IntelliJ IDEA 2018.2 Help

Create Run/Debug Configuration for Gradle Tasks

This dialog lets you create a run/debug configuration for the selected Gradle task. It appears when you right-click the task in the Gradle tool window and select Create [task-name].

Item

Description

Name

This field shows the name of your Gradle project and the Gradle task that you have selected in the Gradle tool window for the configuration.

Share

Select this check box to make the run/debug configuration available to other team members.

If the directory-based project format is used, the settings for a run/debug configuration are stored in a separate .xml file in the .idea\runConfigurations folder if the run/debug configuration is shared, or in the .idea\workspace.xml file otherwise.

If the file-based format is used, the settings are stored in the .ipr file for shared configurations, or in the .iws file otherwise.

Single instance only

If this check box is selected, this run/debug configuration cannot be launched more than once.

Every time a new run/debug configuration is launched, IntelliJ IDEA checks the presence of the other instances of the same run/debug configuration, and displays a confirmation dialog box. If you click OK in the confirmation dialog box, the first instance of the runner will be stopped, and the next one will take its place.

This makes sense when the usage of certain resources can cause conflicts, or when launching two run/debug configurations of the same type consumes too much of the CPU and memory resources.

If this check box is not selected, it is possible to launch as many instances of the runner as required. So doing, each runner will start in its own tab of the Run Tool Window or Debug Tool Window.

Gradle Project

Use this field to specify the location of your Gradle project. You can either enter it manually or click the Browse  browse button and point to the desired location in the dialog that opens.
You can also click gradle registered projects button button to select an available Gradle module from the list of registered Gradle modules in your existing IntelliJ IDEA project. The list has a tree structure that might be useful if you have a Gradle multi-module project.

Tasks

This field shows the selected Gradle task. You can add other tasks to the selected one. Use spaces to separate one task from another.

VM Options

Use this field to specify VM options for your Gradle project.

If you need more room to type, click icons general expandComponent svg next to the field to access the VM options dialog where the text entry area is larger.

When specifying JVM options, follow these rules:

  • Use spaces to separate individual options, for example, -client -ea -Xmx1024m.

  • If an option includes spaces, enclose the spaces or the argument that contains spaces in double quotes, for example, some" "arg or "some arg".

  • If an option includes double quotes (as part of the argument), escape the double quotes using backslashes, for example, -Dmy.prop=\"quoted_value\".

  • You can pass environment variable values to custom Java properties. For example, if you define a variable MY_ENV_VAR, you can pass it to the foo property as follows:

    -Dfoo=${MY_ENV_VAR}

Script Parameters

Use this field as the Gradle command line to specify options for Gradle tasks.
For the information on the syntax, see Gradle command line options. Please note that some of the Gradle commands options are not supported in IDE. In this case you will receive an error message indicating the problem.

Before Launch options

In this area you can specify tasks that must be be performed before starting the selected run/debug configuration. The tasks are performed in the order they appear in the list.

Item

Shortcut

Description

icons general add svgAlt+Insert

Click this icon to add one of the following available tasks:

  • Run External tool: select to run an external application. In the dialog that opens, select one or multiple applications you want to run. If it is not defined in IntelliJ IDEA yet, add its definition. For more information, see Configuring Third-Party Tools and External Tools.

  • Run Another Configuration: select to execute another run/debug configuration. In the dialog that opens, select the configuration to be run.

  • Build: select to compile the specified module. The Build Module command will be executed.

    If an error occurs during compilation, IntelliJ IDEA won't attempt to start the run/debug configuration.

  • Build Project: select to compile the entire project. The Build Project command will be executed.

    If an error occurs during compilation, IntelliJ IDEA won't attempt to start the run/debug configuration.

  • Build, no error check: the same as the Build option, but IntelliJ IDEA will try to start the run/debug configuration irrespective of the compilation results.

  • Build Artifacts: select this option to build an artifact or artifacts. In the dialog that opens, select the artifact or artifacts that should be built.

  • Run Ant target: select this option to run an Ant target. In the dialog that opens, select the target to be run.

  • Run Grunt task: select this option to run a Grunt task. In the Grunt task dialog box that opens, specify the Gruntfile.js where the required task is defined, select the task to execute, and specify the arguments to pass to the Grunt tool.

    Specify the location of the Node.js interpreter, the parameters to pass to it, and the path to the grunt-cli package.

  • Run Gulp task: select this option to run a Gulp task. In the Gulp task dialog box that opens, specify the Gulpfile.js where the required task is defined, select the task to execute, and specify the arguments to pass to the Gulp tool.

    Specify the location of the Node.js interpreter, the parameters to pass to it, and the path to the gulp package.

  • Run Maven Goal: select this option to run a Maven goal. In the dialog that opens, select the goal to be run.

  • Run npm Script: select this option to execute an npm script. In the NPM Script dialog box that opens, specify the npm run/debug configuration settings.

  • Start React Native Bundler: select this option to run the bundler automatically, as part of a running or debugging session. by default, this is done through react-native start. If your application uses Expo, you need to run the development server via the start npm task. To do that, click icons actions edit svg, then in the Configure React Native dialog, choose npm script and select start from the list.

  • Compile TypeScript: select to run the built-in TypeScript compiler and thus make sure that all the changes you made to your TypeScript code are reflected in the generated JavaScript files. In the TypeScript Compile Settings dialog that opens, select or clear the Check errors checkbox to configure the behaviour of the compiler in case any errors are detected:
    • If the Check errors checkbox is selected, the compiler will show all the errors and the run configuration will not start.

    • If the Check errors checkbox is cleared, the compiler will show all the detected errors but the run configuration still will be launched.

  • Generate CoffeeScript Source Maps: select this option to generate the source maps for your CoffeeScript sources. In the dialog that opens, specify where your CoffeeScript source files are located.

  • Upload files to Remote Host: select this option to have the application files automatically uploaded to the server according to the default server access configuration.

  • Run Remote External tool: adds a remote SSH external tool.

  • Run Rake task: add a Rake task to be executed prior to running or debugging. To choose a Rake task, click the browse button browseButton, and select the desired task from the list of available tasks.

    Note that code completion is available here.

    runConfigRakeTask
  • Run JRuby compiler: choose this option to execute JRuby compiler with the specified target path, compiler process heap size, and command line parameters (if any).

icons general remove svgAlt+Delete

Click this icon to remove the selected task from the list.

icons actions edit svg

Enter

Click this icon to edit the selected task. Make the necessary changes in the dialog that opens.

icons actions moveUp svg/icons actions moveDown svg

Alt+Up/Alt+Down

Click these icons to move the selected task one line up or down in the list. (The tasks are performed in the order that they appear in the list.)

Show this page

Select this checkbox to show the run/debug configuration settings prior to actually starting the run/debug configuration.

Activate tool window

If this checkbox is selected, which it is by default, the Run or the Debug tool window opens when you start the run/debug configuration.

Otherwise, the tool window isn't shown. However, when the configuration is running, you can open the corresponding tool window for it yourself by pressing Alt+4 or Alt+5.

Last modified: 20 November 2018

See Also