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Installation

Get PR Pilot running in under two minutes.

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Installing PR Pilot

PR Pilot is distributed through the JetBrains Marketplace — the official plugin repository built into IntelliJ IDEA. You can also install it manually from a ZIP file if you are working in an air-gapped environment.

PR Pilot is distributed through the VS Code Marketplace — the official extension repository built into VS Code. You can also install it manually from a VSIX file if you are working in an air-gapped environment.

Requirements

RequirementMinimum VersionNotes
IntelliJ IDEA2023.2 (233)Any edition; Git4Idea plugin must be enabled
VS Code1.85.0Any edition
Internet connection—Required for GitHub/Bitbucket API calls and cloud AI
Git repository—The open workspace must be a Git repository with a remote

Ollama users: If you use the Ollama AI backend, you don't need an internet connection for AI calls — but you still need connectivity to reach GitHub/Bitbucket APIs.

Install from JetBrainsVS Code Marketplace

This is the recommended installation method. The Marketplace handles all updates automatically.

  1. Open IntelliJ IDEA and go to Settings → Plugins → Marketplace.
  2. Search for PR Pilot in the search box.
  3. Click Install next to the PR Pilot entry by Vitiquest.
  4. Restart IntelliJ IDEA when prompted.

Tip: You can also install directly from the browser by visiting the PR Pilot JetBrains Marketplace page and clicking Install to IDE.

  1. Open VS Code and click the Extensions icon in the Activity Bar (⌘⇧X on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+X on Windows/Linux).
  2. Search for PR Pilot in the search box.
  3. Click Install next to the PR Pilot entry by Vitiquest.
  4. The extension activates automatically — no restart required.

Tip: You can also install directly from the browser by visiting the PR Pilot Marketplace page and clicking Install.

Install from ZIP FileVSIX File

Use this method in air-gapped environments or if you want to pin to a specific version.

  1. Download the latest pr-pilot-plugin-<version>.zip from the GitHub Releases page.
  2. Go to Settings → Plugins, click the ⚙ gear icon → Install Plugin from Disk…
  3. Select the downloaded .zip file.
  4. Restart IntelliJ IDEA when prompted.

Note: Plugins installed from disk do not receive automatic updates. You must repeat this process to upgrade.

  1. Download the latest pr-pilot-<version>.vsix from the GitHub Releases page.
  2. Open VS Code’s Extensions view (⌘⇧X / Ctrl+Shift+X).
  3. Click the … menu (top-right of Extensions panel) → Install from VSIX…
  4. Select the downloaded .vsix file.
  5. The extension activates immediately — no restart required.

Note: Extensions installed from VSIX do not receive automatic updates. You must repeat this process to upgrade.

Build from Source

If you want to contribute or test the latest changes:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/vitiquest/pr-pilot.git
cd pr-pilot/intellij-plugin

# Build and package the plugin
./gradlew buildPlugin
# Output: build/distributions/pr-pilot-plugin-<version>.zip

# Install the ZIP via Settings → Plugins → gear → Install Plugin from Disk

# Or launch a sandboxed IntelliJ instance with the plugin loaded:
./gradlew runIde
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/vitiquest/pr-pilot.git
cd pr-pilot/vscode-plugin

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Package the extension as a VSIX
npm run package
# Output: pr-pilot-<version>.vsix

# Install using the VSIX method above, or press F5 in VS Code to
# launch the extension in a sandboxed Extension Development Host.

First Run

After installing, PR Pilot is ready to use immediately:

  1. Tool window: A new PR Pilot tool window icon appears in the right side panel. Click it to open the pull request tool window.
  2. Activity Bar icon: A new PR Pilot icon appears in the VS Code Activity Bar. Click it to open the pull request panel.
  3. Skill files seeded: When you open a Git workspace for the first time, PR Pilot automatically creates .idea/pr-pilot/skills/.vscode/pr-pilot/skills/ with three default Markdown files. See the Skills guide.
  4. Configure credentials:Configure credentials: Go to Settings → PR Pilot to open the settings window. Connect your GitHub or Bitbucket account and choose an AI backend. Click the ⚙ gear icon in the PR Pilot panel to open Settings. Connect your GitHub or Bitbucket account and choose an AI backend. See the Configuration guide.

Pro tip: The PR Pilot tool window docks to the right side panel by default. You can drag it to any side or detach it as a floating window like any other IntelliJ tool window.

Pro tip: The PR Pilot icon appears in the Activity Bar by default. You can right-click the Activity Bar to show or hide it like any other VS Code extension panel.

Uninstalling

  1. Go to Settings → Plugins → Installed.
  2. Find PR Pilot and click Uninstall.
  3. Restart IntelliJ IDEA when prompted.

PR Pilot stores settings in a file called PRPilot.xml inside the IDE configuration directory. Sensitive data (tokens, API keys) are stored via IntelliJ PasswordSafe (OS keychain). These are not deleted on uninstall. Remove PRPilot.xml from your IDE configuration directory and clear the PasswordSafe entries if you want a clean slate.

Skill files in .idea/pr-pilot/skills/ are part of your project and are never touched during uninstall.

  1. Open the Extensions view (⌘⇧X / Ctrl+Shift+X).
  2. Find PR Pilot and click the gear icon → Uninstall.
  3. Reload VS Code when prompted.

PR Pilot stores non-sensitive settings in VS Code's global settings.json under the prPilot.* key namespace. Sensitive data (tokens, API keys) are stored in VS Code's SecretStorage (system keychain). These are not deleted on uninstall. Remove them manually from your system keychain or VS Code settings if you want a clean slate.

Skill files in .vscode/pr-pilot/skills/ are part of your project and are never touched during uninstall.