Antigravity AI language server fails to start on macOS 11.7 Intel (language_server_macos_x64 exits with code 2/4)

## Environment

- **OS:** macOS 11.7.10 (Big Sur)

- **Machine:** Intel Mac

- **CPU:** Intel(R) Core™ i7-4558U CPU @ 2.80GHz

- `machdep.cpu.features` includes: `AES`, `AVX1.0`, `SSE4.1`, `SSE4.2`, etc.

- **Antigravity install:**

- Platform: macOS `.app` in `/Applications/Antigravity.app`

- `CFBundleExecutable`: `Electron`

- `LSMinimumSystemVersion` in `Info.plist`: `11.0`

- **User state:** Fresh install, first-time onboarding, no settings imported from VS Code

> Please fill in your exact Antigravity version here from `Antigravity → About`:

> - **Antigravity version:** ``

-–

## Summary

On a supported macOS 11 Intel machine, the built-in `google.antigravity` extension repeatedly fails to activate because its bundled language server (`language_server_macos_x64`) exits immediately with exit codes 2 and 4.

This causes Antigravity to show the banner:

> `Antigravity server crashed unexpectedly. Please restart to fully restore AI features.`

The problem persists even after:

- Fully deleting Antigravity config directories,

- Starting fresh (no VS Code settings import),

- Verifying `~/.gemini/antigravity` is writable and owned by the user.

-–

## Steps to reproduce

1. Install Antigravity on macOS 11.7.10 (Big Sur) on an Intel Mac (i7-4558U with AES support).

2. Launch Antigravity for the first time.

3. In onboarding:

- Choose **Start fresh** / do **not** import settings from VS Code.

- Sign in with Google account (sign-in succeeds).

4. Let Antigravity install its default recommended extensions.

5. After onboarding finishes, observe immediately in the bottom area:

> `Antigravity server crashed unexpectedly. Please restart to fully restore AI features.`

6. Try:

- Restarting the Antigravity server from the UI.

- Quitting Antigravity fully and relaunching.

- Disabling and re-enabling the `Antigravity` (Built-in) extension.

In all cases, the error returns as soon as the AI features attempt to start.

-–

## What I expected

- `google.antigravity` (Built-in) extension should activate successfully.

- The Antigravity AI language server should start and remain running.

- AI features (agent/chat, code assistance) should work after a clean install on a supported macOS version.

## What actually happens

- The UI shows:

> `Antigravity server crashed unexpectedly. Please restart to fully restore AI features.`

- `google.antigravity` remains **enabled** in the Extensions view but fails to activate.

- AI features do not work at all.

-–

## Console / log excerpts

From **Help → Toggle Developer Tools → Console** during startup:

```text

(Antigravity) 2025-12-13 10:14:51 [ERROR]: Language server exited with code 2

(Antigravity) 2025-12-13 10:14:51 [ERROR]: Failed to start language server: Error: Language server exited before sending start data

(Antigravity) 2025-12-13 10:14:51 [ERROR]: LS startLanguageServer error: Language server exited before sending start data

Activating extension ‘google.antigravity’ failed: Language server has not been started!.

[Extension Host] Failed to update user status Error: LanguageServerClient must be initialized first!

at B.getInstance (/Applications/Antigravity.app/Contents/Resources/app/extensions/antigravity/dist/extension.js:2:214787)

at a.updateUserStatus (/Applications/Antigravity.app/Contents/Resources/app/extensions/antigravity/dist/extension.js:2:1241852)

at a.restartUpdateLoop (/Applications/Antigravity.app/Contents/Resources/app/extensions/antigravity/dist/extension.js:2:1242343)

at t.activate (/Applications/Antigravity.app/Contents/Resources/app/extensions/antigravity/dist/extension.js:2:163987)

...

[Extension Host] (Antigravity) 2025-12-13 10:15:49 [ERROR]: Language server exited with code 4

[Extension Host] (Antigravity) 2025-12-13 10:15:49 [ERROR]: Failed to start language server: Error: Language server exited before sending start data

[Extension Host] (Antigravity) 2025-12-13 10:15:49 [ERROR]: LS startLanguageServer error: Language server exited before sending start data

Activating extension ‘google.antigravity’ failed: Language server has not been started!.

Antigravity server crashed unexpectedly. Please restart to fully restore AI features.

```

Other recurring log messages:

```text

[google.antigravity]: Menu item references a command `antigravity.importAntigravitySettings` which is not defined in the ‘commands’ section.

[google.antigravity]: Menu item references a command `antigravity.importAntigravityExtensions` which is not defined in the ‘commands’ section.

command ‘antigravity.refreshMcpServers’ not found

command ‘antigravity.handleAuthRefresh’ not found

Failed to get VSCode workspaces: Error: command ‘antigravity.importVSCodeRecentWorkspaces’ not found

```

The language server binary present on disk:

```text

/Applications/Antigravity.app/Contents/Resources/app/extensions/antigravity/bin/language_server_macos_x64

```

When run manually without arguments, it appears to wait (no immediate crash), which suggests the failure is specific to how Antigravity starts it.

-–

## Things already tried (based on public troubleshooting guides)

1. **Restart / hardware acceleration**

- Fully quit Antigravity and relaunch.

- Allowed recommended default extensions to install.

- Restarted the Antigravity server from the UI.

- Disabled “import from VS Code” (started fresh).

- Still get the crash banner.

2. **Config reset**

- Backed up and removed:

- `~/.antigravity`

- `~/Library/Application Support/Antigravity`

- Relaunched Antigravity, completed onboarding again, **no settings import**.

- Same behavior: immediate server crash banner, same console errors.

3. **Extension conflicts**

- Confirmed there is **no GitHub Copilot** installed in Antigravity.

- Only see built-in extensions and recommended defaults.

- `google.antigravity` is present and enabled.

4. **`~/.gemini/antigravity` permissions**

- Verified directories and files:

 \`\`\`text

 drwxr-xr-x  ... \~/.gemini

 drwxr-xr-x  ... \~/.gemini/antigravity

 \`\`\`

- All owned by my user (no `root` ownership, no obvious permission issues).

- No “permission denied” errors in logs.

5. **CPU feature checks**

- CPU supports AES and AVX; this is **not** the known “no AES-NI” hardware issue seen on older Linux installs.

-–

## Why I think this is a product bug

- The system clearly meets Antigravity’s advertised minimum: macOS ≥ 11.0, AES-capable Intel CPU.

- All known configuration causes for this error have been ruled out:

- No imported VS Code settings or Copilot.

- Fresh Antigravity and `~/.antigravity` state.

- Writable `~/.gemini/antigravity`.

- The error is specifically that `language_server_macos_x64`:

- Starts, then exits with codes 2 and 4 during normal Antigravity startup.

- Never completes its startup handshake (“start data”).

- This looks like a bug or untested combination in the **macOS x64 language server** for Big Sur Intel, not a user misconfiguration.

-–

## Request

- Please:

- Confirm whether **macOS 11.x (Big Sur) on Intel** is a fully supported target for the Antigravity language server.

- Investigate why `language_server_macos_x64` is exiting early with codes 2/4 on this platform.

- If possible, provide:

- A patched build of the language server for macOS Intel.

- Or a configuration/workaround to make Antigravity’s AI language server work on this OS/CPU.

Happy to provide additional logs or try a diagnostic build if that helps.

1 Like

Thanks for sharing — hopefully the issue gets resolved soon so the Antigravity AI language server can run smoothly on macOS 11.7.