Getting Started

What is MCP Steroid?

MCP Steroid gives AI Agents visual understanding and full control of your IntelliJ-based IDE through the Model Context Protocol. Unlike traditional code assistants that only see text, MCP Steroid lets agents SEE your IDE: dialogs, toolbars, debugger state, test results, and visual elements.

Read the full introduction →

Installation

MCP Steroid is distributed as an IntelliJ plugin. Currently, in early access - message Eugene Petrenko on LinkedIn to get access.

Requirements

• IntelliJ IDEA 2025.3+ (or any IntelliJ-based IDE: Rider, Android Studio, GoLand, WebStorm, PyCharm, etc.)
• An MCP-compatible AI Agent (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, or any MCP client)

Install the Plugin

1. Download the plugin ZIP file (provided via LinkedIn)
2. In IntelliJ, go to Settings > Plugins > Gear icon > Install Plugin from Disk
3. Select the downloaded ZIP file
4. Restart IntelliJ

Connecting Your AI Agent

When the plugin starts, it automatically creates a description file at .idea/mcp-steroid.md in each open project. This file contains all necessary instruction for you to continue.

Verify the connection:

claude -p "List all open projects using steroid_list_projects"
codex exec "List all open projects using steroid_list_projects"
gemini "List all open projects using steroid_list_projects"

Any MCP-compatible client can connect using the HTTP/SSE transport at the server URL.

We recommend you to aks your AI Agent to use IntelliJ APIs and use IntelliJ while it is working.

Use Cases & Examples

MCP Steroid enables powerful agentic workflows:

• Multi-Agent Orchestration: Use a primary agent to coordinate multiple AI Agents working on different aspects of your codebase. Read about orchestrating AI fleets →
• Natural Language Development: Instruct agents in plain English while they handle the technical implementation. Learn about coding in English with AI →
• Documentation Refactoring: See how 16 agents improved documentation quality by 15% and reduced time-to-value by 5x. Read the case study →

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

MCP Server Not Starting

• Check if IntelliJ is running with a project open
• Verify .idea/mcp-steroid.md exists in your project
• Check registry key: Help > Find Action > Registry... → mcp.steroid.server.port

Port Conflicts

If port 6315 is in use, change it:

1. Go to Help > Find Action > Registry...
2. Search for mcp.steroid.server.port
3. Set a different port (e.g., 6316)
4. Restart IntelliJ
5. Update your MCP client configuration with the new URL from .idea/mcp-steroid.md

After connecting your AI Agent, you should see a list of currently open IntelliJ projects when testing with the steroid_list_projects tool. If the connection works, your AI Agent can now access all MCP Steroid capabilities.

For more troubleshooting help, see GitHub Issues.

Next Steps

• Configuration Options - Customize server settings and timeouts
• GitHub Issues - Report bugs or request features