Installing and Removing Bower Packages

This feature is supported in the Ultimate edition only.

Bower packages can be installed and used only in a specific project. IntelliJ IDEA supports two installation modes: from the command line and through the dedicated user interface.

On this page:

• Installing a Bower package in the command-line mode
• Installing a Bower package through the IntelliJ IDEA interface
• Removing Bower packages
• Installing a Bower package as a development dependency

Installing a Bower package in the command-line mode

1. Open the embedded Terminal (View | Tool Windows | Terminal) and switch to the directory where Bower is stored or define a PATH variable for it so it is available from any folder, see Installing Bower.
2. Type the following command at the command prompt:

   bower install <tool name>
                           

Installing a Bower package through the IntelliJ IDEA interface

1. Run Bower from IntelliJ IDEA using the Bower page of the Settings dialog box.
   1. Open the Settings / Preferences Dialog by pressing Ctrl+Alt+S or by choosing File | Settings for Windows and Linux or IntelliJ IDEA | Preferences for macOS. Expand the Languages & Frameworks node, and then click Bower under JavaScript.
   2. On the Bower page that opens, the Packages area shows all the Bower-dependent packages that are currently installed on your computer, both at the global and at the project level. Click .
   3. In the Available Packages dialog box that opens, select the required package.
   4. Optionally specify the product version and click Install Package to start installation.

Removing Bower packages

Open the Bower page, select the package to remove, and click .

Installing a Bower package as a development dependency

If a Bower package is a documentation or a test framework, which are of no need for those who are going to re-use your application, it is helpful to have it excluded from download for the future. This is done by marking the tool as a development dependency, which actually means adding the Bower package in the devDependencies section of the package.json file.

With IntelliJ IDEA, you can have a Bower package marked as a development dependency right during installation. Do one of the following:

• Run the installation from the command line in the global mode: open the embedded Terminal (View | Tool Windows | Terminal) and type bower install -dev <tool name> at the command prompt.
• Install the package using the IntelliJ IDEA user interface:
  1. Open the Settings / Preferences Dialog by pressing Ctrl+Alt+S or by choosing File | Settings for Windows and Linux or IntelliJ IDEA | Preferences for macOS. Expand the Languages & Frameworks node, and then click Bower under JavaScript.
  2. On the Bower page that opens, the Packages area shows all the Bower-dependent packages that are currently installed on your computer, both at the global and at the project level. Click .
  3. In the Available Packages dialog box that opens, select the required package.
  4. Select the Options checkbox and type --dev in the text box next to it.
  5. Optionally specify the product version and click Install Package to start installation.

After installation, a Bower package is added to the devDependencies section of the package.json file.