diff --git a/src/main/wacc/frontend/ast.scala b/src/main/wacc/frontend/ast.scala
index ac0e585..9b14b13 100644
--- a/src/main/wacc/frontend/ast.scala
+++ b/src/main/wacc/frontend/ast.scala
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import parsley.Parsley
 import parsley.generic.ErrorBridge
 import parsley.ap._
 import parsley.position._
-import parsley.syntax.zipped._
 import cats.data.NonEmptyList
 
 object ast {
diff --git a/wacc-syntax/extension.js b/wacc-syntax/extension.js
index b5894de..c2fd39c 100644
--- a/wacc-syntax/extension.js
+++ b/wacc-syntax/extension.js
@@ -1,22 +1,26 @@
+// Developed using the VSC language extension tutorial
+// https://code.visualstudio.com/api/language-extensions/overview
+
 const vscode = require('vscode');
+const { execSync } = require('child_process');
+const { parse } = require('path');
 
 function activate(context) {
     console.log('IntelliWACC is now active!');
 
-    // Create a DiagnosticCollection for error highlighting
     let diagnosticCollection = vscode.languages.createDiagnosticCollection('wacc');
     context.subscriptions.push(diagnosticCollection);
 
-    // Listen for document saves and run error checking
     vscode.workspace.onDidSaveTextDocument((document) => {
         if (document.languageId !== 'wacc') return;
 
         let diagnostics = [];
-        let errors = runCompilerAndGetErrors(document.getText());
+        let errors = generateErrors(document.getText());
 
         errors.forEach(error => {
-            let range = new vscode.Range(error.line, error.column, error.line, error.column + 1);
-            let diagnostic = new vscode.Diagnostic(range, error.message, vscode.DiagnosticSeverity.Error);
+            console.log(error);
+            let range = new vscode.Range(error.line - 1 , error.column - 1, error.line - 1, error.column + error.size);
+            let diagnostic = new vscode.Diagnostic(range, error.errorMessage, vscode.DiagnosticSeverity.Error);
             diagnostics.push(diagnostic);
         });
 
@@ -28,8 +32,35 @@ function deactivate() {
     console.log('IntelliWACC is deactivating...');
 }
 
-function runCompilerAndGetErrors(code) {
-    // COMPILER INTEGRATION
+function generateErrors(code) {
+    try {
+        const fs = require('fs');
+        const tmpFilePath = '/tmp/temp_wacc_file.wacc';
+        fs.writeFileSync(tmpFilePath, code);
+
+        let output;
+        try {
+            // currently only works if the wacc compiler exe is in the parent directory
+            output = execSync(`../wacc_exe ${tmpFilePath}`, { encoding: 'utf8', stdio: 'pipe' });
+        } catch (err) {
+            output = err.stdout;
+        }
+        let errors = [];
+        errorRegex = /\(line ([\d]+), column ([\d]+)\):\n([^>]+)([^\^]+)([\^]+)\n([^\n]+)([^\(]*)/g
+        while((match = errorRegex.exec(output)) !== null) {
+            console.log(match[5]);
+            errors.push({
+                line: parseInt(match[1], 10),
+                column: parseInt(match[2], 10),
+                errorMessage: match[3].trim(),
+                size: match[5].length - 1
+            });
+        }
+        return errors;
+    } catch (err) {
+        console.error('Error running compiler:', err);
+        return [];
+    }
 }
 
 module.exports = {