Command line

The openidea command opens folders and files in OpenIDEA from a terminal. It starts the app if it isn’t running, hands over the request and returns.

Install the command

OS	Menu
macOS	OpenIDEA › Install ‘openidea’ Command
Windows and Linux	Tools › Install ‘openidea’ Command

The action is also available in Find Action. Open a new terminal afterwards.

macOS
Windows
Linux

Move OpenIDEA to Applications first: the command is a link to the launcher inside the app bundle. It goes into ~/.local/bin when that directory is on PATH; otherwise into /usr/local/bin, which may ask for an administrator password.

Installation creates openidea.cmd in %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenIDEA\bin and adds that directory to your user PATH. It works for installed and portable copies and doesn’t need administrator rights.

Installation creates ~/.local/bin/openidea. If that directory isn’t on PATH, or another openidea comes first, the notification asks you to put it at the beginning of PATH:

Bash and Zsh: add export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH" to your shell profile.
Fish: run fish_add_path --prepend ~/.local/bin.

For an AppImage, the command starts the AppImage file itself, so keep it in a permanent location.

Uninstall ‘openidea’ Command in the same menu removes only OpenIDEA’s own launcher (and on Windows its PATH entry). A command of the same name that belongs to another application is never overwritten or removed. After moving a portable copy or an AppImage, install the command again.

Usage

openidea [options] [[--line <n>] [--column <n>] path[:line[:column]] ...]
openidea diff <left> <right>

openidea .                              # open the current folder as a project
openidea src/main.rs README.md          # open files
openidea --line 12 --column 5 src/main.rs
openidea src/main.rs:12:5               # same, as path:line:column
openidea diff before.txt after.txt      # compare two files
openidea                                # bring OpenIDEA to the front

Folders open as projects. Files open in the window of the project that contains them, or on their own when no open project does.
Lines and columns start at 1. --line and --column apply to the next path.
path:line and path:line:column are read as a position only when no file with that exact name exists.
Relative paths resolve against the current directory.
Use -- before a file name that starts with -, or before a file named diff.

Options

Put the caret on line n of the next file.

Put the caret in column n of that line.

Print the usage.

Print the version, for example OpenIDEA 0.1.40.

Exit status

The command exits with 0 once OpenIDEA has accepted the request, and with 1 on an unknown option, a missing file, or when the app can’t be reached or doesn’t start within 30 seconds. Errors are printed as openidea: <message>. The GUI executable and the operating system’s file associations keep working without the command.

Other command-line tools

openidea-server runs OpenIDEA’s backend on a remote machine for remote development. See openidea-server.
openidea-plugin creates, builds and packages plugins. See the plugin quickstart.

Get started

Editing

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Tools

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Reference

Install the command

Usage

Options

Exit status

Other command-line tools

​Install the command

​Usage

​Options

​Exit status

​Other command-line tools

Install the command

Usage

Options

Exit status

Other command-line tools