A Review of the Chrome Extension for IntelliJ-based IDEs

If you're an avid user of IntelliJ-based IDEs like WebStorm and constantly work on projects hosted on popular code hosting platforms such as GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket, then this Chrome extension is a must-have. 

With a total rating of 3.9 based on user reviews, this extension aims to simplify the process of cloning and opening projects directly in your preferred IDE. 

One of the standout features of this extension is its ability to automatically decide which IDE to open a file in, even listing IDEs that you may not have installed. This saves you the hassle of manually choosing the IDE every time you want to open a file from a repository. 

User Jean Guzman mentioned in their review that the extension listed other IDEs like WebStorm, even though they only had PyCharm installed. 

However, not all users have had a seamless experience with the extension. Elvin Aslanov reported that the extension didn't work for them on Debian 11 and Ubuntu 22.04, despite allowing the popup. They even tried installing the Toolbox App and running the extension afterwards, but to no avail. 

Another user, Serhiy Andryeyev, mentioned that the extension didn't copy anything to their WebStorm and simply did nothing. 

Some users also expressed their frustration with the extension's inability to choose a specific IDE for a repository. IC mentioned in their review that the extension tries to guess the IDE based on the repository and doesn't allow users to select a specific one, even though it lists IDEs they don't have. 

Despite these issues, many users have found the extension to be a valuable tool. Florian Cramer, for example, praised the extension for its usefulness, although they encountered a minor problem with the Bitbucket toolbar icon being added again when clicking certain links. 

Jonathan Langevin highly recommends the extension, stating that it works great on their company's self-hosted GitLab. 

To use this extension effectively, it's important to have the Toolbox App installed on your computer. The Toolbox App acts as a bridge between the extension and your IntelliJ-based IDE, enabling seamless integration. You can download the Toolbox App from the official JetBrains website. If you're working with self-hosted instances of GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket, make sure to enable the extension for your specific website domain. This can be done by ticking the "Enable on this domain" option in the extension settings menu. 

It's worth noting that this extension is not limited to just the official JetBrains repositories. It's an open-source project that welcomes collaboration . If you're interested in contributing to the extension's development, you can find the repository on GitHub. 

In conclusion, the Chrome extension for IntelliJ-based IDEs offers a convenient way to clone and open projects from popular code hosting platforms. While it may have some limitations and occasional issues, it has received positive feedback from users who have found it to be a valuable tool in their development workflow. Give it a try and see how it can enhance your coding experience.