[//]: # (title: Plugin Content)

<!-- Copyright 2000-2022 JetBrains s.r.o. and contributors. Use of this source code is governed by the Apache 2.0 license. -->

Plugin distribution will be built using [Gradle](tools_gradle_intellij_plugin.md#tasks-buildplugin) or [Plugin DevKit](deploying_theme.md).

The plugin <path>.jar</path> file must contain:

- the configuration file (<path>META-INF/plugin.xml</path>) ([Plugin Configuration File](plugin_configuration_file.md))
- the classes that implement the plugin functionality
- recommended: plugin logo file(s) (<path>META-INF/pluginIcon*.svg</path>) ([Plugin Logo](plugin_icon_file.md))

> Targeting a plugin distribution to a specific OS is not possible ([issue](https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/MP-1896)).

### Plugin Without Dependencies

A plugin consisting of a single <path>.jar</path> file is placed in the <path>/plugins</path> directory.

```text
.IntelliJIDEAx0/
└── plugins
    └── sample.jar
        ├── com/company/sample/SamplePluginService.class
        │   ...
        │   ...
        └── META-INF
            ├── plugin.xml
            ├── pluginIcon.svg
            └── pluginIcon_dark.svg
```

### Plugin With Dependencies

The plugin <path>.jar</path> file is placed in the <path>/lib</path> folder under the plugin's "root" folder, together with all required bundled libraries.

All jars from the <path>/lib</path> folder are automatically added to the classpath (see also [Plugin Class Loaders](plugin_class_loaders.md)).

> Do not repackage libraries into the main plugin archive (<path>sample.jar</path> in the sample below).
> Otherwise, [Plugin Verifier](verifying_plugin_compatibility.md) will yield false positives for unresolved classes and methods.
>
{style="warning"}

```text
   .IntelliJIDEAx0/
   └── plugins
       └── sample
           └── lib
               ├── lib_foo.jar
               ├── lib_bar.jar
               │   ...
               │   ...
               └── sample.jar
                   ├── com/company/sample/SamplePluginService.class
                   │   ...
                   │   ...
                   └── META-INF
                       ├── plugin.xml
                       ├── pluginIcon.svg
                       └── pluginIcon_dark.svg
```