Command-line interface
Last modified: 10 August 2022Use IntelliJ IDEA features from the command line: open files and projects, view diffs, merge files, apply code style, formatting, and inspect the source code.
tip
For information about running command-line tools from inside IntelliJ IDEA, see Terminal.
Launcher for a standalone instance
The installation directory contains batch scripts and executables for launching IntelliJ IDEA, formatting the source code, and running inspections. To use them from the Command Prompt cmd.exe, add the location of the IntelliJ IDEA bin folder to the PATH
environment variable. For example, if you installed IntelliJ IDEA to C:
>set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Program Files\JetBrains\IntelliJ IDEA\bin
This command changes the PATH
environment variable for the current shell only (the current instance of cmd.exe). If you want to update it permanently for the current user, run setx
:
>setx PATH "%PATH%;C:\Program Files\JetBrains\IntelliJ IDEA\bin"
To update it system-wide for all users, run setx /M
instead of setx
.
tip
The installer can do this for you if you select Add launchers dir to the PATH on the Installation Options step of the setup wizard.
After you configure the PATH
variable, you can run the executable from any working directory in the Command Prompt: idea64.exe
. Alternatively, you can use the batch script: idea.bat
.
To run IntelliJ IDEA from the shell, use the open
command with the following options:
-a
: specify the application.--args
: specify additional arguments when passing more than just the file or directory to open.-n
: open a new instance of the application even if one is already running.
For example, you can run IntelliJ IDEA.app with the following command:
$open -na "IntelliJ IDEA.app"
note
If IntelliJ IDEA is not in the default /Applications directory, specify the full path to it.
You can create a shell script with this command in a directory from your PATH
environment variable. For example, create the file
#!/bin/sh
open -na "IntelliJ IDEA.app" --args "$@"
Make sure you have permissions to execute the script and since PATH
environment variable by default, you should be able to run idea
from anywhere in the shell.
On Linux, the installation directory contains the launcher shell script idea.sh under bin. For example, if you installed IntelliJ IDEA to
$/opt/idea/bin/idea.sh
You can create a symbolic link to the launcher script in a directory from the PATH
environment variable. For example, if you installed IntelliJ IDEA to
$ln -s /opt/idea/bin/idea.sh /usr/local/bin/idea
Since PATH
environment variable by default, you should be able to run the idea
command from anywhere in the shell.
If you installed IntelliJ IDEA as a snap package, you can use the corresponding launcher: intellij-idea-ultimate
, intellij-idea-community
, or intellij-idea-educational
.
Shell scripts generated by the Toolbox App
If you are using the Toolbox App to install and manage JetBrains products, you can use shell scripts for launching your IDEs from the command line.
Toolbox App generates shell scripts automatically and places them to the following folders:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\JetBrains\Toolbox\scripts
By default, the Toolbox App puts shell scripts in a directory from the system PATH
environment variable, so you can run the name of the script as a command to launch IntelliJ IDEA from any working directory.
Change shell scripts location
Open the Toolbox App and click the Toolbox App menu icon in the top right corner.
On the Settings tab, expand the Tools section, and specify another folder in the Shell scrips location field.
Rename shell scripts
If you have several versions of the same IDE, the Toolbox App generates a shell script for each version with a unique name. You can change the name of the shell script for an IDE instance in the settings for this specific instance.
Open the Toolbox App.
Click
next to an IDE instance and select Settings.
At the bottom, change the Shell script name field.
![Toolbox App IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate Settings Toolbox App IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate Settings](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2022.1/toolbox_app_instance_settings_win.png)
/usr/local/bin
or
~/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/Toolbox/scripts
By default, the Toolbox App puts shell scripts in a directory from the system PATH
environment variable, so you can run the name of the script as a command to launch IntelliJ IDEA from any working directory.
Change shell scripts location
Open the Toolbox App and click the Toolbox App menu icon in the top right corner.
On the Settings tab, expand the Tools section, and specify another folder in the Shell scrips location field.
Rename shell scripts
If you have several versions of the same IDE, the Toolbox App generates a shell script for each version with a unique name. You can change the name of the shell script for an IDE instance in the settings for this specific instance.
Open the Toolbox App.
Click
next to an IDE instance and select Settings.
At the bottom, change the Shell script name field.
![Toolbox App IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate Settings Toolbox App IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate Settings](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2022.1/toolbox_app_instance_settings.png)
~/.local/share/JetBrains/Toolbox/scripts
By default, the Toolbox App puts shell scripts in a directory from the system PATH
environment variable, so you can run the name of the script as a command to launch IntelliJ IDEA from any working directory.
Change shell scripts location
Open the Toolbox App and click the Toolbox App menu icon in the top right corner.
On the Settings tab, expand the Tools section, and specify another folder in the Shell scrips location field.
Rename shell scripts
If you have several versions of the same IDE, the Toolbox App generates a shell script for each version with a unique name. You can change the name of the shell script for an IDE instance in the settings for this specific instance.
Open the Toolbox App.
Click
next to an IDE instance and select Settings.
At the bottom, change the Shell script name field.
![Toolbox App IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate Settings Toolbox App IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate Settings](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2022.1/toolbox_app_instance_settings_linux.png)
Command-line arguments
The launcher script accepts commands, options, and other arguments to modify its behavior:
Argument | Description |
---|---|
No argument | Launch IntelliJ IDEA. |
Path to file or directory | Open the file or directory specified as the argument. For more information, see Open files from the command line. |
Commands | |
| Open the diff viewer to see differences between two specified files. For more information, see Compare files from the command line. |
| Open the Merge dialog to merge the specified files. For more information, see Merge files from the command line. |
| Apply code style formatting to the specified files. For more information, seeFormat files from the command line. |
| Perform code inspection on the specified project. For more information, see Run code inspections from the command line. |
Options | |
| Do not show the splash screen when loading IntelliJ IDEA. |
| Do not reopen projects and show the welcome screen. This can help if a project that was open crashes IntelliJ IDEA. |
| Do not load manually installed plugins. This can help if a plugin that you installed crashes IntelliJ IDEA. You will be able to start the IDE and either disable or uninstall the problematic plugin. |
| Wait for the files to be closed before returning to the command prompt. For example, you can open file.txt with the following command:
The shell will be waiting until file.txt is closed. |
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