Installing and Removing Bower Packages

This feature is supported in the Ultimate edition only.

Bower packages can be installed and used only in a specific project. IntelliJ IDEA supports two installation modes: from the command line and through the dedicated user interface.

On this page:

• Installing a Bower package in the command-line mode
• Installing a Bower package through the IntelliJ IDEA interface
• Removing Bower packages
• Installing a Bower package as a development dependency

Installing a Bower package in the command-line mode

1. Launch the embedded Terminal (View | Tool Windows | Terminal or by hovering your mouse pointer over in the lower left corner of IntelliJ IDEA and choosing Terminal from the menu .
2. Switch to the directory where Bower is stored or define a PATH variable for it so it is available from any folder, see Installing Bower.
3. Type the following command at the command line prompt:
   bower install <tool name>

Installing a Bower package through the IntelliJ IDEA interface

1. Run Bower from IntelliJ IDEA using the Bower page of the Settings dialog box.
   1. Open the Settings / Preferences Dialog by pressing Ctrl+Alt+S or by choosing File | Settings for Windows and Linux or IntelliJ IDEA | Preferences for macOS. Expand the Languages & Frameworks node, and then click Bower under JavaScript.
   2. On the Bower page that opens, the Packages area shows all the Bower-dependent packages that are currently installed on your computer, both at the global and at the project level. Click .
   3. In the Available Packages dialog box that opens, select the required package.
   4. Optionally specify the product version and click Install Package to start installation.

Removing Bower packages

Installing a Bower package as a development dependency

If a Bower package is a documentation or a test framework, which are of no need for those who are going to re-use your application, it is helpful to have it excluded from download for the future. This is done by marking the tool as a development dependency, which actually means adding the Bower package in the devDependencies section of the package.json file.

With IntelliJ IDEA, you can have a Bower package marked as a development dependency right during installation. Do one of the following:

• Run the installation from the command line in the global mode: launch the embedded Terminal (View | Tool Windows | Terminal or by hovering your mouse pointer over in the lower left corner of IntelliJ IDEA and choosing Terminal from the menu and type bower install -dev <tool name> at the command line prompt.
• Install the package using the IntelliJ IDEA user interface:
  1. Open the Settings / Preferences Dialog by pressing Ctrl+Alt+S or by choosing File | Settings for Windows and Linux or IntelliJ IDEA | Preferences for macOS. Expand the Languages & Frameworks node, and then click Bower under JavaScript.
  2. On the Bower page that opens, the Packages area shows all the Bower-dependent packages that are currently installed on your computer, both at the global and at the project level. Click .
  3. In the Available Packages dialog box that opens, select the required package.
  4. Select the Options check box and type --dev in the text box next to it.
  5. Optionally specify the product version and click Install Package to start installation.

After installation, a Bower package is added to the devDependencies section of the package.json file.