Cross-IDE Usage for Diagnostics

The Revolutionary Concept

Our MCP server can use ANY JetBrains IDE to perform code inspections, not just WebStorm. Thanks to isolated configuration directories, inspections can run even when the IDE is already open.

Usage Scenarios

Scenario 1: WebStorm is Open

WebStorm: RUNNING ✅ (editing code)
→ Still used for diagnostics with isolated configuration

Scenario 2: Priority-Based Selection

WebStorm: Available ✅ → Selected (highest priority for JS/TS)
IntelliJ IDEA: Available ✅
PyCharm: Available ✅

Scenario 3: Forced IDE Selection

# Force GoLand usage regardless of other available IDEs
export FORCE_INSPECT_PATH="/Applications/GoLand.app/Contents/bin/inspect.sh"

How It Works: Isolated Configuration

The server uses JVM properties to create isolated configuration directories:

-Didea.config.path=/tmp/mcp-config-xxxxx
-Didea.system.path=/tmp/mcp-system-xxxxx

This means:

• ✅ No conflicts with running IDE instances
• ✅ Always works even if IDE is being used for development
• ✅ Clean isolation - temporary directories are created and cleaned up

Supported IDEs

All JetBrains IDEs can analyze JavaScript/TypeScript projects:

IDE	Primary Language	JS/TS Support
IntelliJ IDEA	Java	✅ Full
WebStorm	JavaScript	✅ Native
PyCharm	Python	✅ Full
PhpStorm	PHP	✅ Full
GoLand	Go	✅ Full
Rider	C#/.NET	✅ Full
CLion	C/C++	✅ Basic
RubyMine	Ruby	✅ Full
DataGrip	SQL	✅ Basic
DataSpell	Data Science	✅ Full
AppCode	iOS/macOS	✅ Basic

How to Test

1. Verify Available IDEs

Enable debug mode to see which IDEs are detected:

DEBUG=true yarn test:mcp --path ./src

2. Test MCP Server

# Using MCP Inspector
yarn inspect

# Using interactive test script
yarn test:mcp

# Or force specific IDE
FORCE_INSPECT_PATH="/Applications/GoLand.app/Contents/bin/inspect.sh" yarn inspect

3. Run MCP Server

# Development mode with automatic selection
yarn dev

# Production mode
yarn start

# Or force specific IDE
FORCE_INSPECT_PATH="/Applications/PyCharm.app/Contents/bin/inspect.sh" yarn start

Technical Details

Shared Components

All JetBrains IDEs share:

• IntelliJ Platform: Common foundation
• Language Plugins: JavaScript/TypeScript support
• Inspection Engine: Same code analysis
• Project Model: .idea directory structure

Inspection Profiles

The .idea/inspectionProfiles/ directory is read identically by all IDEs, ensuring consistent results.

Performance

No performance difference between IDEs - the same inspection engine runs regardless of which IDE binary launches it.

Best Practices

1. Let the system choose: The automatic selection works well in most cases
2. Install IntelliJ IDEA CE: Free and always useful as a backup
3. Use environment variable: For CI/CD or specific requirements
4. Check before running: Use yarn check:ide to verify setup

FAQ

Q: Will PyCharm give the same JavaScript results as WebStorm? A: Yes, 100% identical results. They use the same inspection engine.

Q: Can I use DataGrip for JavaScript inspection? A: Yes, though it's optimized for SQL. Better to use IDEs with full JS support.

Q: What if I only have WebStorm installed? A: Install IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition (free) as a backup inspection tool.

Q: Does the IDE choice affect inspection speed? A: No, the inspection engine performance is identical across all IDEs.

Troubleshooting

"No available IDE found"

1. Enable debug to see IDE detection: DEBUG=true yarn test:mcp
2. Verify IDE installation paths
3. Use FORCE_INSPECT_PATH for custom IDE locations
4. Install IntelliJ IDEA CE as fallback option

"Permission denied"

Ensure inspect.sh is executable:

chmod +x "/Applications/YourIDE.app/Contents/bin/inspect.sh"

Different Results Between IDEs

This should not happen. If it does:

1. Ensure all IDEs are updated to the same version
2. Check that they're reading the same .idea directory
3. Verify the inspection profile is identical