IntelliJ IDEA / JetBrains IDEs

MyDeskBot for JetBrains IDEs provides intelligent AI assistance for IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, PhpStorm, and other JetBrains products.

Supported IDEs

MyDeskBot is available for all JetBrains IDEs:

• IntelliJ IDEA (Ultimate & Community)
• PyCharm (Professional & Community)
• WebStorm
• PhpStorm
• RubyMine
• GoLand
• CLion
• DataGrip
• AppCode
• Rider

Installation

Method 1: From JetBrains Marketplace

1. Open your JetBrains IDE
2. Go to File → Settings (Windows/Linux) or Preferences (macOS)
3. Navigate to Plugins
4. Click the Marketplace tab
5. Search for "MyDeskBot"
6. Click Install
7. Restart the IDE

Method 2: From Disk

1. Download the MyDeskBot plugin .zip file
2. Go to Settings/Preferences → Plugins
3. Click the ⚙️ icon → Install Plugin from Disk...
4. Select the downloaded .zip file
5. Restart the IDE

Configuration

API Key Setup

1. Go to Settings → Tools → MyDeskBot
2. Click Configure API Key
3. Enter your API key:
   • OpenAI API key
   • Anthropic API key
4. Select your preferred model
5. Click OK

Advanced Settings

Settings → Tools → MyDeskBot:

• Model Selection: Choose your AI model
• Temperature: Control creativity (0.0 - 2.0)
• Max Tokens: Maximum response length
• Stream Responses: Show responses as they're generated
• Timeout: Maximum wait time for responses

Editor Settings:

• Inline Suggestions: Enable/disable inline code completions
• Automatic Documentation: Auto-generate comments
• Context Window: Number of files to consider for context

Features

1. Code Completion

Get intelligent code suggestions as you type:

// Start typing
List<String> users = new Ar

// MyDeskBot suggests
List<String> users = new ArrayList<>();

Settings:

• Enable/Disable: Settings → Editor → General → Code Completion → MyDeskBot
• Trigger mode: Manual or Automatic

2. Inline Chat

Ask questions without leaving your code:

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+M (or Cmd+Shift+M on macOS)
2. Type your question
3. Get inline responses

Example:

// MyDeskBot: How do I sort this list?
[AI response inline]
users.sort(Comparator.comparing(User::getName));

3. Code Actions

Right-click on selected code to see AI-powered actions:

• Explain Code: Get a detailed explanation
• Refactor: Improve code quality
• Add Comments: Generate documentation
• Find Bugs: Identify potential issues
• Optimize: Improve performance
• Generate Tests: Create unit tests

4. Panel Chat

Open the dedicated MyDeskBot panel:

1. Go to View → Tool Windows → MyDeskBot
2. Or press Alt+M (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+M (macOS)
3. Ask questions in the chat interface

5. Context-Aware Assistance

MyDeskBot understands your project context:

• Current file
• Open files
• Project structure
• Dependencies
• Build configuration

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Open MyDeskBot Panel	Alt+M	Cmd+M
Inline Chat	Ctrl+Shift+M	Cmd+Shift+M
Explain Code	Ctrl+Shift+E	Cmd+Shift+E
Refactor Code	Ctrl+Shift+R	Cmd+Shift+R
Generate Tests	Ctrl+Shift+T	Cmd+Shift+T
Complete Code	Tab	Tab
Inline Suggestion	Ctrl+Space	Ctrl+Space

Workflows

1. Code Review

1. Select the code to review
2. Right-click → Analyze Code
3. MyDeskBot provides:
   • Code quality issues
   • Potential bugs
   • Security vulnerabilities
   • Performance suggestions

2. Refactoring

1. Select code to refactor
2. Right-click → Refactor with AI
3. Choose refactoring type:
   • Simplify logic
   • Extract method
   • Improve readability
   • Optimize performance

3. Documentation Generation

1. Select code or method
2. Right-click → Generate Documentation
3. MyDeskBot generates:
   • JSDoc/Javadoc comments
   • Parameter descriptions
   • Return value documentation
   • Usage examples

4. Test Generation

1. Select a class or method
2. Right-click → Generate Tests
3. MyDeskBot creates:
   • Unit test structure
   • Test cases
   • Mock objects
   • Assertions

5. Debugging Assistance

1. When debugging, select problematic code
2. Right-click → Explain Issue
3. MyDeskBot analyzes:
   • Potential causes
   • Stack traces
   • Suggestions for fixes

Project Templates

MyDeskBot can help you create new projects:

1. Go to File → New → Project from MyDeskBot
2. Describe your project:

   Create a REST API with Spring Boot, PostgreSQL, and JWT authentication

3. MyDeskBot generates:
   • Project structure
   • Dependencies
   • Initial code
   • Configuration files

AI-Powered Refactoring

Extract Method

1. Select code block
2. Right-click → Refactor → Extract Method with AI
3. MyDeskBot suggests:
   • Method name
   • Parameters
   • Return type
   • Javadoc

Inline Variable

1. Select variable
2. Right-click → Refactor → Inline Variable with AI
3. MyDeskBot replaces variable usage with its value

Change Signature

1. Select method
2. Right-click → Refactor → Change Signature with AI
3. MyDeskBot suggests:
   • New parameter names
   • Better parameter ordering
   • Default values

Troubleshooting

Plugin Not Showing in Marketplace

1. Check IDE compatibility (requires version 2020.2+)
2. Try searching manually in the JetBrains Plugin Repository
3. Install from disk as a fallback

API Key Not Working

1. Verify the API key is correct
2. Check your account has credits
3. Ensure the key has necessary permissions
4. Try a different API provider

No Suggestions Appearing

1. Check if inline suggestions are enabled
2. Verify your model is configured
3. Check the API status
4. Try manually triggering with Ctrl+Space

Slow Performance

1. Reduce context window size
2. Disable streaming responses
3. Increase timeout setting
4. Close unnecessary files

Best Practices

1. Use Descriptive Names: Helps MyDeskBot understand your code
2. Add Comments: Provide context for better suggestions
3. Keep Functions Small: Easier for AI to analyze
4. Review Suggestions: Always review AI-generated code
5. Iterate: Refine requests for better results

Integration with Other JetBrains Features

Version Control

• Commit Messages: AI generates commit messages
• Code Review: AI assists in pull request reviews
• Merge Conflicts: AI helps resolve conflicts

Database Tools

• SQL Queries: AI generates and optimizes SQL
• Schema Design: AI suggests database schemas
• Query Optimization: AI improves query performance

Build Tools

• Maven/Gradle: AI generates build configurations
• Dependency Management: AI suggests dependencies
• Build Optimization: AI optimizes build scripts

Enterprise Features

For teams and organizations:

• Shared Configuration: Standardize AI settings across team
• Custom Models: Use enterprise AI endpoints
• Usage Analytics: Track AI usage patterns
• Rate Limiting: Control API costs

Privacy & Security

• Local Processing: Code never leaves your machine (when using local models)
• Encrypted Transmissions: All API calls use HTTPS
• No Code Storage: We don't store your code on our servers
• Compliance: GDPR, SOC2 compliant

See Also

• VS Code Extension
• Neovim Plugin
• Code Completion
• Keyboard Shortcuts