IntelliJ IDEA 2017.2 Help

External Tools

File | Settings | Tools | External Tools for Windows and Linux
IntelliJ IDEA | Preferences | Tools | External Tools for macOS
Ctrl+Alt+S settings


Define third-party standalone applications (code generators and analyzers, pre- and post- processors, database utilities, etc.) as external tools to be able to run them from IntelliJ IDEA.

You can pass contextual information (like the currently selected file, or your project source path) to the external tools, view the tool output, and more.

The tools defined on this page appear as commands in the Tools menu and in various context menus. They can also be assigned keyboard shortcuts (see Configuring Keyboard Shortcuts).

Toolbar icons

IconDescription
new Add a definition of an external tool. (The Create Tool dialog will open.)
delete If an individual tool is selected: delete the tool definition. If a tool group is selected: delete the definitions of all the tools within the selected group.
edit1 Edit the definition of the selected tool. (The Edit Tool dialog will open.)
arrowUp arrowDown Move the selected tool one line up or down within the group. (The order of tools defines the order of items in corresponding menus.)
copy Create a copy of the selected definition and then edit that copy. (The Copy Tool dialog will open.)

Check boxes

Use the check boxes to enable or disable the tools and the tool groups. The items that are not currently selected are not available in the Tools and context menus.

Last modified: 29 November 2017

See Also