Intellij idea plugin development - hot reload?

Question

I'm creating some plugin to intellij idea. Each time I'm changing code I need to re run app.

Is there something like hot reload or similar thing? Or more efficient way?

Answer 1

I believe you are looking for the Run -> Reload Changed Classes

It usually works well with small changes.

Answer 2

New versions of IntelliJ products support "Dynamic Plugins", which means restarting the development instance unnecessary. From https://www.jetbrains.org/intellij/sdk/docs/basics/plugin_structure/dynamic_plugins.html :

Starting with 2020.1 release, the ability to install, update and uninstall plugins without restarting the IDE is available in the IntelliJ Platform. During plugin development, this also allows avoiding restarts of the IDE Development Instance after every code change.

You might also want to look at LivePlugin - plugin that allows you to quickly run & develop plugins within the IDE without starting up a development instance or requiring any restarts: https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/7282-liveplugin