Supporting Module Types

IntelliJ Platform provides a set of standard module types. However, an application might need a module of a type that isn't supported yet. This tutorial shows how to register a new module type and link it to the project creation procedure and the UI.

The source code for the module and project_wizard code samples is used throughout this tutorial.

Pre-Requirements

Create an empty plugin project. See the Creating a Plugin Gradle Project section for details.

Register a New Module Type

Add a new com.intellij.moduleType implementation with the IntelliJ Platform in the plugin.xml configuration file.

<extensions defaultExtensionNs="com.intellij">
  <moduleType
      id="DEMO_MODULE_TYPE"
      implementationClass="org.intellij.sdk.module.DemoModuleType"/>
</extensions>

Implement `ModuleType` Interface

Create the DemoModuleType implementation based on ModuleType.

getNodeIcon() should return module type specific icon.

final class DemoModuleType extends ModuleType<DemoModuleBuilder> {

  private static final String ID = "DEMO_MODULE_TYPE";

  DemoModuleType() {
    super(ID);
  }

  public static DemoModuleType getInstance() {
    return (DemoModuleType) ModuleTypeManager.getInstance().findByID(ID);
  }

  @NotNull
  @Override
  public DemoModuleBuilder createModuleBuilder() {
    return new DemoModuleBuilder();
  }

  @NotNull
  @Override
  public String getName() {
    return "SDK Module Type";
  }

  @NotNull
  @Override
  public String getDescription() {
    return "Example custom module type";
  }

  @NotNull
  @Override
  public Icon getNodeIcon(@Deprecated boolean b) {
    return SdkIcons.Sdk_default_icon;
  }

  @Override
  public ModuleWizardStep @NotNull [] createWizardSteps(@NotNull WizardContext wizardContext,
                                                        @NotNull DemoModuleBuilder moduleBuilder,
                                                        @NotNull ModulesProvider modulesProvider) {
    return super.createWizardSteps(wizardContext, moduleBuilder, modulesProvider);
  }

}

Implement Custom Module Builder

Create DemoModuleBuilder based on ModuleBuilder.

public class DemoModuleBuilder extends ModuleBuilder {

  @Override
  public void setupRootModel(@NotNull ModifiableRootModel model) {
  }

  @Override
  public ModuleType<DemoModuleBuilder> getModuleType() {
    return DemoModuleType.getInstance();
  }

  @Nullable
  @Override
  public ModuleWizardStep getCustomOptionsStep(WizardContext context, Disposable parentDisposable) {
    return new DemoModuleWizardStep();
  }

}

Provide Custom Wizard Steps

Provide a straightforward implementation of UI components for the project creating stage. Create a generic DemoModuleWizardStep based on ModuleWizardStep

public class DemoModuleWizardStep extends ModuleWizardStep {

  @Override
  public JComponent getComponent() {
    return new JLabel("Provide some setting here");
  }

  @Override
  public void updateDataModel() {
    //todo update model according to UI
  }

}

Creating a Module of New Type

After compiling and running the plugin in a development instance, create a new project. Select File | New | Module.... A new module type and its settings panel are available in the Project Wizard.

12 May 2025