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Use this dialog box to create configurations used to run or debug Android applications and activities on actual or virtual devices.

This dialog box consists of three tabs:

The dialog also provides a toolbar and the options that are common to all run/debug configuration types.

General tab

ItemDescription
Module From this drop-down list, select a module to which this configuration will be applied.
Package In this area, appoint the .apk file that will be deployed to the target virtual or physical device.
  • Deploy default APK: select this option to have IntelliJ IDEA upload the .apk built from the module specified in the Module drop-down list above. The .apk is built automatically, no preliminary artifact configuration is required from your side.
  • Deploy custom artifact: select this option to have IntelliJ IDEA upload the .apk built from the code and resources appointed in a manually configured artifact. Select an artifact from the drop-down list which shows all manually created artifact definitions for the selected module. See Configuring Artifacts for details.
  • Do not deploy anything: select this option to suppress uploading data to the device. This approach may be helpful if you have already deployed your application manually outside IntelliJ IDEA.
Activity In this area, appoint the activity that will be launched on the application start.
  • Do not launch Activity: select this option to connect to an already running application provided that you have chosen Do not deploy anything in the Packages area. Executing a run configuration with these settings is the same as clicking the Attach debugger to Android process button addAndroidDebuggerToProcess.png on the toolbar (see Debugging a Running Application).
  • Launch default Activity: select this option to have IntelliJ IDEA automatically launch the activity marked as start-up.
  • Launch: select this option to have IntelliJ IDEA launch an activity of your choice upon the application start. This option may be helpful when you want to run or debug a part of your application and have already chosen the Deploy custom artifact option in the Packages area. Type the activity name manually or click the Browse button browseButton.png and select it in the Select Activity Class dialog box that opens.

    The list of available activities is determined by the choice of the module.

Target Device In this area, select the type of device to run/debug the application on. The available options are:
  • Show chooser dialog: select this option to have IntelliJ IDEA display the Choose Device dialog box when the application is started.

    If you want to automatically use the device chosen through the Choose Device dialog in the future, select the Use same device for future launches option.

  • USB device: select this option to have IntelliJ IDEA detect a plugged-in USB device upon the application start.

Selecting the Show chooser dialog or USB device option may be helpful if you are going to run the application on a physical device which will be plugged in later and therefore the set of available devices cannot be foreseen.

  • Emulator: select this option to use one of the configured device emulators. From the Prefer Android Virtual Device drop-down list, select a virtual device that will be used to run/debug the specified activity. If you want to add/edit a virtual device configuration, click the Browse button browseButton.png to launch the Android Virtual Device (AVD) Manager (see Managing Virtual Devices for details).

Emulator tab

In this tab, specify additional configuration settings for launching an Android emulator.

ItemDescription
Network Speed From this drop-down list, select the network transfer rate to be emulated.
Network Latency Use this drop-down list to specify the time delay between the initial input and the output. You can select between the following latency levels:
  • None: no latency
  • GPRS: GPRS (min 150, max 550 milliseconds)
  • EDGE: EDGE/EGPRS (min 80, max 400 milliseconds)
  • UMTS: UMTS/3G (min 35, max 200 milliseconds)
Wipe user data Select this check box to have the contents of the user-data image copied to the new user-data disk image while resetting the image. By default, the <system>/userdata.img is copied.
Disable boot animation Select this check box if you do not want an animated boot screen displayed upon the emulator start-up.
Additional command line options In this text box, type the additional options to be passed to the emulator via the command line. For lengthy command lines, click the editorIcon.gif button and type the text in the Emulator Additional Command Line Options dialog that opens.

Logcat tab

In this tab, configure the scope of log data shown during a run/debug session.

ItemDescription
Clear log before launch Select this check box if you want data from previous sessions to be removed from the log file before starting the application.
Show logcat automatically
  • When this check box is selected, the Logcat tab is activated automatically every time an application is deployed and launched successfully.
  • When this check box is cleared, the focus does not move to the Logcat tab automatically upon application start and you have to switch to the tab manually.
Filter to only show output from this application Select this check box if you do now want to clear the log file, but want IntelliJ IDEA to display log data that is only related to the currently running application.

Toolbar

ItemShortcutDescription
add Alt+Insert Click this button to add a new configuration to the list.
delete Alt+Delete Click this button to remove the selected configuration from the list.
copy Ctrl+D Click this button to create a copy of the selected configuration.
settings Edit defaultsClick this button to edit the default configuration templates. The defaults are used for newly created configurations.
arrowUp or arrowDown Alt+Up or Alt+Down Use these buttons to move the selected configuration or folder up and down in the list.

The order of configurations or folders in the list defines the order in which configurations appear in the Run/Debug drop-down list on the main toolbar.

folder Move into new folder / Create new folder Use this button to create a new folder.

If one or more run/debug configurations are in focus, the selected run/debug configurations are automatically moved to the newly created folder. If only a category is in focus, an empty folder is created.

Move run/debug configurations to a folder using drag-and-drop, or the arrowUp arrowDown buttons.

sortAlphabetically Sort configurations Click this button to sort configurations in alphabetical order.

Common options

ItemDescription
NameIn this text box, specify the name of a new run/debug configuration. This field is not available for the default run/debug configurations.
Defaults This node in the left-hand pane contains the default run/debug configuration settings. Select configuration to modify its default settings in the right-hand pane. The defaults are applied to all newly created run/debug configurations.
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.

This check box is not available when editing the run/debug configuration defaults.

Before launchUse the controls in this area to specify which tasks must performed before applying the run/debug configuration. The tasks are performed in the order they appear in the list. The following options are available:
  • add (Alt+Insert): click this icon to add a task to the list. Select one of the following task types:
    • Run External tool: select this option to run an application that is external to IntelliJ IDEA. In the dialog that opens, select the application(s) that you want to run. If the required application is not defined in IntelliJ IDEA yet, add its definition (for details see Configuring Third-Party Tools and External Tools).
    • Run Another Configuration: select this option to execute one on the existing run/debug configuration. Choose a configuration to execute from the dialog box that opens.
    • Make: select this option to have the project or the module compiled. The Make Module command will be executed if a particular module is specified in the run/debug configuration, or the Make Project command if no modules are specified.
    • Make, no error check: this option is the same as Make, the only difference being is that IntelliJ IDEA will start the run/debug configuration irrespective of the compilation result.
    • Build Artifacts: select this option to build artifacts. Select the artifact(s) you want to build in the dialog that opens. For more information, see Configuring Artifacts.
    • Run Ant target: select this option to execute an Ant target. In the dialog that opens select a target that you want to build. For more information, see Ant.
    • Run Maven goal: select this option to run a Maven goal. In the dialog that opens, select a goal that you want to run. For more information, see Maven.
    • Run Gradle task: select this option to run a Gradle task. In the dialog that opens, select a task that you want to run. For more information, see Gradle
    • Run File Watcher: select this option to run the File Watchers that are active in the current project. For more information, see Using File Watchers.
    • Generate CoffeeScript Source Maps: select this option to generate source maps for your CoffeeScript sources. In the dialog that opens, specify the path to the folder where CoffeeScript files will be generated. For more information, see CoffeeScript Support.
    • Run Remote External tool: select this option to run a remote SSH external tool. In the dialog that opens, specify the SSH external tool that you want to run. For more information, see Remote SSH External Tools.
  • delete (Alt+Delete): click this icon to remove the selected task from the list.
  • edit1 (Enter): click this icon to modify the selected task. Edit the task settings in the dialog that opens.
  • arrowUp (Alt+Up): click this icon to move the selected task up in the list.
  • arrowDown (Alt+Down): click this icon to move the selected task down in the list.
  • Show this page: select this check box if you want to display the run/debug configuration settings before applying it.
  • Active tool window: select this option if you want the Run/Debug tool windows to be activated automatically when you run/debug your application. This option is enabled by default.