How to Install and Use JetBrains AI Assistant in Mainland China – Step‑by‑Step Guide

1 Install AI Assistant Plugin

AI functionality depends on the AI Assistant plugin.

2 Features

Explain code, answer code‑related questions, generate commit messages, and more.

Faster coding

AI Assistant can autocomplete single lines, functions, or whole code blocks while preserving your coding style, project context, and naming conventions, and it can suggest code directly from natural‑language prompts.

Find solutions in context

When you encounter errors or need a new feature, ask the assistant in the chat; it automatically incorporates relevant details from your project without copy‑pasting code. You can delegate tasks such as “rewrite MyClass as an abstract class” or invoke inline actions like Explain Code or Suggest Refactoring.

Automate tedious work

Delegate routine or repetitive tasks to AI Assistant so you can focus on creative work. It can help refactor code, generate documentation, write tests, and summarize VCS changes.

Quickly learn unknown concepts

Ask the assistant to explain complex code or translate it to another language, making it easier to understand new languages or frameworks.

Improve and optimise your code

Use AI‑driven diagnostics to identify errors and receive detailed explanations and fixes, as well as refactoring suggestions to keep code efficient and maintainable.

3 How to use in Mainland China

The plugin is not officially available to users in mainland China. The following method works:

3.1 Change JetBrains account country

Visit https://account.jetbrains.com/profile-details and set Country/Region to United States (US).

Set your Cat proxy to port 7890; rule mode is sufficient.

3.2 System proxy settings

Windows:

macOS:

3.3 IDE proxy configuration

In the IDE set HTTP PROXY to “Auto‑detect proxy settings” so it automatically uses the system proxy.

4 Start a conversation

Accept the data‑sharing request, then the chat window opens and you can interact with the assistant.

Successful dialog screenshot:

5 Mainland version based on Alibaba Cloud model

Reference: JetBrains AI Assistant released in partnership with Alibaba Cloud.

6 Official tutorials

https://www.jetbrains.com/help/go/ai-assistant.html#ai-chat

https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/2023.2/ai-assistant.html