From a fresh install to the first uploaded change. Install the plugin first, see Installation
Have these ready
- The project with your cartridge sources, opened at its root
- The instance hostname, for example
dev01-realm-customer.demandware.net - A Business Manager account for that instance, or your team's encrypted credentials file and its secret key
- The code version you develop against. You can also create one from the IDE
Open your project
Open the project root, the folder that holds your cartridges
| Route | macOS | Windows and Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome screen, no project open | Projects › Open | Projects › Open |
| Main menu, another project open | File › Open... | File › Open... (behind ☰ in the new UI) |
| Find Action | ⇧⌘A, type open, choose Open... | Ctrl+Shift+A, then the same |
Select the project root and click Open. On the Trust and Open Project prompt click Trust Project, then let indexing finish. Until a cartridge is linked, the plugin shows only Find New Cartridges and More in the main toolbar
Use Getting Started
Intellij SFCC: Getting Started walks a project through setup in an editor tab: seven setup steps, then a short tour of the main toolbar, the tool windows, B2C Explorer, the Project view menu and B2C Entry Points. Five steps are tracked: Activate, Add credentials, Add a connection, Link cartridges and Select site scope. Upload and deploy and the B2C project view come last and are not counted
After indexing, the tab opens by itself in the first project you open after installing the plugin, SFCC or not. From then on it opens every time you open an SFCC project whose setup is unfinished: linked cartridges, cartridges on disk not linked yet, a dw.json that names a host, or a connection. The page ships with the plugin, so it works offline and matches the plugin version. Its docs and pricing links open in your browser
Every step has a button that runs the real action in the IDE:
- Activate plugin opens the IDE's license dialog, where you start the 7-day trial or activate a license. Check activation checks again
- Add account opens New Account
- Add connection opens the connections editor on a new connection
- Find new cartridges lists the cartridges and modules in the project that are not linked yet
- Select site scope opens B2C Site Scopes
- Turn on Auto Upload turns it on for the active connection, so check the connection and code version in the main toolbar first
- Show B2C project view opens the Project tool window on the Salesforce B2C Commerce view
The first time it opens by itself, a tooltip points at the Setup item in the status bar, or a notification names the Help menu in a project without SFCC code. To come back to it later, use any of these routes. The tab opens on the first unfinished step
| Route | What to do |
|---|---|
| Status bar | Click Setup 2/5 at the right end of the status bar. Once all five main steps are done it reads Setup |
| Help menu | Help › Intellij SFCC Getting Started |
| Main toolbar | More › Getting Started |
| Find Action | ⇧⌘A (Ctrl+Shift+A), type Getting Started and choose Intellij SFCC Getting Started |
Tick Don't open automatically on the page to open it only from these routes, in every project in this IDE. Tick Show only the panda in the status bar to drop the item's text. Its tooltip still shows the progress
If the IDE runs without its built-in browser (JCEF), Getting Started never opens by itself and the routes above open this page instead. Follow the steps below
Projects without SFCC code
In a project with no cartridges, no dw.json and no connection, the plugin stays out of the way: no Setup item, no SFCC tool windows, and Getting Started does not open. Cartridges in test or fixture folders do not count. When Find New Cartridges finds nothing, it offers Create Cartridge… and Set Up Anyway, which shows the setup in that project from then on. Opening a tool window from More does the same
B2C Explorer, B2C Credentials, B2C ODS and B2C OCAPI appear with SFCC code. B2C Entry Points, B2C Metadata, B2C Sync Log and the Site Scope item appear once a cartridge is linked. Cartridges cloned or copied in while the project is open show them without a restart, and nothing hides again until the next start
Connect your project
Link your cartridges
A few seconds after the project opens, a notification lists the cartridges and modules found. Click Review…, uncheck what you don't work on or click Ignore on a row to stop suggesting it, then click Link. Link All links everything in one click when no name is taken. If no notification appears, click Find New Cartridges in the main toolbar, or ⇧⌘A (Ctrl+Shift+A) › Find New Cartridges
Most plugin actions stay hidden until at least one cartridge is linked, see Cartridges & Modules
Add your account
Open B2C Credentials on the right tool window bar (or View › Tool Windows › B2C Credentials). On the Accounts tab click +, enter the Username in the same text case as on the instance and the Password, and click Add
If your team shares an encrypted credentials file, link it on the Settings tab instead, see Sync credentials to a file
Add the connection
In B2C Explorer on the right tool window bar, click + › Add Connection. While there are no connections, Select Connection in the main toolbar reads Add Connection and opens the same editor
Enter a Name, paste the Business Manager URL from your browser into Hostname (it is cut down to the host) and choose the Account. Click Test Connection, pick your Code Version or create one with Add Code Version, then click Close, see Connections
Make it active
Click Select Connection in the main toolbar and choose the connection, the target of uploads, deploys and the debugger. Then pick your code version in Select Code Version next to it
Check the remote side
In B2C Explorer expand Code versions under the connection, then your version. Your cartridges are listed there once they have been uploaded
Projects with a dw.json
If the project has a dw.json and no saved connections yet, the plugin imports it once when the project opens. After that, manage connections in B2C Explorer, see Connections
Send your first change
Upload all cartridges once
Click Deploy Code in the main toolbar, keep the active connection ticked and click Deploy to upload every linked cartridge and module to its code version. Progress shows in B2C Sync Log, see Deploy Code
Keep the instance in sync
Turn on Auto Upload in the main toolbar to upload every file you change in a linked cartridge. To send one file by hand, right-click it and choose Upload ... to ..., see Upload & Auto Upload
Check the storefront
The selected code version is only where files go. If it isn't the instance's active version, activate it in Business Manager or from B2C Explorer, see Code versions
If setup fails
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| No new cartridges notification and no plugin buttons | Run Find New Cartridges, or link the folders by hand. If you chose Don't Ask Again, tick Look for new cartridges and modules when the project opens in the dialog to turn the startup check back on |
| The Account list is empty | Add the account in B2C Credentials, or link your team's credentials file |
| Test Connection fails with an authentication error | Check the username's text case and the password. If the instance wants an access key for WebDAV, add it to the account, see Access keys |
| The host can't be reached | Check the hostname, and your VPN if the instance is only reachable through it |
| Deploy Code or Auto Upload is missing from the toolbar | Select a connection in Select Connection |
| Completion and navigation don't work | Check the license, link the cartridge and wait for indexing, see JavaScript |
Pipeline Editor performance
If scrolling or zooming in the Pipeline Editor lags, add -Djcef.remote.enabled=false to the IDE's custom VM options and restart the IDE
-Djcef.remote.enabled=false on its own line, save, then quit the IDE and start it again| Route | macOS | Windows and Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Pipeline Editor | Open VM Options in the panel above the graph | Open VM Options in the panel above the graph |
| Main menu | Help › Edit Custom VM Options... | Help › Edit Custom VM Options... (behind ☰ in the new UI) |
| Find Action | ⇧⌘A, type vm options, choose Edit Custom VM Options... | Ctrl+Shift+A, then the same |
Put the option on its own line and keep the lines already in the file. Save, quit the IDE (⌘Q on macOS, File › Exit on Windows and Linux) and start it again. Closing the project or the tab is not enough
The option affects every embedded browser in the IDE, see Performance for the full guide and how to undo it