intellij-sdk-code-samples/topics/products/pycharm/pycharm.md

PyCharm Plugin Development

Introduction to developing plugins for PyCharm.

PyCharm is an IntelliJ Platform-based product. Plugin projects for PyCharm can be developed using IntelliJ IDEA.

PyCharm Plugin Setup

Gradle Build Script

Define a dependency using pycharmCommunity() or pycharmProfessional(), see Versions link on top of this page for all available versions. See for using a local installation.

A dependency on the matching bundled PythonCore/Pythonid plugin (see below) must be added using the bundledPlugin() helper.

Minimum build.gradle.kts setup:

repositories {
  mavenCentral()
  intellijPlatform {
    defaultRepositories()
  }
}

dependencies {
  intellijPlatform {
    pycharmCommunity("<versionNumber>")
    bundledPlugin("PythonCore")
  }
}

The configuration of PyCharm plugin projects follows the methods described in Configuring Plugin Projects using a Product-Specific Attribute, and Configuring the plugin.xml File. The table below summarizes the attributes to set in the Gradle build script. Click on an entry in the table's Attribute column to go to the documentation about that attribute.

gradle-intellij-plugin Attribute	Attribute Value
intellij.type	PC for PyCharm Community Edition PY for PyCharm Professional Edition
intellij.version	Set to the targeted PC or PY version.
intellij.plugins	See .
intellij.downloadSources	false is required because no public source code is available.
runIde.ideDir	Not needed; the Development Instance will automatically match intellij.type.

plugin.xml

The dependency on the PyCharm APIs must be declared in the plugin.xml file. As described in Configuring the plugin.xml File, the <depends> tag must declare com.intellij.modules.python.

Python Plugins

Plugin	Plugin ID	API
Python Community Edition	PythonCore	PyCharm Community Edition (PC)
Python	Pythonid	PyCharm Professional Edition (PY)

Python Plugins 2024.2

{id="python242"}

When using functionality from Pythonid, a dependency on both PythonCore and Pythonid is now required.

Sample Plugin

See the SDK code sample pycharm_basics for an example configuration. Note that this code sample must be imported into Gradle explicitly, as it is not included in the _gradleCompositeBuild.

Available PyCharm APIs

See for PyCharm Community.

Additional Articles and Resources

• Webinar Recording: "Live Development of a PyCharm Plugin" with Joachim Ansorg

Open Source Plugins for PyCharm

When learning new development configurations, it is helpful to have some representative projects for reference:

• Flake8 Support Adds support for flake8's # noqa comments in PyCharm.