| name | ide-tooling |
| description | INVOKE IMMEDIATELY when two IntelliJ MCPs are visible: mcp__intellij-index__* and mcp__intellij__*. These are NOT interchangeable — mcp__intellij-index__ supports auto-opening projects via project_path; mcp__intellij__ cannot. Always use mcp__intellij-index__ for code navigation. Never try mcp__intellij__ first and fall back. Also invoke for any IDE operation: rename, move file, find references, navigate to definition, type hierarchy, diagnostics.
|
| slash-command | false |
IDE Tooling — IntelliJ MCP Guide
⚠️ Critical: Two MCPs, one right choice
Use mcp__intellij-index__* for everything code-related. Never use mcp__intellij__* to navigate or open projects.
| Need | Use |
|---|
| Find references, navigate, search, diagnostics, rename, move | mcp__intellij-index__* |
| Check if project is open | mcp__intellij-index__ide_project_status |
| Project not open → open it | Pass project_path to any mcp__intellij-index__ tool — auto-opens |
| Build, run tests, terminal, formatting | mcp__intellij__* only |
Never ask the user to open a project. Never fall back to bash because a project isn't open. Never launch IntelliJ from the command line. Pass project_path and let the plugin handle it.
Always prefer IntelliJ MCPs over bash, grep, or text tools for semantic code
operations. IntelliJ understands the code structure; text tools do not.
Check ide_index_status before batch operations — indexing may still be in
progress. If neither MCP server is available for a semantic operation, stop
and inform the user rather than silently falling back to text tools.
mcp__intellij-index — Semantic index (always prefer for code intelligence)
Multi-project aware: supports project_path to target any open or managed project.
| Operation | Tool | Notes |
|---|
| Find all usages of a symbol | ide_find_references | Run before any rename or delete — understand full impact first |
| Navigate to symbol declaration | ide_find_definition | |
| All implementations of an interface/abstract | ide_find_implementations | |
| What does this method override | ide_find_super_methods | |
| Full class/interface inheritance tree | ide_type_hierarchy | |
| Who calls this / what this calls | ide_call_hierarchy | |
| Find a class by name | ide_find_class | Faster than grep for known names |
| Find a file by name | ide_find_file | |
| Safe rename — updates all references | ide_refactor_rename | Never use Edit/sed for renames |
| Safe move — updates package/imports | ide_move_file | Never use bash mv for source files |
| Safe delete — checks usages first | ide_refactor_safe_delete | Lists usages if deletion would break things |
| Fast identifier/word search | ide_search_text | Faster than grep for exact names |
| Errors, warnings, quick-fix intentions | ide_diagnostics | Supersedes get_file_problems |
| All open/managed projects + their states | ide_project_status | Use this, not get_project_modules |
| Check IDE is ready for semantic ops | ide_index_status | |
| Sync IDE after external file changes | ide_sync_files | |
mcp__intellij — JetBrains built-in (window-scoped — only sees already-open projects)
Cannot auto-open projects. If a project isn't open in the IDE, mcp__intellij__* tools
will fail or return wrong results. Never use these tools to check whether a project is open
or to trigger opening one — use mcp__intellij-index__ide_project_status instead, which
auto-opens via project_path.
Use mcp__intellij__* only for operations intellij-index cannot do. Tools marked ⚠️ have an
intellij-index equivalent that is multi-project aware — prefer those.
| Operation | Tool | Note |
|---|
| Build / compile | build_project | |
| Run a named test or app configuration | execute_run_configuration | |
| Hover documentation / type info at position | get_symbol_info | |
| File-level inspection results | get_file_problems | ⚠️ Use ide_diagnostics instead |
| Targeted text replacement (no semantic awareness) | replace_text_in_file | |
| Apply code formatting rules | reformat_file | |
| Project module structure | get_project_modules | ⚠️ Use ide_project_status instead — multi-project aware |
| Library dependencies | get_project_dependencies | |
| Find files by glob pattern | find_files_by_glob | |
| Find files by name keyword | find_files_by_name_keyword | ⚠️ Use ide_find_file instead |
| Browse directory tree | list_directory_tree | |
| Run shell command in IDE terminal | execute_terminal_command | |
| Open a file in the editor | open_file_in_editor | |
Lifecycle-managed projects
Projects may be sleeping to free memory. Never ask the user to open a project.
- Always include
project_path and proceed silently — it auto-opens any project
that has a .idea directory, whether managed, in limbo, or never enrolled. Do not
warn the user that a project is closed. Do not ask the user to open it. Just pass
project_path to whichever semantic tool you need (ide_find_references,
ide_search_text, etc.) — the plugin opens the project first, then runs the tool.
- Use
ide_project_status to see all open projects — not get_project_modules,
which only sees the currently focused window. If ide_project_status is unavailable,
skip this step and go straight to rule 1 with the path you need.
- If you get
no_project_open — retry any tool call with a project_path from the
error's managed_closed_projects list.
# Wrong — warned the user instead of proceeding
⚠️ IntelliJ — casehub-connectors is not open. Currently open: engine, life, aml...
# Right — pass project_path silently, plugin opens it automatically
ide_find_references { "project_path": "/Users/dev/casehub/connectors", ... }
Decision rule
intellij-index for anything semantic: navigation, references, refactoring, diagnostics.
intellij for build/run, formatting, file browsing, database tools, and terminal.
Native tools (Read, Edit, Grep, Glob) for reading files, searching content, and targeted text edits where semantic awareness is not needed.
Skill Chaining
Used as prerequisite by: java-dev, python-dev, ts-dev
