VSCode Error Notifications for Critical Failures

Priority: P1 Status: ❌ Not started Source: JetBrains plugin analysis

Description

Critical errors (CLI binary not found, server startup failure, connection lost) are only shown inside the webview. If the webview is not visible or hasn't loaded, users get no feedback. Platform-native error notifications should be used for critical failures.

Requirements

Show vscode.window.showErrorMessage() when CLI binary is missing
Show vscode.window.showErrorMessage() when server fails to start
Show vscode.window.showWarningMessage() when SSE connection is lost (with "Retry" action)
Avoid notification spam — throttle or deduplicate repeated errors

Current State

All errors are posted to the webview as { type: "error" } messages. No vscode.window.showErrorMessage() or vscode.window.showWarningMessage() calls exist in the extension host.

The CLI binary check at ServerManager.startServer() throws an error string that is caught in KiloProvider.initializeConnection() and sent to the webview only.

Gaps

No vscode.window.showErrorMessage() for server startup failures
No vscode.window.showWarningMessage() for connection loss
No actionable notifications (e.g., "Retry" button)
Users may miss errors if webview is collapsed or not focused

Implementation Notes

// In initializeConnection() catch block:
vscode.window.showErrorMessage(`Kilo Code: Failed to start CLI server — ${error.message}`, "Retry").then((action) => {
  if (action === "Retry") this.initializeConnection()
})

Files to change:

src/KiloProvider.ts — add vscode.window.showErrorMessage() calls in error paths
src/services/cli-backend/connection-service.ts — optionally surface critical errors to callers

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