Skill: IDEA Tools Suite

Advanced automation capabilities for IntelliJ IDEA, extending the base MCP integration with project organization, module management, and configuration backup features.

Overview

This skill aggregates three specialized IDEA automation capabilities:

Capability	Triggers	Description
Changelist Management	/idea changelist *	Organize changelists by project/PARA
Module Sync	/idea sync-modules, /idea sync	Sync modules with Git submodules
Config Backup	/idea backup, /idea restore	Rolling config backups

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Changelist Management

Organize VCS changelists by project ID (P1-P24) and PARA folder structure.

Commands

/idea changelist              # Show current changelist status
/idea changelist organize     # Scan and organize files by project
/idea changelist create NAME  # Create new changelist
/idea changelist generate     # Generate commit messages
/idea changelist sync         # Export context to collab skill

Features

• Project detection: Files mapped to P1-P24 by path patterns
• PARA organization: Files grouped by 00-90 folder structure
• Conventional commits: Pre-filled commit message templates
• Collab integration: Export changelist context for branch descriptions

Changelist Naming Convention

{order}-{scope}-{description}

Examples:

• 1-vault-foundation - Core config files
• 3-P19-skills - Agent skills extraction
• 12-vault-para - PARA structure files

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Module Sync

Synchronize IDEA modules with Git submodules and PARA folders.

Commands

/idea sync-modules      # Full module synchronization
/idea sync              # Alias for sync-modules
/idea create-scope      # Generate scopes from modules

Features

• Submodule discovery: Recursive .gitmodules parsing
• PARA grouping: Auto-groups by folder prefix (00-90)
• Java-free view: Uses EMPTY_MODULE type
• Blacklist patterns: Excludes node_modules, .git, etc.

Module Groups

Folder	IDEA Group
00_Inbox/	PARA/00 Inbox
20_Projects/	PARA/20 Projects
40_Resources/	PARA/40 Resources

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Config Backup

Rolling backups of .idea/ configuration.

Commands

/idea backup          # Create timestamped backup
/idea restore         # List available backups
/idea restore [id]    # Restore specific backup

Features

• Rolling backups: Keep last 10 by default
• ZIP archives: Timestamped .backups/idea/ storage
• Safety backup: Auto-creates before restore
• XML log: Backup history in backup-log.xml

Backup Structure

.backups/
└── idea/
    ├── backup-log.xml
    ├── idea-backup-2026-01-28-091522.zip
    └── idea-backup-2026-01-31-143022.zip

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Related Skills

This skill extends the base IDEA MCP integration:

Skill	Purpose
idea:mcp-tools	Base MCP server integration (file ops, editor, VCS)
idea:idea-tools	This skill - advanced automation

For base IDE operations (/idea status, /idea vcs, /idea scopes), use mcp-tools.

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Collab Integration

Export Changelist Context

When /idea changelist sync runs:

1. Creates .claude/CHANGELIST-CONTEXT.md
2. Lists all changelists with file counts
3. Includes draft commit messages
4. Collab skill reads for branch context

Import Context

Collab skill can:

• Understand current IDE work in progress
• Include changelist info in branch descriptions
• Track parallel work during agent execution

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Error Handling

Issue	Recovery
workspace.xml corrupted	/idea restore from backup
Changelists not visible	Close/reopen Commit window (Alt+0)
Module conflicts	Delete module, re-sync
Backup corrupted	Use earlier backup ID

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Security & Permissions

• Required tools: Read, Write, Bash
• Files modified: .idea/workspace.xml, .idea/modules.xml, .backups/
• Confirmations: Before restore, before overwriting changelists

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Metadata

author: Christian Kusmanow / Claude
version: 1.0.0
last_updated: 2026-01-31
imports:
  - idea-tools:changelist-mgmt
  - idea-tools:module-sync
  - idea-tools:config-backup