AppCode
 
2021.2
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  1. Advanced IDE Features
  2. Command-line interface

Command-line interface

Last modified: 16 November 2021

Use AppCode 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 AppCode, see Terminal.

Launcher for a standalone instance

To run AppCode 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 AppCode.app with the following command:

$
open -na "AppCode.app"

note

If AppCode 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 /usr/local/bin/appcode with the following contents:

#!/bin/sh

open -na "AppCode.app" --args "$@"

Make sure you have permissions to execute the script and since /usr/local/bin should be in the PATH environment variable by default, you should be able to run appcode from anywhere in the shell.

Shell scripts generated by the Toolbox App

If you are using the Toolbox App to install and manage JetBrains products, it can create shell scripts for launching your IDEs from the command line.

Generate shell scripts

  1. Open the Toolbox App and click The screw nut icon in the top right corner.

  2. In the Toolbox App Settings, enable Generate shell scripts.

  3. If necessary, change the shell scripts location.

Set scripts path in Toolbox

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.

Change the name of the shell script

  1. Open the Toolbox App.

  2. Click The screw nut icon next to the relevant IDE instance and select Settings.

  3. At the bottom, change the Shell script name field.

Generation in Toolbox

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 AppCode from any working directory.

Command-line arguments

The launcher script accepts commands, options, and other arguments to modify its behavior:

Argument

Description

No argument

Launch AppCode.

Path to file or directory

Open the file or directory specified as the argument.

For more information, seeOpen files from the command line.

Commands

diff

Open the diff viewer to see differences between two specified files.

For more information, seeCompare files from the command line.

merge

Open the Merge dialog to merge the specified files.

For more information, seeMerge files from the command line.

format

Apply code style formatting to the specified files.

For more information, seeFormat files from the command line.

Options

nosplash

Do not show the splash screen when loading AppCode.

dontReopenProjects

Do not reopen projects and show the welcome screen. This can help if a project that was open crashes AppCode for some reason.

disableNonBundledPlugins

Do not load manually installed plugins. This can help if a plugin that you installed crashes AppCode for some reason. You will be able to start the IDE and either disable or uninstall the problematic plugin.

--wait

Wait for the files to be closed before returning to the command prompt.

For example, you can open file.txt with the following command:

appcode --wait file.txt

The shell will be waiting until file.txt is closed.