---
title: Incompatible Changes in IntelliJ Platform and Plugins API
---

<!--
Before documenting a breaking API change, please, make sure that the change cannot be avoided 
in an alternative way.

APIs marked with @ApiStatus.Experimental, @ApiStatus.Internal or @ApiStatus.ScheduledForRemoval don't need to be documented.

To document a new incompatible change, add a new line with the problem pattern
followed by a 2nd line with ": "-prefixed human-readable description and recommended fix/action.

The following problem patterns are supported:

<package name> package removed
<class name> class removed
<class name> class renamed to <new class name>

<class name>.<method name>(<human-readable parameters>) method removed
<class name>.<method name>(<human-readable parameters>) method return type changed from <before> to <after>
<class name>.<method name>(<human-readable parameters>) method parameter <type> removed
<class name>.<method name>(<human-readable parameters>) method parameter type changed from <before> to <after>
<class name>.<method name>(<human-readable parameters>) method visibility changed from <before> to <after>
<class name>.<method name>(<human-readable parameters>) method marked final
<class name> (class|interface) now (extends|implements) <class name> and inherits its final method <method name>(<human-readable parameters>)?

<class name>(<human-readable parameters>) constructor removed
<class name>(<human-readable parameters>) constructor parameter <type> removed
<class name>(<human-readable parameters>) constructor parameter type changed from <before> to <after>
<class name>(<human-readable parameters>) constructor visibility changed from <before> to <after>

<class name>.<field name> field removed
<class name>.<field name> field type changed from <before> to <after>
<class name>.<field name> field visibility changed from <before> to <after>

<class name>.<method name>(<human-readable parameters>) abstract method added
<class name> class moved to package <package name>

<property name> property removed from resource bundle <bundle name>

where 
<class name> is a fully-qualified name of the class, e.g. com.intellij.openapi.actionSystem.AnAction$InnerClass.
<method name> is the exact method's name. Note that constructors have dedicated patterns.
<human-readable parameters> is a string representing parameters, which are not necessarily fully qualified. They do not affect the parser. For example, instead of (java.lang.Object, java.util.List, int) you are free to write (Object, List<String>, int)
<property name> is a full name of a property from .properties file, like "some.action.description"
<bundle name> is a fully qualified name of the property bundle, which includes its package, like "message.IdeBundle"

NOTE: If a change you're trying to document doesn't match any of the above patterns, fill in a ticket in the YouTrack. 
An example of a ticket is https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/PR-1218. Until supported, you may document the change as you prefer, and I will correct it later.

NOTE: You are allowed to prettify the pattern using markdown-features:
 1) code quotes: `org.example.Foo.methodName`
 2) links [org.example.Foo](https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/tree/master/)
 3) both code quotes and links: [`org.example.Foo`](https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/tree/master/)
-->

IntelliJ API may be occasionally changed between releases leading to incompatibilities of existing plugins with newer IDE builds. 

Compatibility with newer IDEs can easily be verified for plugins hosted on the [JetBrains plugin repository](../plugin_repository/index.md) using the builtin [Plugin Verifier](https://blog.jetbrains.com/platform/2018/07/plugins-repository-now-integrates-with-the-plugin-verification-tool/).
  
The following pages list the breaking changes in IDE/plugin releases with required/recommended steps to take by plugin authors. 

* [**Changes in 2020.***](api_changes/api_changes_list_2020.md)
* [**Changes in 2019.***](api_changes/api_changes_list_2019.md)
* [**Changes in 2018.***](api_changes/api_changes_list_2018.md)
* [**Changes in 2017.***](api_changes/api_changes_list_2017.md)
* [**Changes in 2016.***](api_changes/api_changes_list_2016.md)

> **NOTE** Changes from API marked with [`org.jetbrains.annotations.ApiStatus.@Experimental/ScheduledForRemoval`](upsource:///platform/util/src/org/jetbrains/annotations/ApiStatus.java) are not listed here, as incompatible changes are to be expected.