External tools
The recommended way to use third-party standalone applications, such as compilers, linters, code compressors, and so on, is to configure a tool-specific File Watcher. This File Watcher will track changes to your files and run the application automatically when required. For more information, refer to File Watchers.
Alternatively, you can configure a standalone third-party application in WebStorm as an external tool. As a result, a tool-specific command is added to the main menu and possibly to context menus, so you can run the tool right from WebStorm. You can also configure to run the tool before a run/debug configuration. And of course you can run it from the built-in Terminal Alt+F12.
WebStorm allows you to pass contextual information from your project to the external tool as command-line arguments (for example, the currently selected file or the sourcemap directive) and view the output produced by the tool.
WebStorm supports the following types of external tools:
Local tools run locally on your computer.
Remote tools are executed on a remote server over SSH.
Add a local external tool
This example demonstrates how to add ImageOptim as an external tool and use it to optimize images in your project.
Press Control+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and then select .
Click
and specify the tool's settings.
For more information, refer to External Tools.
In our case,
ImageOptimwill be run with the-o4 $FilePath$arguments. You can use macros that can refer to the project name, the current file path, and so on. Clicking
will open the Macros dialog that lists all available macros and their values.Click OK to add the tool and then apply the changes.
Run the added local external tool
To open the selected file in the newly added toolimage, do one of the following:
Go to .
Right-click a file in the Project tool window and select from the context menu.
Create a shortcut to run the tool.
Press Control+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and then select . Find the Optimize Image in my app action under the External Tools node, and assign a shortcut for it.
Add an icon to run the tool from the toolbar.
In the Settings dialog (Control+Alt+S), go to . In the list of available menus and toolbars, expand the Main Toolbar node, select the item after which you want to add the ImageOptim icon, and click
.In the dialog that opens, select , specify the icon to indicate it in the Icon field, and click Set icon, when ready.
The icon appears on the toolbar.
When you run the tool, the output is displayed in the Run tool window.
Add a remote external tool
Remote SSH external tools are configured similarly to local external tools, but also define the remote server on which they are executed and require credentials for connecting to it via SSH. For more information about working with the built-in SSH terminal, refer to Run SSH terminal.
Press Control+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and then select .
Click
to open the Create Tool dialog.This dialog provides the same set of settings as when you add a local external tool, but also allows you to select a remote connection. If you don't specify the connection settings, WebStorm will ask you for the host, port, and relevant SSH credentials every time you run the tool on the server. For more information, refer to Remote SSH External Tools.
Click OK to add the tool and then apply the changes.
Run the added tool on a remote server
Do one of the following:
Go to and the name of the added remote external tool.
Create a shortcut to run the tool.
Press Control+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and then select . Find the action with the name of your configured remote external tool, and assign a shortcut for it.
After you specify the host, port, and credentials, WebStorm will connect to the server via SSH and run the command, returning the output to the Run tool window in WebStorm.