The GCL configuration language at Google has a complicated 20 year history. The gist is that there are many dialects of the language and most users that are required to use it are confused by it. We determined one way we could meaningfully change how our thousands of users use the language was to provide them with relevant information directly into their editing experience (their IDE).

In this talk I go over the Microsoft Language Server Protocol (LSP) and how config languages can utilize it effectively. I use the GCL language and our LSP implementation as an example to show config language specific functionality, and how it has improved user behavior.