IntelliJ IDEA 2016.3 Help

Creating a Project for Plugin Development

To develop a plugin for IntelliJ IDEA, you need a project with a plugin module.

To create a new project with a plugin module

  1. If no project is currently open in IntelliJ IDEA, click Create New Project on the Welcome screen. Otherwise, select File | New | Project.

    As a result, the New Project wizard opens.

  2. On the first page of the wizard, in the left-hand pane, select IntelliJ Platform Plugin.
  3. In the right-hand part of the page:
    • Specify the SDK to be used.

      If the necessary SDK is already defined in IntelliJ IDEA, select it from the list. Otherwise, click New and select the installation folder of the desired IntelliJ IDEA version. (An IntelliJ IDEA installation acts as an IntelliJ Platform Plugin SDK.) If asked to specify a JDK first, do so.

    • If necessary, enable Groovy support by selecting the corresponding check box. If the necessary Groovy version is already defined in IntelliJ IDEA as a library, select that library from the list. Otherwise, click Create and select the installation folder of the desired Groovy version in the dialog that opens.
    • If necessary, enable SQL support by selecting the corresponding check box. Select the SQL dialect to be used by default from the list.

    Click Next.

  4. Specify the name and location settings for your project and module. For more information, see Project Name and Location.

    Click Finish.

When a project is created, populate it with new actions, components, etc. To create the necessary items, use the New menu. To access this menu, select the required location, package, etc. in the Project tool window and then do one of the following:

  • Select File | New in the main menu.
  • Select New from the context menu.
  • Press Alt+Insert.

See Also

Last modified: 21 March 2017