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Who published Idea MCP Tools?

austek (@austek) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Idea MCP Tools by austek — Agent Skill

Name: Idea MCP Tools
Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)
Author: austek

Idea MCP Tools

Tool-selection rules for when the IntelliJ IDEA MCP server (`mcp__idea__*` tools) is connected. Consult this whenever exploring code (finding a symbol, its usages, or callers), checking whether a file compiles or lints, doing a multi-site rename or refactor, or debugging a runtime issue — the IDE's index and debugger are cheaper and faster than Bash/grep/Read for these. Always check this before reaching for grep, cat, a full Gradle/Maven/npm build, or a print-statement debugging loop when `mcp__idea__*` tools are present in the session's tool list, even if the user's request doesn't mention the IDE.

austek Updated Sep 22, 2026

File contents

IDE MCP Tool Selection

The IDE already parses and indexes the project. When mcp__idea__* tools are available, re-deriving that information with grep/Read/full builds wastes tokens and wall-clock time. Prefer the index-backed tool; fall back to filesystem tools only when the IDE tool is unavailable, stale, or errors.

Decision table

Situation	Use	Instead of
Find a symbol's definition or usages	`search_symbol` / `get_symbol_info`	grep + Read each hit
"Who calls this"	`analyze_calls`	manual grep sweep for call sites
Text/pattern search across a large repo	`search_text` / `search_regex` / `list_directory_tree`	full filesystem grep
Module/dependency structure	`get_project_modules` / `get_project_dependencies`	parsing build files by hand
Does this file compile / lint	`get_file_problems`	full project build
Format/lint specific files	`lint_files`	full-repo lint task
Quick incremental compile signal	`build_project`	— see caveat below
Rename a symbol across all usages	`rename_refactoring`	manual find + edit per site
Multi-hunk structured edit	`apply_patch`	separate Read + Edit calls
Reformat one file	`reformat_file`	full-repo format task
Investigate runtime behavior of a bug	`xdebug_*` (breakpoints, stack, frame values, eval)	print/log statements + rerun loop

Caveats

build_project is not CI-equivalent. It's a fast inner-loop signal only. Before claiming something builds or tests pass, run the project's real build/test command — check that repo's CLAUDE.md for the authoritative one (e.g. ./gradlew build in dgc).
Avoid generate_psi_tree by default. It's a full AST dump — expensive. Only reach for it when symbol-level info (search_symbol, get_symbol_info) genuinely isn't enough, e.g. an unusual syntax-level refactor.
analyze_calls times out at its default timeout in large monorepos. Confirmed in dgc: both an external SDK method and a project-local method timed out at the default, then succeeded immediately with timeout: 120000. Retry once with an explicit large timeout before falling back to grep — it's a size/timeout problem, not a broken query.
Other stale or erroring results mean fall back, not retry. These tools depend on the project being open and indexed in the IDE. A wrong-looking result or a repeated tool error (after the timeout bump above) is a signal the index is stale or the project isn't open — fall back to Bash/grep/Read rather than retrying the same call again.
No IDE connected → fall back silently. If mcp__idea__* tools aren't in the current session's tool list, use normal tools without commentary.

---name: idea-mcp-toolsdescription: Tool-selection rules for when the IntelliJ IDEA MCP server (`mcp__idea__*` tools) is connected. Consult this whenever exploring code (finding a symbol, its usages, or callers), checking whether a file compiles or lints, doing a multi-site rename or refactor, or debugging a runtime issue — the IDE's index and debugger are cheaper and faster than Bash/grep/Read for these. Always check this before reaching for grep, cat, a full Gradle/Maven/npm build, or a print-statement debugging loop when `mcp__idea__*` tools are present in the session's tool list, even if the user's request doesn't mention the IDE.---# IDE MCP Tool SelectionThe IDE already parses and indexes the project. When `mcp__idea__*` tools are available,re-deriving that information with grep/Read/full builds wastes tokens and wall-clock time.Prefer the index-backed tool; fall back to filesystem tools only when the IDE tool isunavailable, stale, or errors.## Decision table| Situation | Use | Instead of ||---|---|---|| Find a symbol's definition or usages | `search_symbol` / `get_symbol_info` | grep + Read each hit || "Who calls this" | `analyze_calls` | manual grep sweep for call sites || Text/pattern search across a large repo | `search_text` / `search_regex` / `list_directory_tree` | full filesystem grep || Module/dependency structure | `get_project_modules` / `get_project_dependencies` | parsing build files by hand || Does this file compile / lint | `get_file_problems` | full project build || Format/lint specific files | `lint_files` | full-repo lint task || Quick incremental compile signal | `build_project` | — see caveat below || Rename a symbol across all usages | `rename_refactoring` | manual find + edit per site || Multi-hunk structured edit | `apply_patch` | separate Read + Edit calls || Reformat one file | `reformat_file` | full-repo format task || Investigate runtime behavior of a bug | `xdebug_*` (breakpoints, stack, frame values, eval) | print/log statements + rerun loop |## Caveats- **`build_project` is not CI-equivalent.** It's a fast inner-loop signal only. Before claiming something builds or tests pass, run the project's real build/test command — check that repo's CLAUDE.md for the authoritative one (e.g. `./gradlew build` in dgc).- **Avoid `generate_psi_tree` by default.** It's a full AST dump — expensive. Only reach for it when symbol-level info (`search_symbol`, `get_symbol_info`) genuinely isn't enough, e.g. an unusual syntax-level refactor.- **`analyze_calls` times out at its default timeout in large monorepos.** Confirmed in dgc: both an external SDK method and a project-local method timed out at the default, then succeeded immediately with `timeout: 120000`. Retry once with an explicit large timeout before falling back to grep — it's a size/timeout problem, not a broken query.- **Other stale or erroring results mean fall back, not retry.** These tools depend on the project being open and indexed in the IDE. A wrong-looking result or a repeated tool error (after the timeout bump above) is a signal the index is stale or the project isn't open — fall back to Bash/grep/Read rather than retrying the same call again.- **No IDE connected → fall back silently.** If `mcp__idea__*` tools aren't in the current session's tool list, use normal tools without commentary.

Frequently asked questions