Sass and SCSS in Compass applications

Before you start

Download and install Ruby.
Install and enable the Compass plugin on the Settings/Preferences | Plugins page, tab Marketplace, as described in Installing plugins from JetBrains repository.
Make sure the File Watchers plugin is enabled on the Settings/Preferences | Plugins page, tab Installed, see Managing plugins for details.

Installing Compass

In the embedded Terminal (Alt+F12) , type:
gem install compass
Compass is installed in the folder where Ruby executable file and the gem.bat file are stored.

Creating a new Compass application

If you have no Compass application yet, you can create it or add Compass support to an empty PyCharm project. In either case, a conf.rb configuration file is generated.

In the embedded Terminal (Alt+F12) , type:
compass create <the name of the application to be created>
Create an empty PyCharm project , open the embedded Terminal (Alt+F12) , and type:
cd <application folder> compass init

Activate Compass-aware support in your application

Open a .sass or .scss file, click the red bulb next to the @import 'compass' statement or press Alt+Enter, and then choose Configure Compass from the suggestion list.
Alternatively, in the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S, go to Languages and Frameworks | Style Sheets | Compass.
Select the Enable Compass support checkbox, and specify the paths to the Compass executable file and to the conf.rb configuration file.

Starting with an existing Compass application

Open the application sources that are already on your machine

Click Open 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.

Compiling Sass and SCSS

To compile your code automatically, you need to configure a Compass Sass or Compass SCSS File Watcher which will track changes to your files and run the compiler.

When you open a file, PyCharm checks whether an applicable File Watcher is available in the current project. If such File Watcher is configured but disabled, PyCharm displays a popup that informs you about the configured File Watcher and suggests to enable it.

If an applicable File Watcher is configured and enabled in the current project, PyCharm starts the compiler automatically upon the event specified in the New Watcher dialog.

If the Auto-save edited files to trigger the watcher checkbox is selected, the File Watcher is invoked as soon as any changes are made to the source code.
If the Auto-save edited files to trigger the watcher checkbox is cleared, the File Watcher is started upon save (File | Save All, Ctrl+S) or when you move focus from PyCharm (upon frame deactivation).

Learn more from File Watchers.

PyCharm creates a separate file with the generated output. The file has the name of the source Sass or SCSS file and the extension .css. The location of the generated files is defined in the Output paths to refresh field of the New Watcher dialog. However, in the Project Tree, they are shown under the source file which is now displayed as a node.

Create a File Watcher

In the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S, click File Watchers under Tools. The File Watchers page that opens shows the list of already configured File Watchers.
Click or press Alt+Insert. Depending on the tool you are going to use, choose the compass sass or compass scss predefined template from the list. The New Watcher dialog opens.
In the Program field, specify the path to the executable file:
- compass.bat for Windows
- compass for Unix and macOS
In the Arguments field, type one of the following depending on the operating system used:
- compile $UnixSeparators($ProjectFileDir$)$ to process an entire directory
- compile $UnixSeparators($FilePath$)$ to process a single file
- compile $ProjectFileDir$ to process an entire directory
- compile $ProjectFileDir$ $FilePath$ to process a single file
- compile $ProjectFileDir$ to process an entire directory
- compile $ProjectFileDir$ $FilePath$ to process a single file
Proceed as described in File Watchers.

Last modified: 14 September 2021