Bower

Bower is a package manager for client-side libraries and components that contain HTML, CSS, JavaScript, fonts, image files, etc. You can install, locate, upgrade, and remove Bower packages without leaving IntelliJ IDEA, on the deicated Bower page or from the command line in the built-in Terminal.

Installing and configuring Bower

To install Bower

Open the built-in IntelliJ IDEA Terminal (Alt+F12) and type npm install -g bower at the command prompt.

To create bower.json

Open the embedded Terminal (Alt+F12).
At the command prompt type:
cd <your project folder> bower init
Answer the questions to specify the following basic settings:
- The testing framework to use.
- The browsers to be captured automatically.
- The patterns that define the location of test files to be involved in testing or excluded from it.

To configure Bower in WebStorm

In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), click JavaScript under Languages and Frameworks, and then click Bower. The Bower page opens.
Specify the Node.js interpreter to use. This can be a local Node.js interpreter or a Node.js on Windows Subsystem for Linux.
Specify the location of the Bower package and the bower.json configuration file.

Managing Bower packages

Bower installs packages only as project dependencies or development dependencies, learn more from the Bower official website. You can manage Bower packages on the Bower page or in the Terminal tool window.

To install a package in the Terminal

Open the embedded Terminal (Alt+F12).
At the command prompt, type bower install --save <package_name> or bower install --save-dev <package_name> to install the package as a project dependency or a development dependency.

To handle packages on the Bower page

In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), click JavaScript under Languages and Frameworks, and then click Bower.
On the Bower page that opens, the Packages area shows all the Bower packages that are currently installed in your project.
- To install a package, click , and in the Available Packages dialog box that opens, select the required package and click Install Package.
- To upgrade to the latest version of a package, select it in the list and click .
- To uninstall a package, select it in the list and click .