Official JetBrains Plugin Brings IntelliJ Java/Kotlin Features to VS Code

Introduction

Developers accustomed to IntelliJ IDEA often struggle when forced to switch editors. JetBrains has released an official VS Code plugin named Java and Kotlin by IntelliJ IDEA that runs IntelliJ's language server in the background and communicates with the editor through the Language Server Protocol (LSP). The plugin supports VS Code, Cursor, and other VS Code–based editors.

Core Features

Language support: Java, Kotlin, and mixed projects.

Project import: Gradle, Maven, and Bazel projects are detected and imported automatically.

Coding assistance: Code completion, signature help, real-time inspections, and quick-fixes.

Navigation & refactoring: Go to declaration/implementation, view documentation and library sources, rename, extract, inline, and format code.

Run & debug: Launch and debug Java/Kotlin applications with breakpoints, variable inspection, and call stacks.

Installation

Search for Java and Kotlin by IntelliJ IDEA in the VS Code Marketplace and install. After installation, a Java and Kotlin status item appears in the bottom-right corner showing running when the language server is active.

Usage Walkthrough

Project Import

Right-click in the Explorer and choose Add Folder to Workspace. The plugin detects the build system (Gradle or Maven) and imports the project.

Coding Assistance

As you type, method completions with parameter and return-type hints appear — familiar to IntelliJ users. Syntax errors are flagged in real time.

Selecting a local variable opens context actions such as Extract Field, Extract Constant, and Inline Variable.

Refactoring

Familiar IntelliJ refactorings — rename, extract, inline, and code formatting — are available via the right-click context menu.

Navigation & Search

Standard navigation shortcuts work: F12 goes to declaration, Ctrl+F12 jumps to implementation. Hovering a method shows the interface signature and documentation; Go to Super Method navigates to the interface declaration.

File search uses the standard VS Code search bar at the top.

Run & Debug

Opening a main class displays Run and Debug buttons above the main method. Clicking Run shows a toolbar with restart and stop controls. In debug mode, the top debug toolbar activates and the left panel shows variables and call stacks.

Summary

The plugin brings IntelliJ's core coding assistance — completion, navigation, refactoring, and breakpoint debugging — into VS Code. However, it currently lacks test discovery and test execution, so it cannot fully replace IntelliJ IDEA. For teams prohibited from using the full IDE, this plugin is a practical alternative worth evaluating against daily development needs.