Class Loaders

Each plugin has a dedicated class loader, which is used to load the plugin's classes. This allows each plugin to use a different library version, even if the same library is used by the IDE itself or by another plugin.

Overriding IDE Dependencies

Gradle 7 introduced the implementation scope that replaced the compile scope. For this setup, to use a library dependency declared by a plugin instead of the version bundled in the IDE, add the following snippet to the Gradle build script:

configurations.all {
  resolutionStrategy.sortArtifacts(ResolutionStrategy.SortOrder.DEPENDENCY_FIRST)
}

Loading Classes from Plugin Dependencies

By default, the main IDE class loader loads classes that are not found in the plugin class loader. However, in the plugin.xml file, use the <depends> element to specify that a plugin depends on one or more other plugins. In this case, the class loaders of those plugins will be used for classes not found in the current plugin. This allows a plugin to reference classes from other plugins.

Using `ServiceLoader`

Some libraries use ServiceLoader to detect and load implementations. To make it work in a plugin, the context class loader must be set to the plugin's classloader and restored afterward with the original one around initialization code:

val currentThread = Thread.currentThread()
val originalClassLoader = currentThread.contextClassLoader
val pluginClassLoader = this.javaClass.classLoader
try {
  currentThread.contextClassLoader = pluginClassLoader
  // code working with ServiceLoader here
} finally {
  currentThread.contextClassLoader = originalClassLoader
}

Thread currentThread = Thread.currentThread();
ClassLoader originalClassLoader = currentThread.getContextClassLoader();
ClassLoader pluginClassLoader = this.getClass().getClassLoader();
try {
  currentThread.setContextClassLoader(pluginClassLoader);
  // code working with ServiceLoader here
} finally {
  currentThread.setContextClassLoader(originalClassLoader);
}

10 November 2026

Class Loaders

Overriding IDE Dependencies

Loading Classes from Plugin Dependencies

Using ServiceLoader

Using `ServiceLoader`