CLion 2020.1 Help

Run code inspections from the command line

When you work in the CLion editor, it constantly runs code inspections to find and highlight syntax errors, dead code, possible bugs, bad coding style, and so on. You can also run all the configured inspections from the command line, without opening your project in CLion. This way you can perform regular code analysis as a part of your development process, which is especially important for large projects with big teams. Inspection results can be stored as an XML, JSON, or plain text file with a report.

You can find the script for running CLion in the installation directory under bin. To use this script as the command-line launcher, add it to your system PATH as described in Command-line interface.

Syntax
clion.bat inspect <project> <inspection-profile> <output> [<options>]
Example

Inspect the C:\MyProject\src directory of the C:\MyProject project using the C:\MyProject\.idea\inspectionProfiles\MyProfile.xml profile with maximum verbosity, and save results to an XML file under C:\MyProject\InspectionResults:

clion.bat inspect C:\MyProject C:\MyProject\.idea\inspectionProfiles\MyProfile.xml C:\MyProject\InspectionResults -v2 -d C:\MyProject\src

By default, CLion does not provide a command-line launcher. For information about creating a launcher script for CLion, see Command-line interface.

Syntax
clion inspect <project> <inspection-profile> <output> [<options>]
Example

Inspect the ~/MyProject/src directory of the ~/MyProject project using the ~/MyProject/.idea/inspectionProfiles/MyProfile.xml profile with maximum verbosity, and save results to an XML file under ~/MyProject/InspectionResults:

clion inspect ~/MyProject ~/MyProject/.idea/inspectionProfiles/MyProfile.xml ~/MyProject/InspectionResults -v2 -d ~/MyProject/src

You can find the script for running CLion in the installation directory under bin. To use this script as the command-line launcher, add it to your system PATH as described in Command-line interface.

Syntax
clion.sh inspect <project> <inspection-profile> <output> [<options>]
Example

Inspect the ~/MyProject/src directory of the ~/MyProject project using the ~/MyProject/.idea/inspectionProfiles/MyProfile.xml profile with maximum verbosity, and save results to an XML file under ~/MyProject/InspectionResults:

clion.sh inspect ~/MyProject ~/MyProject/.idea/inspectionProfiles/MyProfile.xml ~/MyProject/InspectionResults -v2 -d ~/MyProject/src

Options

OptionDescription
-changesRun inspections only on local uncommitted changes.
-dSpecify the full path to the subdirectory if you don't want to inspect the whole project.
-format

Specify the format of the output file with inspection results: xml (default), json, or plain.

-v

Set the verbosity level of the output:

  • -v0 is the default low verbosity.

  • -v1 is medium verbosity.

  • -v2 is maximum verbosity.

Inspection profiles

An inspection profile is an .xml file that specifies enabled inspections and their options.

By default, project inspection profiles are stored in the project directory: .idea/inspectionProfiles.

Global IDE inspection profiles are stored in the IDE configuration directory under inspection.

Inspection results

You can open the generated XML file with inspection results in CLion or any text editor as a regular file. However, it is more convenient to analyze it using the Offline View of the Inspection results tool window:

View inspection results

  1. Open the project for which you ran the inspection.

  2. From the main menu, choose Analyze | View Offline Inspection Results.

  3. Select the XML file with the inspection results and click OK.

Last modified: 29 June 2020