Add Claude Code to your IDE

Claude Code works great with any Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that has a terminal. Just run claude, and you’re ready to go.

In addition, Claude Code provides dedicated integrations for popular IDEs, which provide features like interactive diff viewing, selection context sharing, and more. These integrations currently exist for:

• Visual Studio Code (including popular forks like Cursor, Windsurf, and VSCodium)
• JetBrains IDEs (including IntelliJ, PyCharm, Android Studio, WebStorm, PhpStorm and GoLand)

​

Features

• Quick launch: Use Cmd+Esc (Mac) or Ctrl+Esc (Windows/Linux) to open Claude Code directly from your editor, or click the Claude Code button in the UI
• Diff viewing: Code changes can be displayed directly in the IDE diff viewer instead of the terminal. You can configure this in /config
• Selection context: The current selection/tab in the IDE is automatically shared with Claude Code
• File reference shortcuts: Use Cmd+Option+K (Mac) or Alt+Ctrl+K (Linux/Windows) to insert file references (e.g., @File#L1-99)
• Diagnostic sharing: Diagnostic errors (lint, syntax, etc.) from the IDE are automatically shared with Claude as you work

​

Installation

​

Usage

​

From your IDE

Run claude from your IDE’s integrated terminal, and all features will be active.

​

From external terminals

Use the /ide command in any external terminal to connect Claude Code to your IDE and activate all features.

If you want Claude to have access to the same files as your IDE, start Claude Code from the same directory as your IDE project root.

​

Configuration

IDE integrations work with Claude Code’s configuration system:

1. Run claude
2. Enter the /config command
3. Adjust your preferences. Setting the diff tool to auto will enable automatic IDE detection

​

JetBrains plugin settings

You can configure Claude Code plugin settings by going to Settings → Tools → Claude Code [Beta]. Here are the available settings:

​

General Settings

• Claude command: Specify a custom command to run Claude (e.g., claude, /usr/local/bin/claude, or npx @anthropic/claude) when clicking on the Claude icon
• Suppress notification for Claude command not found: Skip notifications about not finding the Claude command
• Enable using Option+Enter for multi-line prompts (macOS only): When enabled, Option+Enter inserts new lines in Claude Code prompts. Disable this if you’re experiencing issues with the Option key being captured unexpectedly (requires terminal restart)
• Enable automatic updates: Automatically check for and install plugin updates (applied on restart)

​

ESC key configuration

If the ESC key doesn’t interrupt Claude Code operations in JetBrains terminals:

1. Go to Settings → Tools → Terminal
2. Either:
   • Uncheck “Move focus to the editor with Escape”, or
   • Click “Configure terminal keybindings” and delete the “Switch focus to Editor” shortcut
3. Apply the changes

This allows the ESC key to properly interrupt Claude Code operations.

​

Troubleshooting

​

VS Code extension not installing

• Ensure you’re running Claude Code from VS Code’s integrated terminal
• Ensure that the CLI corresponding to your IDE is installed:
  • For VS Code: code command should be available
  • For Cursor: cursor command should be available
  • For Windsurf: windsurf command should be available
  • For VSCodium: codium command should be available
  • If not installed, use Cmd+Shift+P (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux) and search for “Shell Command: Install ‘code’ command in PATH” (or the equivalent for your IDE)
• Check that VS Code has permission to install extensions

​

JetBrains plugin not working

• Ensure you’re running Claude Code from the project root directory
• Check that the JetBrains plugin is enabled in the IDE settings
• Completely restart the IDE. You may need to do this multiple times
• For JetBrains Remote Development, ensure that the Claude Code plugin is installed in the remote host and not locally on the client

For additional help, refer to our troubleshooting guide.