Frequently asked questions

MCP Server Connection Issues

Q: I'm getting "connect ENOENT" errors when starting the MCP server

A: This is usually caused by a race condition during VSCode startup. The MCP server tries to connect before the Dialectic extension has fully activated and created the IPC socket.

Solution:

1. Check the VSCode "OUTPUT" tab and select "Dialectic" from the dropdown
2. Verify you see messages like:

   Dialectic extension is now active
   Setting up IPC server at: /tmp/dialectic-[uuid].sock
   IPC server listening on: /tmp/dialectic-[uuid].sock
   Set DIALECTIC_IPC_PATH environment variable to: /tmp/dialectic-[uuid].sock
   

3. Open a new terminal in VSCode (Terminal > New Terminal)
4. Run dialectic-mcp-server from the new terminal

The new terminal will inherit the updated DIALECTIC_IPC_PATH environment variable that the extension set after activation.