Libraries

Define a global library

1. In the main menu, go to File | Project Structure Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S.

2. Under Platform Settings, select Global Libraries.

3. Click and select one of the following:

   • Select Java or Kotlin/JS to add a library from the files located on your computer.

   • Select From Maven to download a library from Maven.

   

   In this dialog, you can also: add classes to an existing library, specify an external documentation URL, exclude items from a library, or remove a library.

References to global libraries are stored in the IDE configuration directory in options | applicationLibraries.xml.

Define a project library

1. In the main menu, go to File | Project Structure Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S.

2. Under Project Settings, select Libraries.

3. Click and select one of the following:

   • Select Java or Kotlin/JS to add a library from the files located on your computer.

   • Select From Maven to download a library from Maven.

   

4. Select the module or modules to which you want to add the new library.

In this dialog, you can also: add classes to an existing library, specify an external documentation URL, exclude items from a library, or remove a library.

References to project libraries are stored together with the project in the .idea folder in libraries.

Add a library to module dependencies

Global and project libraries are not available until you add them to module dependencies.

1. In the main menu, go to File | Project Structure | Project Settings | Modules.

2. Select the module for which you want to add a library and click Dependencies.

3. Click the button and select Library.

   

4. In the dialog that opens, select a project or a global library that you want to add to the module.

   Alternatively, click New Library and select the required option: you can add a Java and Kotlin libraries from files on your computer, or download a library from Maven.

   

References to module libraries are stored in the module .iml file. This file is used for keeping module configuration. For more information about module files, refer to Modules.

Download a library from Maven

1. In the main menu, go to File | Project Structure Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S and click Libraries to add a project library or Global Libraries to add a global library.

2. Click and select From Maven.

3. In the next dialog, specify the library artifact. If you don't know its exact name, enter the keywords and click .

   You can also specify another library location, and select whether you want to download transitive dependencies, source files, Javadoc files, or annotations.

   

IntelliJ IDEA will download the library from Maven or Nexus public repositories. You can also configure a custom remote repository.

Add classes to a library

Once the library is added, you can add more classes to it:

1. In the main menu, go to File | Project Structure. Then click Global Libraries to modify a global library or Libraries to modify a project library.

   To modify a module library, select File | Project Structure from the main menu and go to Modules | Dependencies. Select the library that you want to modify and click .

   

2. Click and select the classes you want to add in the dialog that opens.

   For a Java library, these may be individual class and java files, directories and archives jar and zip containing such files,or directories with Java native libraries .dll, .so or .jnilib.

3. IntelliJ IDEA will analyze the selected files and folders, and automatically assign their contents to the appropriate library categories (Classes, Sources, Documentation, Native Library Locations, and so on).

   When IntelliJ IDEA cannot guess the category (for example, when you select an empty folder), a dialog will be shown, in which you will be able to specify the category yourself.

Include specific transitive dependencies

If you want to include only specific transitive dependencies, you can use the library properties editor.

1. In the main menu, go to File | Project Structure Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S, and go to Modules | Dependencies.

2. Select the necessary Maven library and click .

3. In the next dialog, click Edit, and then click Configure next to the Include transitive dependencies option.

4. Select the dependencies you want to include in the library and click OK.

Move a library to a higher level

In IntelliJ IDEA, you can move a project or a module library to a higher level. This is helpful if you want to extend its scope of usage. For example, use this procedure if you want to use a module library across the project or the entire IDE.

1. In the main menu, go to File | Project Structure Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S and locate the library that you want to change.

2. Right-click the necessary library and select Move to Project Libraries or Move to Global Libraries.

   

Copy a library to a lower level

You can create a copy of a library on a lower level. For example, use this procedure if you want to add more classes to a project library, but you want to use them in one module only.

1. In the main menu, go to File | Project Structure Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S and locate the library that you want to change.

2. Right-click the necessary library and select Copy to Project Libraries or Add to Modules.

   

Exclude items from a project or a global library

1. In the main menu, go to File | Project Structure Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S and click Libraries.

2. Click and select the library items that you want to exclude.

Exclude items from a module library

1. In the main menu, go to File | Project Structure Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S and select Modules | Dependencies.

2. Select the library that you want to modify and click .

3. Click and select the library items that you want to exclude.

You can view the full list of remote repositories and add a custom repository in the settings. Note that IntelliJ IDEA can load libraries from Maven even if you don't use Maven as a build tool for your project.

1. In the Settings dialog Ctrl+Alt+S, go to Build, Execution, Deployment | Remote Jar Repositories.

2. Click Add in the corresponding dialog section, and specify the repository URL.

Specify library documentation paths

To view external library documentation, configure the documentation URL first.

1. In the Project Structure dialog Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S, select Libraries.

2. Select the necessary library, click the icon and enter the external documentation URL.

   

3. Apply the changes and close the dialog.

Add library documentation to your project

You can add downloaded documentation to your project to be able to access it offline.

1. In the main menu, go to File | Project Structure Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S and click Libraries.

2. Select the library for which you want to add the documentation and click in the right section of the dialog.

   

3. In the dialog that opens, select the file with the documentation and click Open.

4. Apply the changes and close the dialog.