Creativity · MCP — client

MCP Client: JetBrains IDEs

JetBrains ships MCP support across its IDE family through the AI Assistant plugin and the dedicated 'MCP Server for JetBrains' extension. The IDE acts as both an MCP client (consuming external servers) and an MCP server (exposing editor state, diagnostics, and refactorings to external LLM clients like Claude).

MCP facts

Kind: client
Ecosystem: anthropic-mcp
Language: Kotlin / Java
Transports: stdio, http

Capabilities

As client: consumes any MCP server (filesystem, GitHub, Jira, Postgres, etc.)
As server: exposes editor buffers, selection, run configurations, problems view
Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other MCP clients simultaneously

Install

Install 'JetBrains AI Assistant' plus 'MCP Server for JetBrains' from the plugin marketplace

Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jetbrains": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@jetbrains/mcp-proxy"],
      "env": {
        "IDE_PORT": "63342"
      }
    }
  }
}

Frequently asked questions

Which JetBrains IDEs support MCP?

All major ones running the AI Assistant plugin: IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, GoLand, RubyMine, PhpStorm, CLion, DataGrip, and Rider.

How does the IDE act as an MCP server?

The MCP Server for JetBrains plugin exposes the currently open project — files, cursor position, problems, and VCS state — so external clients can work with what the developer is actually seeing.

Does it replace AI Assistant?

No — AI Assistant itself uses MCP under the hood to reach out to third-party tools. You can still use external clients in parallel for different workflows.

Sources

JetBrains AI Assistant — accessed 2026-04-20
MCP Server for JetBrains (Plugin Marketplace) — accessed 2026-04-20
Model Context Protocol — accessed 2026-04-20