program Files be causing the issue, the path for powershell have no spaces

In #3588 (comment), it is shown that we got a JVM-level exception, so Program files isn't causing problems

---

According to chatgpt:

The -EncodedCommand parameter expects the command to be Base64 encoded. The encoding should be compatible with the version of PowerShell you are using. Windows PowerShell typically uses UTF-16LE encoding for Base64 strings, while PowerShell Core may use UTF-8. If you encoded your command for one version, it might not be correctly interpreted by the other.

In our implementation, we only encode as 'utf-16le: (encode-coding-string command 'utf-16le)

So please undo #3588 (comment) and try:

(require 'cider) ;; Important - make sure we're actually overriding the defun

(defun cider--powershell-encode-command (cmd-params)
  "Experiment"
  (let* ((quoted-params cmd-params)
         (command (format "clojure %s" quoted-params))
         (utf-8-command (encode-coding-string command 'utf-8)))
    (format "-encodedCommand %s" (base64-encode-string utf-8-command t))))

[shishini]

Now I am getting this error

[nREPL] Starting server via "c:/Program Files/PowerShell/7/pwsh.exe" -encodedCommand Y2xvanVyZSAtU2RlcHMgJ3s6ZGVwcyB7bnJlcGwvbnJlcGwgezptdm4vdmVyc2lvbiAiIjEuMC4wIiJ9IGNpZGVyL2NpZGVyLW5yZXBsIHs6bXZuL3ZlcnNpb24gIiIwLjQzLjMiIn19IDphbGlhc2VzIHs6Y2lkZXIvbnJlcGwgezptYWluLW9wdHMgWyIiLW0iIiAiIm5yZXBsLmNtZGxpbmUiIiAiIi0tbWlkZGxld2FyZSIiICIiW2NpZGVyLm5yZXBsL2NpZGVyLW1pZGRsZXdhcmVdIiJdfX19JyAtTTpjaWRlci9ucmVwbA==
error in process sentinel: nrepl-server-sentinel: Could not start nREPL server: #< CLIXML

<Objs Version="1.1.0.1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/powershell/2004/04"><S S="Error">??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????= ???????????????????????????: The term '??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????= ???????????????????????????' is not recognized as a name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or executable program._x000D__x000A_</S><S S="Error">Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again._x000D__x000A_</S></Objs> ("exited abnormally with code 1")
error in process sentinel: Could not start nREPL server: #< CLIXML

<Objs Version="1.1.0.1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/powershell/2004/04"><S S="Error">??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????= ???????????????????????????: The term '??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????= ???????????????????????????' is not recognized as a name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or executable program._x000D__x000A_</S><S S="Error">Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again._x000D__x000A_</S></Objs> ("exited abnormally with code 1")

[vemv]

At least we tried :)

What are your thoughts on starting a cider-nrepl server from the terminal, and then cider-connecting to it from Emacs?

[shishini]

i will use powershell for now , just a weird bug, might be a bug in pwsh who knows :)
well hopefully in the future clojure cli will become stand alone, and maybe this will help by pass the powershell / pwsh quoting issues