intellij-sdk-code-samples/tutorials/build_system/prerequisites.md

title
Getting Started with Gradle

Adding Gradle build support to an IntelliJ Platform Plugin requires a recent distribution of the Gradle build system and IntelliJ IDEA (Community or Ultimate).

1.0 Download and Install IntelliJ IDEA

Download and install either IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate or the IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition.

1.1 Ensure that 'Gradle' and 'Plugin DevKit' Plugins are Enabled

You can verify that the plugins are enabled by visiting Settings | Plugins.

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1.2 Create a Plugin Project from Scratch

IntelliJ IDEA supports automatically creating new plugin projects using Gradle, with all the necessary build.gradle setup performed automatically. This can also be used to convert an existing plugin to Gradle, if Gradle is not able to convert the existing project - in this case, you need to copy over the sources to the new project.

To do so, create a new project in IntelliJ IDEA by opening File | New... | Project, and select Gradle from the dialog box. In the "Additional Libraries and Frameworks" page, check "IntelliJ Platform Plugin".

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The Project Creation Wizard will now guide you through the Gradle project creation process. You will need to specify a Group ID, Artifact ID, and Version:

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It’s recommended to select the Use default gradle wrapper option, that way IntelliJ IDEA will install everything you need to run Gradle tasks itself.

Finally, specify a JVM Gradle will use, it can be the Project JDK. You also configure this path once the project is created via Settings | Build, Execution, Deployment | Build Tools | Gradle.

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1.3 Configuring a Gradle Plugin Project

Support for Gradle-based plugin projects is provided by the IntelliJ Platform gradle-intellij-plugin. See the Gradle plugin README for more information. For example, to configure the Sandbox Home directory's location include the following in the project's build.gradle file:

intellij {
  sandboxDirectory = "$project.buildDir/myCustom-sandbox"
}

See the IDE Development Instances page for more information about default Sandbox Home directory locations and contents.

1.4 Add Gradle Support to an Existing Plugin

To add Gradle support to an existing plugin project, create a build.gradle file under the root directory, with at least the following contents:

buildscript {
    repositories {
        mavenCentral()
    }
}

plugins {
    id "org.jetbrains.intellij" version "0.4.5"
}

apply plugin: 'idea'
apply plugin: 'org.jetbrains.intellij'
apply plugin: 'java'

intellij {
    version 'IC-2016.3' //IntelliJ IDEA 2016.3 dependency; for a full list of IntelliJ IDEA releases please see https://www.jetbrains.com/intellij-repository/releases
    plugins 'coverage' //Bundled plugin dependencies
    pluginName 'plugin_name_goes_here'
}

group 'org.jetbrains'
version '1.2' // Plugin version

Then, with the Gradle executable on your system PATH, execute the following commands on your system's command line:

gradle cleanIdea idea

This will clean any existing IntelliJ IDEA configuration files and generate a new Gradle build configuration recognized by IntelliJ IDEA. Once your project refreshes, you should be able to view the Gradle tool window displayed under View | Tool Windows | Gradle. This indicates that IntelliJ IDEA recognizes the Gradle facet.

1.5 Running a Simple Plugin

Now add a new HelloAction class to the Java folder, and plugin.xml and pluginIcon.svg files in the META-INF folder. For more information about pluginIcon.svg files, see the Plugin Icon page.

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{% include /code_samples/gradle_plugin_demo/src/main/java/HelloAction.java %}

{% include /code_samples/gradle_plugin_demo/src/main/resources/META-INF/plugin.xml %}

Open the Gradle tool window and search for runIde task. If it’s not in the list, please hit Refresh button on the top. Double-click on it to run it.

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Or add a new Gradle Run Configuration, configured like so:

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Launch the new Gradle Run Configuration. From the Run Window, the following output should be visible.

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Finally, when the IDE launches, there should be a new menu to the right of the Help menu. Your plugin is now configured on Gradle.