Notable Changes in IntelliJ Platform and Plugins API 2020.*

Using Java 11 is now required, please see blog post.

Internal changes related to a significant redesign of the representation of project models have been made, please see blog post for details. This shouldn't affect any plugins using the IntelliJ API properly and which don't access internal classes.

For elements whose IElementType implements this interface, platform attempts reparse when a modification is made right before or after the leaf element preventing reparsing the whole file.

Use HtmlBuilder for generating formatted content, e.g., for Documentation.

Implement HtmlEmbeddedContentSupport and register in com.intellij.html.embeddedContentSupport extension point to embed arbitrary tokens into any tag or attribute. Please note that old API from com.intellij.lexer.BaseHtmlLexer is no longer working.

New features in Action System: <override-text> works now for <group> as well, <synonym> provides alternative names when searching for actions, and groups can be excluded from search results.

To provide additional custom tabs, implement WelcomeTabFactory and register in com.intellij.welcomeTabFactory extension point.

To control file type association with the IDE in the operating system, implement OSFileIdeAssociation.

Implement ReaderModeProvider and register in com.intellij.readerModeProvider extension point to apply custom settings for files rendered in reader mode. Provide com.intellij.codeInsight.actions.ReaderModeMatcher to disable Reader Mode for particular set of files.

Implement TextEditorCustomizer and register in com.intellij.textEditorCustomizer extension point to customize created editors.
Note: TextEditorCustomizer has been marked internal since 2024.2.

This allows using existing test base classes, see WebStorm Plugin Development page for details.

When targeting 2020.3, please see this migration guide.

Please obtain necessary components only when needed (logged as ERROR now).

Added VirtualFileManager.findFileByNioPath()/refreshAndFindFileByNioPath(). See also VirtualFile.toNioPath().

Register resource bundle via com.intellij.iconDescriptionBundle extension point to provide tooltips automatically for all SimpleColoredComponent renderers.

A plugin can mark itself incompatible if IDE contains specified module.

To support on-the-fly Editor color scheme switching, change calls from methods taking TextAttributes.

The platform now bundles support for images in WebP format.

Specify hashBangs attribute in com.intellij.fileType extension point. Issue

Implement AboutPopupDescriptionProvider and register in com.intellij.aboutPopupDescriptionProvider extension point.

To support preview in intention popup, suitable FileModifier must be provided (default implementation FileModifier.getFileModifierForPreview() works for most cases).

Switch to matching IDE feature by implementing TerminalShellCommandHandler (com.intellij.terminal.shellCommandHandler extension point). Blog post

We recommend switching to JCEF, please see blog post for details.

Updated from 7.0.1.

Lexer is wrapped using ValidatingLexerWrapper to verify it generates a continuous sequence of tokens and doesn't stall during iteration.

Several plugins (ASP, CFML, Flash/Flex, GWT, JBoss Seam Pageflow, JBoss Seam, JBoss jBPM, OSGi, Play Framework, Resin, Seam Navigation, Tapestry, Virgo/dmServer) for no longer actively maintained technology have been unbundled. If your plugin depends on them, users will need to install them from the JetBrains Marketplace.

Compatible plugins can be installed, updated and uninstalled without requiring IDE restart.

Usage is deprecated and can be replaced with com.intellij.openapi.application.Application.invokeLater() in most cases, please consult Javadoc for more details.

Please see RecursionManager.CachingPreventedException Javadoc and this issue for details.

Reports when the same reference resolves non-equivalent results in different threads, see IdempotenceChecker.

Set addOpenInEditorCheckbox constructor parameter to enable it in custom RefactoringDialog implementation.

Use com.intellij.statusBarWidgetFactory extension point to provide widgets that can be disabled or reordered, see Status Bar Widgets.

Allows embedding Chromium-based browser in the IDE.

Set the <override-text> element within the <action> declaration in plugin.xml.

Import from Existing Sources has been removed from the Welcome Screen, leaving only Open or Import, which calls a different extension than the one previously used to contribute a wizard step to Import from Existing Sources (which is still available in the File menu). To support Open or Import, a plugin must provide ProjectOpenProcessor. ProjectOpenProcessor.canOpenProject() should return true for the folder selected by the user only if it guarantees doOpenProject() can handle it. If there are several matching processors, a simple chooser dialog is shown. If additional manual configuration is necessary, a modal dialog can be shown in doOpenProject() - however, it is highly recommended performing all setup automatically (like Maven and Gradle plugins do).

Please use Azure DevOps plugin instead, see blog post for more details.

Several plugins (Cloud Foundry, Google App Engine) for no longer actively maintained technology have been unbundled. If your plugin depends on them, users will need to install them from the JetBrains Marketplace.