Plugin Power-Up: How to Integrate Claude Code with IntelliJ IDEA
Z
Zack Saadioui
8/10/2025
Plugin Power-Up: How to Integrate Claude Code with IntelliJ IDEA
What's up, developers? Let's talk about the new shiny toy in the AI coding world: Claude Code. If you've been keeping your ear to the ground, you've probably heard the buzz. Anthropic has been making some serious waves with their models, & now they're bringing that power right into our IDEs. Specifically, for us JetBrains loyalists, there's a beta plugin for IntelliJ IDEA.
I've been messing around with it for a bit, digging through the docs, watching the tutorials, &—most importantly—reading what actual devs are saying about it. So, I figured I'd put together a big, beefy guide on what it is, how to get it running, & whether it's actually worth your time. Because let's be honest, another plugin is the last thing we need unless it really pulls its weight.
So, What's the Big Deal with AI Code Assistants Anyway?
Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of the IntelliJ plugin, let's take a step back. Why are we all so hyped about these AI coding assistants in the first place? It's not just about getting a machine to write our code for us (though that's part of the fun). It's about augmenting our own abilities.
Think about it. These tools are getting incredibly good at:
Handling the grunt work: Writing boilerplate code, generating unit tests, creating documentation... all the stuff that's necessary but, let's face it, kinda boring.
Onboarding to new codebases: This is a HUGE one. Claude Code, for instance, can scan an entire codebase, even millions of lines, & explain the architecture, dependencies, & how everything fits together. That can slash onboarding time from weeks to days.
Refactoring with confidence: Got some legacy code that needs a facelift? An AI assistant can analyze it, suggest improvements, & even perform complex, multi-file refactors. It’s like having a senior architect looking over your shoulder.
Learning on the fly: Stuck on a new framework or language? You can ask your AI pair programmer for examples, explanations, & best practices, right there in your editor. No more endless context-switching to a browser with a dozen Stack Overflow tabs open.
It’s about streamlining the entire development workflow, from turning a GitHub issue into a pull request to squashing bugs. The goal is to let us focus on the hard, creative problems while the AI handles the repetitive, predictable stuff. It's not about replacing developers; it's about giving us superpowers.
And honestly, this whole movement is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. Businesses are starting to realize that AI automation is a game-changer across the board. Take customer service, for example. Companies are using tools like Arsturn to build custom AI chatbots trained on their own data. These bots can provide instant, 24/7 support to website visitors, answer complex questions, & free up human agents to handle the really tricky issues. It's the same principle as in coding: automate the routine to empower the human. Pretty cool, right?
Meet Claude Code: The New Kid on the Block
So, what makes Claude Code special? Anthropic claims it’s not just another autocomplete tool. It's designed for "deep coding at terminal velocity". It uses their most powerful models, like Claude 4.1 Opus, & has a deep awareness of your entire codebase. It doesn't just see isolated snippets; it understands the project structure, your coding patterns, & existing dependencies.
This means the suggestions it makes are supposed to be more relevant & actually fit the context of your project. It lives in your terminal, which is a bit of a double-edged sword (more on that later), but the idea is to keep you in your flow state, without constantly switching between windows.
Getting Claude Code Hooked Up to IntelliJ IDEA
Alright, let's get to the main event. How do you actually get this thing running in IntelliJ (or PyCharm, WebStorm, etc.)? Turns out, there are a couple of steps.
Step 1: Install Claude Code Itself
This is the part that trips some people up. The IntelliJ plugin is just a bridge; you need to install the Claude Code command-line tool first. It’s a Node.js application, so you'll need Node.js (version 18+ is required) & npm installed on your system.
Once you have Node ready, open up your terminal & run this global install command:
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npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
After it's done, you should be able to run
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claude --version
to verify the installation.
A quick note for Windows users: A helpful YouTube tutorial from Infiproton Tech suggests it's best to do this within the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). You'd install WSL, get a distribution like Ubuntu from the Microsoft Store, update it, install Node & npm inside it, & then run the
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npm install
command. It seems to play nicer that way.
Step 2: Install the JetBrains Plugin
Now for the easy part.
Open IntelliJ IDEA.
Go to
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Settings
>
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Plugins
.
In the Marketplace tab, search for "Claude Code".
You should see the "Claude Code [Beta]" plugin by Anthropic PBC. Click "Install".
After it installs, you'll need to completely restart your IDE. And some users have reported needing to restart it a couple of times for everything to hook up correctly, so be patient.
Step 3: Connect IntelliJ to the Claude Code Tool
Once you've restarted, the magic should happen automatically. The plugin's job is to detect that you're running
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claude
from IntelliJ's integrated terminal.
So, open the terminal in IntelliJ (
1
View
>
1
Tool Windows
>
1
Terminal
). If you're on Windows & used WSL, you'll want to configure IntelliJ to use your WSL shell by default. You can do this in
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Settings
>
1
Tools
>
1
Terminal
& changing the "Shell path".
Now, from within that integrated terminal, run the
1
claude
command. The first time you do this, the plugin should activate, & you might get a prompt asking for permission to connect to your IDE. And that's pretty much it. You're ready to start coding with Claude.
The Good Stuff: Features You'll Actually Use
Once it's up & running, what can it do? The integration, while still in beta, adds some neat features on top of the standard terminal experience.
Diff Viewing: This is a big one. When Claude suggests a code change, instead of just printing a text diff in the terminal, it can open a proper diff view right in the IntelliJ editor. This lets you review the changes side-by-side, make tweaks, & accept or reject them with a click. SUPER useful.
Selection Context: The plugin automatically shares your current selection or open tab with Claude. So if you highlight a function & then switch to the terminal to ask Claude a question, it already knows what you're talking about.
File Reference Shortcuts: This is a nice little time-saver. You can use a keyboard shortcut (
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Cmd+Option+K
on Mac,
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Ctrl+Alt+K
on Windows/Linux) to quickly insert a reference to the current file (like
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@File#L1-99
) into your prompt for Claude.
Diagnostics Sharing: This is probably the most advanced feature. It shares errors & warnings from the IDE (the little squiggly lines) with Claude in real-time. This gives the AI even more context about the state of your code, allowing it to provide more accurate fixes.
Quick Launch: A simple shortcut (
1
Cmd+Esc
or
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Ctrl+Esc
) to pop open the Claude Code terminal right from your editor.
These features are designed to make the interaction feel less like you're just using a CLI in a box & more like a genuine IDE integration. When it works, it's pretty seamless.
The Not-So-Good Stuff: The "Beta" is Showing
Okay, time for some real talk. While the features sound great on paper, the execution is... a work in progress. Digging through the user reviews on the JetBrains Marketplace page reveals a lot of common frustrations. Remember, this is a beta plugin, & it feels like it.
Here's the honest truth from developers who are using it day-in, day-out:
It's Still Just a Terminal: The biggest complaint, by far, is that the integration feels skin-deep. One user put it perfectly: "The integration is basically non existent its basically the same as just running it in a regular terminal with no IDE at all." Many are asking for a proper UI, not just a tool window that hosts the CLI.
The Diff Workflow is Clunky: While the IDE diff view is a great idea, the implementation can be annoying. For changes spanning multiple files, it apparently presents you with a new diff window for each file, one by one. You have to accept each one individually, & then the windows close, leaving you to go hunt down the files it just changed. A more integrated, multi-file diff view would be a massive improvement.
No Inline Assistance: A lot of devs are missing the inline assistance you get from tools like GitHub Copilot. With Claude Code, there's no "quick inline assistance with a shortcut key". Every interaction is a "long running operation in a chat like terminal".
Memory Hog: One user reported that the plugin can allocate gigabytes of memory over time, eventually freezing PyCharm. Unloading the plugin fixed the issue, so it's definitely something to watch out for.
Annoying Quirks & Bugs: There's a list of smaller, but still frustrating, issues. It can hijack keyboard shortcuts, fail to connect on Windows without some tinkering, and it requires files to be open in the IDE before it can get diagnostics for them, which interrupts the workflow.
So, here's the thing: the core AI, the Claude Code tool itself, is incredibly powerful. Users are raving about it, calling it the "best coding agent I have tried" & a "game changer". The problem isn't the brain; it's the body. The plugin that's meant to integrate this powerful brain into our favorite IDE is still pretty basic & rough around the edges.
The Bigger Picture: AI as a Business Solution
When you see the potential of a tool like Claude Code, even in its beta state, it's easy to see where this is all heading. Developer workflows are being fundamentally reshaped. But this trend isn't happening in a vacuum. It's part of a larger movement where businesses are leveraging AI to create more efficient processes & better customer experiences.
This is where a platform like Arsturn comes into the picture. Just as Claude Code is built to be a developer's collaborator, Arsturn helps businesses build AI collaborators for their customers. By creating a no-code AI chatbot trained on your company's own data—your documentation, your product info, your past support tickets—you can build a system that provides personalized, accurate answers around the clock.
Think about it: a developer asks Claude Code to refactor a complex module, & a customer asks your Arsturn-powered chatbot how to use that module's new feature. In both cases, a sophisticated AI is providing expert-level assistance, boosting productivity & satisfaction. It's about building meaningful connections through personalized, intelligent conversation, whether that's with a developer in their IDE or a customer on your website. This is how businesses will boost conversions & build loyalty in the AI age.
The Verdict: Should You Install It?
So, after all that, what's the bottom line? Should you go through the hassle of installing the Claude Code beta plugin for IntelliJ?
My answer is a qualified yes.
Here's why. The underlying AI technology in Claude Code is, by many accounts, top-tier. It has the potential to seriously speed up your workflow, especially for complex tasks like onboarding, refactoring, & debugging. Getting a taste of that power now, even through a slightly clunky interface, is worth it to stay ahead of the curve.
You just need to go in with the right expectations. Don't expect a polished, fully-integrated experience like some of the more mature tools on the market. Expect to live in the terminal. Expect some weird behavior. Expect to be a beta tester.
But if you can live with that, you get access to one of the most powerful coding AIs available today, right inside IntelliJ. The features like IDE diff viewing & context sharing are useful, even if they're imperfect. And by using it & even reporting issues, you're helping to shape what will likely become an indispensable tool in the near future.
So go ahead, give it a shot. Install the CLI, get the plugin, & kick the tires. See how it fits into your workflow. It might just save you from switching IDEs to get the best AI experience.
Hope this was helpful. It's an exciting time to be a developer, & tools like this are a big reason why. I'm keen to see how this plugin evolves. Let me know what you think if you decide to try it out