---
title: PSI Cookbook
---

This page gives a list of recipes for the most common operations for working with the PSI (Program Structure Interface). Unlike [Developing Custom Language Plugins](/reference_guide/custom_language_support.md), it talks about working with the PSI of existing languages (such as Java).

## How do I find a file if I know its name but don't know the path?

`FilenameIndex.getFilesByName()`

## How do I find where a particular PSI element is used?

`ReferencesSearch.search()`

## How do I rename a PSI element?

`RefactoringFactory.createRename()`

## How can I cause the PSI for a virtual file to be rebuilt?

`FileContentUtil.reparseFiles()`

## Java Specific

### How do I find all inheritors of a class?

`ClassInheritorsSearch.search()`

### How do I find a class by qualified name?

`JavaPsiFacade.findClass()`

### How do I find a class by short name?

`PsiShortNamesCache.getInstance().getClassesByName()`

### How do I find a superclass of a Java class?

`PsiClass.getSuperClass()`

### How do I get a reference to the containing package of a Java class?

```java
PsiJavaFile javaFile = (PsiJavaFile) psiClass.getContaningFile();
PsiPackage pkg = JavaPsiFacade.getInstance(project).findPackage(javaFile.getPackageName());
```

### How do I find the methods overriding a specific method?

`OverridingMethodsSearch.search()`