This page lists and describes all the elements and attributes used in live templates configuration files.
Configuration Structure OverviewElements described on this page are available in quick documentation since IntelliJ IDEA 2025.1.
The Plugin DevKit plugin must be installed and enabled.
templateSet
The live templates file root element.
yes
group (optional)
Name of the template set group, which is displayed in list. If the group name is not provided, then templates' XML file name is used by default.
replace (optional)
Name of a template group that this template set replaces. Templates from the replaced group are removed and are skipped in settings and completion.
template
Describes a template.
no
id (optional)
Optional template identifier.
name (required)
The template abbreviation typed by users in the editor to expand it. The abbreviation must be unique in the group containing the template.
value (required)
The text that the template is expanded to.
It may contain plain text and reference variables in the format $VARIABLE_NAME$. To escape a dollar sign $ in the template text, use $$.
resource-bundle (optional)
Message bundle containing the template description specified by key.
key (optional)
The key of the template description provided in a message bundle defined by resource-bundle. Description is used in the UI. Overrides the value of description.
description (optional)
The template description used in the UI. It is ignored if the description is provided with resource-bundle and key.
shortcut (optional)
Defines a character that expands the template. Allowed values:
SPACE - space key
TAB - tab key
ENTER - enter key
CUSTOM - key defined in the By default expand with field in
NONE - disables expanding with a key
toReformat (optional)
Defines whether the inserted code should be reformatted according to the language code style.
Default value: false.
toShortenFQNames (optional)
Defines whether qualified names in the expanded code should be shortened, for example, fully qualified names of Java classes are imported.
Shortening qualified names is performed in implementations of TemplateOptionalProcessor.
Default value: false.
useStaticImport (optional)
Defines whether symbols used in the expanded code should be statically imported, if possible.
Importing symbols statically is performed in implementations of TemplateOptionalProcessor.
Default value: false.
deactivated (optional)
Allows deactivating the template. Deactivated templates are listed in the UI and can be activated by users.
Default value: false.
variable
Defines a variable to be used in the template value. A single template can provide multiple variables.
The order of the variables determines the order in which the IDE will switch between the corresponding input fields when the template is expanded.
no
name (optional)
The variable name that is referenced in the <template> element's value attribute.
expression (optional)
Expression to calculate the value of the corresponding template input field automatically.
The expression may contain the following constructs:
defaultValue (optional)
The default value for the corresponding input field of the expanded template if the expression does not give any result after calculation.
It can refer to other live template variables, for example, ANOTHER_VAR.
To define the default value as a literal, enclose it in escaped quotation marks, for example, "value".
alwaysStopAt (optional)
If true, the IDE will always stop at the corresponding input of the expanded template.
If false, the IDE will skip the corresponding input of the expanded template if the input value is defined.
Default value: false.
Empty variable allowing to provide a value manually by a user:
<variable name="MY_VAR" expression="" defaultValue="" alwaysStopAt="true"/>
Variable inserting the content of the clipboard, and referencing the PLACEHOLDER variable if the clipboard content is empty:
<variable name="PLACEHOLDER" expression="" defaultValue="" alwaysStopAt="true"/> <variable name="MY_VAR" expression="clipboard()" defaultValue="PLACEHOLDER" alwaysStopAt="true"/>
Variable invoking completion and providing the myValue value if the completion doesn't provide any result:
<variable name="MY_VAR" expression="complete()" defaultValue=""myValue"" alwaysStopAt="true"/>
context
Defines a mapping of a context type (for example, a Java method, a Markdown file) to applicability of the template in this context type.
no
<context> <option name="JAVA_CODE" value="true"/> <option name="JAVA_COMMENT" value="false"/> <option name="JAVA_STRING" value="false"/> </context>
option
An entry specifying whether a given context type defined by the name attribute is applicable for the template.
no
name (required)
The context type name.
To implement a custom context type, see the context type implementation tutorial.
value (required)
A boolean value determining whether the context type defined with the <option> element's name attribute is applicable for the template.
As context types are hierarchical, the false value can be used when the parent context type is applicable, and it is required to disable the applicability of more specific child context types.
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19 March 2025
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