IntelliJ IDEA 2018.2 Help

Plugin Development Guidelines

IntelliJ IDEA lets you customize and extend its functionality based on your specific needs. This can be done using plugins that leverage the IntelliJ platform API.

The following is required for developing plugins in IntelliJ IDEA:

  • Download and install a JDK.

  • Enable the Plugin DevKit plugin. For more information, see Managing Plugins.

  • Optionally, get the IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition sources. This will make debugging your plugins much easier.

For detailed information about developing plugins, see the IntelliJ Platform SDK Developer Guide.

Overview for developing an IntelliJ IDEA plugin

  1. Configure the IntelliJ Platform Plugin SDK.

  2. Create a project for plugin development.

  3. Create the necessary source elements and write the source code.

  4. Run and debug your plugin.

  5. Prepare the plugin for publishing.

Last modified: 20 November 2018