Node.js

Node.js is a lightweight runtime environment for executing JavaScript outside the browser, for example on the server or in the command line. IntelliJ IDEA integrates with Node.js providing assistance in configuring, editing, running, debugging, testing, profiling, and maintaining your applications.

If you need Node.js only as a local runtime for your application or for managing npm packages, running JavaScript linters, build tools, test frameworks, and so on, just install Node.js. If you follow the standard installation procedure, in most cases IntelliJ IDEA detects Node.js itself.

And even if you have no Node.js on your computer, you can install it when creating a new Node.js application in the Create New Project dialog, see Creating a new Node.js application below.

If you want to switch among several Node.js installations, they must be configured as local Node.js interpreters. In most cases, IntelliJ IDEA detects Node.js installations, configures them as interpreters automatically, and adds them to the list where you can select the relevant one.

To run a Node.js application remotely, configure it as a remote interpreter. See Node.js with Docker, Node.js via SSH, and Node.js with Vagrant for details.

Switching between Node.js versions

With IntelliJ IDEA, you can have several installations of Node.js and switch between them while working on the same project.

Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Languages & Frameworks | Node.js.
On the Node.js page that opens, select the required Node.js installation from the Node Interpreter list.
If you followed the standard installation procedure, in most cases the required Node.js installation is on the list. If the installation is missing, click and configure it as a local interpreter manually.

Using a system Node.js version

With IntelliJ IDEA, you can set the default system node alias as your project’s Node.js version. After that this version will be automatically used by all the tools that require Node.js and in all new run/debug configurations. In particular, this means that you will not have to update the settings for each tool if you install a new Node.js version and make it the default node alias in your system.

Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Languages & Frameworks | Node.js.
From the Node interpreter list, select node.
Specify this new Node.js interpreter where applicable, for example in your run/debug configurations or settings of specific tools.

Configuring a local Node.js interpreter

You may need to configure Node.js installation as an interpreter manually, for example, if Node.js is installed in a non-default location so IntelliJ IDEA does not detect it automatically.

Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Languages & Frameworks | Node.js.
Click next to the Node Interpreter list.
In the Node.js Interpreters dialog with a list of all the currently configured interpreters, click on the toolbar and select Add Local from the context menu and choose the installation of Node.js, then click OK. You return to the Node.js Interpreters dialog where the Node interpreter read-only field shows the path to the new interpreter.
In the Package manager field, choose the package manager (npm, Yarn, or pnpm) for the current project.
See Configuring a package manager for a project for details.

When you click OK, you return to the Node.js page where the Node interpreter field shows the new interpreter.

Using Node.js on Windows Subsystem for Linux

IntelliJ IDEA lets you run and debug Node.js applications using Node.js on Windows Subsystem for Linux. You can choose Node.js on WSL as the default interpreter for the current project or you can configure and use this Node.js version in a Node.js Run/Debug configuration.

Configure Node.js on WSL as the default project node interpreter

In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to Languages & Frameworks | Node.js.
Click next to the Node Interpreter field, in the Node.js Interpreters dialog that opens, click , and then select Add WSL from the list.
In the Add WSL Node Interpreter dialog that opens, select the Linux distribution you’re using and specify the path to Node.js.

Creating a Node.js application

If you have no application yet, you can generate an IntelliJ IDEA project with Node.js-specific structure from a template or create an empty IntelliJ IDEA project and configure Node.js in it as described in Starting with an existing Node.js application below.

You can also create a module from an existing Node.js application.

Create a new Node.js application

Select File | New | Project from the main menu or click the New Project button on the Welcome screen.
In the New Project dialog, select JavaScript in the left-hand pane.
In the right-hand pane, choose Express and click Next.
On the second page of the wizard, specify the project folder, the Node.js interpreter, and the package manager (npm or Yarn, see npm, pnpm, and Yarn for details).
For Express applications, specify the express -generator in the express-generator field.
It is recommended that you use npx that downloads and runs the generator. To do that, select npx --package express-generator express from the express -generator list.
Alternatively, open the embedded Terminal (Alt+F12) and type npm install --g express-generator and then select the downloaded generator from the express-generator list.
Select the template language and the Style Sheet language to use.
When you click Finish, IntelliJ IDEA downloads the necessary dependencies and enables code completion for them as well as for the Node.js core APIs, see Configuring node_modules library and Configuring Node.js Core library for details.
For Express, IntelliJ IDEA creates a run/debug configuration of the type Node.js with default settings and generates a basic Express-specific directory structure.
For Node.js, IntelliJ IDEA just runs the npm init command to generate a package.json file.

Create an empty IntelliJ IDEA project

Select File | New | Project from the main menu or click the New Project button on the Welcome screen.
In the New Project dialog, select JavaScript in the left-hand pane.
In the right-hand pane, again select JavaScript and click Next.
On the second page of the wizard, specify the project folder and name and click Finish.

Create a module from an existing Node.js app

Download your application sources and store them on your computer.
From the main menu, select File | New | Module from Existing Sources.
In the dialog that opens, select the location of your application sources.
Learn more from Modules.

Starting with an existing Node.js application

If you are going to continue developing an existing Node.js application, open it in IntelliJ IDEA, configure Node.js in it, and download the required dependencies.

Open the application sources that are already on your machine

Click Open or Import on the Welcome screen or select File | Open from the main menu. In the dialog that opens, select the folder where your sources are stored.

Check out the application sources from your version control

Click Get from VCS on the Welcome screen. Alternatively, select File | Project from Version Control or <Your_VCS> | Get from Version Control from the main menu.
<Your_VCS> stands for the Version Control System with which your currently opened project is associated.
In the dialog that opens, select your version control system from the list and specify the repository to check out the application sources from. See Check out a project (clone) for details.

Configure Node.js in a project

In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to Languages & Frameworks | Node.js.
In the Node Interpreter field, specify the default Node.js interpreter for the current project. IntelliJ IDEA automatically uses it every time you select the Project alias from Node Interpreter lists, for example, when creating run/debug configurations.
Select a configured interpreter from the list or click and configure a new one in the dialog that opens as described in Configuring a local Node.js interpreter. If you select node, the system Node.js version is used.
Select the Coding assistance for Node.js checkbox to configure the Node.js Core module sources as a JavaScript library and associate it with your project. As a result, IntelliJ IDEA provides code completion, reference resolution, validation, and debugging capabilities for fs, path, http, and other parts of Node.js that are compiled into the Node.js binary.
When the configuration is completed, IntelliJ IDEA displays information about the currently configured version.
If you need code completion for Node.js APIs only in some parts of your project, you can configure that using the Manage scopes link. In the Usage dialog that opens, click the relevant directories and for each of them select the configured Node.js Core library from the list. Learn more from Configuring the scope of a library.

Download the project dependencies

In the embedded Terminal (Alt+F12) , type:
npm install
Alternatively, select Run 'npm install' from the context menu of the package.json file in your project root.

Project security

When you open a project that was created outside IntelliJ IDEA and was imported into it, IntelliJ IDEA displays a dialog where you can decide how to handle this project with unfamiliar source code.

Select one of the following options:

Preview in Safe Mode: in this case IntelliJ IDEA, opens the project in a "preview mode" meaning you can browse the project's sources but you cannot run tasks and script or run/debug your project.
IntelliJ IDEA displays a notification on top of the editor area, and you can click the Trust project… link and load your project at any time.
Trust Project: in this case, IntelliJ IDEA opens and loads a project. That means project is initialized, project's plugins are resolved, dependencies are added, and all IntelliJ IDEA features are available.
Don't Open: in this case IntelliJ IDEA doesn't open the project.

Learn more from Project security.

Last modified: 10 August 2022