UI File Plugin for IntelliJ IDEA

A lightweight IntelliJ IDEA plugin that adds syntax highlighting, bracket matching, and code formatting support for .ui files - making UI definition editing easier and more productive.

An IntelliJ IDEA plugin that provides support for .ui files - a format for defining user interfaces.

Features

✅ Live Preview - Real-time visual rendering of .ui files in a tool window
✅ Syntax Highlighting - Color highlighting for components, properties, strings, and comments
✅ IntelliSense/Code Completion - Auto-completion for UI component types and their properties with descriptions
✅ Color Preview - Visual color squares in the gutter for hex color values
✅ Bracket Matching - Automatic matching of {} and ()
✅ Code Folding - Collapse and expand nested blocks
✅ New File Action - Create new .ui files from context menu
✅ Plugin Settings - Configure plugin behavior via Settings → Tools → Hytale UI File

Live Preview

The plugin includes a powerful live preview feature:

• Visual Rendering: See your UI components rendered in real-time
• Auto-Updates: Preview updates automatically as you type
• Zoom Controls: Zoom in/out or reset to 100% for better viewing
• Component Support: Renders Group, Label, Button, and TextField components with accurate colors and sizes
• Docked Panel: Preview appears on the right side of your IDE

Color Picker Integration

The plugin provides an intuitive color picker for hex color values:

• Gutter Icons: Small color squares appear in the gutter next to hex color values (#RGB, #RRGGBB, #RRGGBBAA)
• Click to Edit: Click on any color gutter icon to open the IntelliJ color picker dialog
• Intention Action: Place cursor on a color value and press Alt+Enter (or ⌥+Enter on Mac), then select " Choose color"
• Alpha Channel Support: The color picker supports transparency (alpha channel)
• Real-time Update: The code updates immediately when you choose a new color
• Hover Tooltip: Hover over color icons to see RGB/RGBA values

Example:

Background: #1a1a2e;  ← Click the color square in the gutter to change this color
TextColor: #ffffff;   ← Or press Alt+Enter on the color value

IntelliSense Features

The plugin provides intelligent code completion that helps you discover and use UI components:

• Component Type Completion: Start typing and get suggestions for all available UI components (Group, Label, Button, TextField, Image, CheckBox, Slider, Panel, ScrollView)
• Property Completion: Inside a component block, get context-aware property suggestions
• Type Information: See the expected value type for each property (color, string, number, boolean, etc.)
• Descriptions: Each property shows a helpful description of what it does
• Smart Templates: Properties are inserted with appropriate default values and syntax

Supported UI Components:

• Group - Container with layout capabilities
• Label - Text display
• Button - Clickable button with hover/pressed states
• TextField/TextInput - Text input fields with placeholder support
• Image - Image display with stretch modes
• CheckBox - Checkbox with label
• Slider - Value slider with min/max range
• Panel - Generic panel with border options
• ScrollView - Scrollable container

Requirements

• IntelliJ IDEA 2025.1 - 2025.3 (Build 251.* - 253.*)
• JDK 17, 21, or 25 (for development and building)

Installation

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/BungeeDEV/hytale-ui-plugin.git
cd hytale-ui-plugin

2. Build the Plugin

./gradlew buildPlugin

3. Install the Plugin

• Find the built plugin at: build/distributions/ui-file-plugin-1.0.1.zip
• In IntelliJ: File → Settings → Plugins → ⚙️ → Install Plugin from Disk...
• Select the .zip or .jar file and restart the IDE

Alternative: Test the Plugin Directly

./gradlew runIde

This starts a test IDE with the plugin already installed.

UI File Format Example

// Comment
Group {
  Anchor: (Width: 400, Height: 250);
  Background: #1a1a2e;
  LayoutMode: Top;
  Padding: (Full: 20);

  Label #Title {
    Text: "Hello World!";
    Anchor: (Height: 40);
    Style: (FontSize: 24, TextColor: #ffffff, Alignment: Center);
  }
  
  Button #SubmitButton {
    Text: "Click Me";
    Anchor: (Width: 150, Height: 35);
    Background: #0066cc;
  }
}

Development

Useful Gradle Tasks

./gradlew buildPlugin    # Build the plugin
./gradlew runIde         # Start test IDE
./gradlew test           # Run tests
./gradlew verifyPlugin   # Verify plugin

Project Structure

ui-plugin/
├── src/main/java/de/bungee/uifile/
│   ├── UILanguage.java
│   ├── UIFileType.java
│   ├── lexer/          # Tokenizer
│   ├── parser/         # Parser
│   ├── psi/            # PSI structures
│   └── highlighter/    # Syntax highlighting
└── src/main/resources/
    └── META-INF/
        └── plugin.xml

License

MIT License

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome! For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.