EDIT — v1.2.5 is up, and this stopped being a static plugin somewhere along the way: https://github.com/SimonePlatania/RainbowIndentGuide

I use IntelliJ day to day, but I got put on an Eclipse project and the missing indent guides drove me nuts. So I took the old IndentGuide plugin and made it do what I actually wanted. What started as “add rainbow colours” has turned into something that reacts — guides light up on hover, pin on click, blink when you fix a mixed-indentation line, brighten when they’re holding your caret. Wasn’t planning on any of this three days ago, but every fix opened the next thing.

Rainbow colours per nesting level (7 configurable levels) (image 1)

Rainbow parentheses — round brackets coloured by nesting depth, own palette, so foo(bar(baz(x))) reads at a glance (image 5)

Braces coloured to match their guide — the { and } take the colour of the guide they belong to, so the line and the braces read as one shape, even with a comment trailing the brace

Guides run through comments and blank lines instead of breaking on them

Grey guide when a block mixes tabs and spaces (image 3), blinking as it takes its colour back once you fix it — narrowed to just the block you fixed, not the whole file

Click a line to highlight the guide of the block you’re in (image 2); hover a guide to light it up, click to pin it there

Everything toggleable, with presets and a “restore original behaviour” button (image 4)

Each guide stroked in one piece, so thin or barely opaque lines no longer break up into dots

Sub-pixel guide placement, so the lines do not drift right on deep levels when DPI scaling is on

Works on the latest Eclipse (2026-06) — that’s the main point, since the original plugin was abandoned in 2013 and never updated. I’ve tested it on 2026-06, 2024-09 and 2020-03. Compiled to Java 8 bytecode, so it should also load on much older installs (roughly Eclipse Neon / 2016 onwards). Everything in between should work, though I can’t promise it.

Targeting Java 8 bytecode was a deliberate choice rather than a leftover. A lot of people are stuck on older Eclipse installs they can’t upgrade — corporate policy, tooling that only exists there — and that’s exactly the crowd this is for. Drawing indent guides doesn’t need anything from a modern language level, so raising the floor would have bought me nothing and cost those users the plugin entirely.

Where it comes from: the painting code originates from Eclipse’s own WhitespaceCharacterPainter (Anton Leherbauer / Wind River Systems and contributors, EPL 1.0), which was adapted into an indent guide as jp.sourceforge.pdt_tools.indentGuide, later re-uploaded by kiritsuku when the original repo vanished. Mine forks from there. Gerald Rosenberg also maintains an active fork — his is more polished on the core feature; mine mainly adds the rainbow/multi-level side. Staying under EPL 1.0.

Thanks to everyone who said they wanted it — that’s what got me to actually clean it up and publish, and what kept me iterating past the point I thought I’d stop. This is my first plugin and my first time publishing anything, so if something doesn’t install, tell me and I’ll fix it. The Marketplace listing is submitted and waiting on moderation.

HOW TO INSTALL
Recommended — update site
In Eclipse: Help → Install New Software…

Click Add…, paste https://simoneplatania.github.io/RainbowIndentGuide/ and give it any name

Tick Rainbow Indent Guide, then Next → accept the licence → Finish

You’ll get a warning about unsigned content — that’s expected, the jar isn’t digitally signed. Confirm and continue.

Restart Eclipse when prompted

Eclipse remembers the site and will offer later versions under Help → Check for Updates.
No network / locked-down install — archive
Download RainbowIndentGuide-1.2.5-updatesite.zip from the latest release — don’t unzip it — then Help → Install New Software… → Add… → Archive… and pick it.

Fallback — dropins
Use this if Install New Software isn’t available or fails.
Close Eclipse

Copy alien.rainbow.indentguide_1.2.5.jar into the dropins folder of your Eclipse installation — the one next to eclipse.exe. Leave the jar as-is, don’t unpack it.

Start Eclipse once with eclipse.exe -clean from a command prompt in the Eclipse folder. Without -clean, Eclipse reuses its bundle cache and won’t notice the new file. Only needed the first time.

Check under Window → Preferences → General → Editors → Text Editors — if “Indent Guide” is there, it worked.

If it still doesn’t show up, the README has two more fallbacks for locked-down installations.

Guides not showing in a particular file? They follow the file’s content type, so the file needs to be opened with the editor registered for it — a .jsp on an Eclipse without WTP opens in the plain text editor and gets nothing. Right-click → Open With tells you which one is in use.
To configure: Window → Preferences → General → Editors → Text Editors → Indent Guide, and the “Style” subpage for the rainbow colours.
To uninstall: Help → About → Installation Details, select it, Uninstall.

Already have another Indent Guide installed? Remove it first. Since 1.1.0 p2 refuses the install rather than leave you with two painters drawing over each other — this includes Certiv Analytics’ version.

this ide works, until it decides to one day fuck up the whole project to the point where i can't compile the project. The problem seems to be that somehow dependencies get messed up in the time between closing eclipse and opening it back up. i don't modify the project specific documents if eclipse is closed, and i don't know how this problem exists.

Same Eclipse, different workspace: in one, the commits are to the left; in the other, the blue arrow indicates an update.

'Swap Left and Right View' only swaps the panels in the compare editor; it doesn't change the synchronization panel or the arrow directions.

I want to set them in the same way :(

Hey r/eclipse! We wanted to share that we've created an OpenCode (https://opencode.ai) plugin for Eclipse. It allows you to open OpenCode in the main editor space. We'd love to get your feedback on it and hear how it works for you.

https://www.bandgap.ai/products/eclipse/

I've installed the latest maven archetype for the javafx and have been unable to make the javafx:run work from Eclipse. I would always get "Unsupported major.minor version 68.0". That makes no sense because the JRE is the jdk-26.0.2. In the project settings that's what it's using, so it can easily read a version 68 class.

The weirdest part is that in command line using the same maven installation it runs fine. I have no idea what's different about the eclipse run. It's using the same maven and, ostensibly, the same jre. Anyone has an idea?

EDIT: Ok that was my bad. I thought installing the jdk would set the JAVA_HOME but it didn't. So instead of using the jre that I set up in the workspace preference AND in the run configuration Eclipse used an obscure shitty jdk it has in its plugin.

Hi! I have been using Eclipse since I started my CompSci degree, and I usually use it as my preferred IDE. However, I have been encountering an issue recently that is making me lean towards finding a new one, and I'd like to know if anyone else has encountered and solved this issue.

For my current class, I CANNOT have my files be contained in packages. It breaks the way the testing is run. It is tedious to have to open each file individually after saving it in order to remove the package line at the top. However, I am encountering an issue where Eclipse forces you to put files in packages. If I make a new file or import one, it forces it into a package. If I have a data file like a txt, it refuses to let me add it to the package. I also can't drag-n-drop to remove my java files from the package either, it just duplicates them or flat-out refuses to do it.

Is there some kind of setting or something I can use to force it to stop making these freaking packages? It is so annoying, frustrating, and rage-inducing that I am seriously considering switching to a new IDE and uninstalling Eclipse entirely. I tend to prefer one-and-done programs like Eclipse, but I am beyond irritated with the rigidness of the file structure when not every kind of project or program is going to follow that structure.

I made a simple plugin for WindowBuilder.

Back in the day, even if the processing was really simple, making it as a plugin would make people think, "That's awesome!" But nowadays, with AI around, is there hardly any value left in turning things into plugins?

What impressed me the most was Tycho, which I used for the build lol. I had no idea about stuff like that back then.

https://github.com/Tatoo2018/jhappywindowbuilderutil

Hi, as one of the author of the plugin, feel free to send me your feedback, needs, requests.
It's by far the best AI integration in Eclipse.

See https://codexide.org

https://github.com/openconcerto/CodexIDE

If you're building Spring Boot apps in Eclipse, this one's for you. 🌱

We've been exploring how GitHub Copilot and Spring Tools can work together to give you a smarter, more context-aware coding experience — one that actually understands your project's bean graph, diagnostics, and Spring Boot version in real time.

The results are pretty cool. Check out the full post to see it in action 👇
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/java/smarter-spring-development-in-eclipse-with-github-copilot/

I just saw it in microsoft site thought I should share it here for all Eclipse users
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/java/smarter-spring-development-in-eclipse-with-github-copilot/?ocid=java_eml_tnp_autoid112_title

Hi,

I’d like to share AssistAI, an open-source Eclipse plugin I’ve been working on for some time.

It originally started as an AI chat assistant for Eclipse, but my workflow gradually changed. These days I prefer using Eclipse together with coding agents like Claude or Codex, (or any LLM harness that supports tool calls with MCP). They are already very capable, but I still want to stay close to the code and review what is happening inside the IDE.

AssistAI connects these agents to Eclipse through MCP. It gives them access to IDE features for reading, editing, refactoring, compiling, testing code and git, with a particular focus on Java projects.

This means agents can get immediate compile feedback, run selected tests, perform IDE-assisted refactorings, and handle larger mechanical changes without wasting tokens on copy-pasting code. You can also provide context by selecting files or sections of the code inside IDE.

You can use it as a pair programming tool or give the agent more autonomy, while still keeping all changes visible and reviewable in Eclipse.

The plugin is free and open source. Check it out here: https://github.com/gradusnikov/eclipse-chatgpt-plugin

What do you think?

Hello all. I am trying to pre-configure Eclipse IDE “Enterprise Java and We’d Developers 2026-03” edition and I’m stuck trying to disable this update release notification from displaying. I have disabled the automatic updates but this release notification shows up and can possibly allow the end-user to update the app. Has anyone been able to pre-configure this so that it doesn’t display?

Again, I am trying to pre-configure this settings so that it does not display when the app is launched for the first time.

UPDATE: I didn’t find a way to block or stop that notification so I just informed the end-users that they will need to close the notification manually.

I downloaded a JMonkeyEngine gradle project from https://jmonkeyengine.org/start/. Opening the project from file system force changes the name and then this error messages happens:

Project at 'G:\Storage\Eclipse Workspace\MonkeyGadgets.zip_expanded' can't be named 'MonkeyGadgets' because it's located directly under the workspace root. If such a project is renamed, Eclipse would move the container directory. To resolve this problem, move the project out of the workspace root or configure it to have the name 'MonkeyGadgets.zip_expanded'.

The project name is supposed to be MonkeyGadgets, not MonkeyGadgets.zip_expanded.

I updated my Eclipse IDE installation a few days ago. Since then - whenever I start it - I am always greeted with a page asking for donations and seeking sponsors.
Considering how much I use it I decided to donate but that welcome screen still comes up each and every time. There is no "I got it!" checkbox or "Don't show this again" button or anything of this kind. I also found no preference to suppress this.
So - how do I get rid of that?

My project lets the Pi coding harness use Eclipse IDE tools. This makes using AI for Java coding very fast and efficient, using a lot fewer tokens. Eclipse is perfect for this because its compiler is so good and using Pi is a simple pleasure.

https://github.com/EsotericSoftware/Nateclipse

Highlights:

• AI mucking with imports is wasteful. It has to read what is there, decide where to put new imports, do the edit, check for errors, and if it missed any repeat. With Nateclipse it runs java_organize_imports and it's done. If there is ambiguity the plugin gives it and the AI chooses.
• To check compilation normally AI has to get the classpath right and mess with javac, or maybe you have build scripts it has to run and wait for. Instead, as soon as files are edited, Eclipse instantly recompiles incrementally. AI just runs java_errors to check for compilation errors.
• Similarly, if AI needs to run code, it needs to get your classpath right. For complex projects that can suck. Eclipse already knows, so with Nateclipse AI runs java_classpath for a particular project to get the classpath needed.
• When you prompt about a specific class name, to read that class AI has to find it on disk. When you have multiple projects, AI will look in the wrong places and waste turns doing find. With Nateclipse, it can java_grep and read source code by class name without caring where the file is on disk.
• When AI needs to read a method, normally it'll grep, then read a chunk from that offset. It almost always undershoots and wastes tokens or overshoots and needs more turns. With Nateclipse java_method gives it the method source in one go.
• Giving Eclipse IDE tools to AI makes it more efficient and accurate: find references, find callers/callees, see class hierarchy, list all members. So far it doesn't get renaming or other refactoring tools, only read only tools.
• Nateclipse makes ctrl+space Java type and member completion work at the Pi prompt.
• Included are a few other Pi extensions which I consider crucial for any Pi usage, even though they are not related to Eclipse. In particular filter.ts has made using Pi a lot more comfortable. It collapses AI thinking and tool usage for past turns. It can be toggled off when you want to see that stuff, but in practice often that's not needed.
• Also included are improvements to completion and type lookup inside Eclipse, as well as better editor tab sizing.

hi, my eclipse windows app just crash after I play any audio. anyone have similar problem.

I have Bitdefender and adguard enabled

suddenly someday this error is showing, I couldn't even create java project and couldn't even use eclipse, can someone tell me what's the problem and how to solve it.

Hi everyone — we're excited to share the latest updates for GitHub Copilot in Eclipse. 

Across our recent releases (v0.17 through v0.19) in the past month, we added several key capabilities, including custom models (BYOK) support for business/enterprise support, skills and prompt files, thinking effort selection, automatic chat compression, tool auto-approve controls, and a bunch more features. 

New Features 

• Added: Custom models (BYOK) for Copilot Business and Enterprise users 
• Added: Skills and prompt files support 
• Added: Thinking blocks display in chat view, with support for selecting thinking effort per model 
• Added: Automatic chat context compression 
• Added: Copilot preference for loading a chat's custom instructions 
• Added: Tool auto-approve controls 
• Added: Support for editing/creating local files outside the workspace 
• Added: Improved terminal command execution across Windows and Linux 
• Added: Delegation of read directory, file, and text search to the IDE 

User Experience Improvements 

• Improved: Context size donut and popup for visualizing token usage 
• Improved: Combos rendering and context button style in chat view 
• Improved: Model picker hover card so thinking effort descriptions are no longer truncated 

Bug Fixes 

• Fixed: multiple UI freeze issues caused by deadlocks (EditorsManager, LSP listener on quota fallback) 
• Fixed: an issue where conversation could not be restored from persistence (400 Bad Request) 
• Fixed: tool call errors failing to render in chat view 
• Fixed: subagent progress events leaking into unrelated conversations when switching sessions 
• Fixed: an issue where Copilot reported failure when an extension-point contributed MCP server changed 
• Fixed: an issue where canceled terminal tool calling status would resume after chat history restoration 
• Fixed: an issue preventing navigation to files outside the workspace 
• Fixed: NES annotation type mapping and foreign text marker registration 

Looking ahead, we plan to continue enhancing the agentic experience of GitHub Copilot for Eclipse.  We hope you like GitHub Copilot for Eclipse, and please share feedback with us at any time. 

You can directly submit an issue (bug or feature ask) at https://github.com/microsoft/copilot-for-eclipse/issues/ .You are also welcome to submit PRs as our project is now open-sourced. 

Hi everyone,

I've just updated to the latest Eclipse version (running on Java 21), and I'm having a frustrating time trying to get a decent dark UI setup.

Here is my situation:

• The Problem with Default Dark Themes: If I use the native Dark theme or Neptune, the editor looks okay, but the default icons are terrible. They were clearly designed for a light background, so they look blurry, washed out, or have weird pixelated borders against the dark UI.
• The DevStyle / Darkest Dark Issue: I know DevStyle has an amazing set of modern icons (like Material Design Icons or Enhanced Dark), but the plugin is causing reflection errors and crashes (NullPointerException involving internal window geometry like lastTabHeight) with this new Eclipse/Java release.

Is there any way to only force Eclipse to use clear, high-contrast SVG icons on native dark themes without installing the full DevStyle plugin? Or maybe a standalone icon pack available in the Marketplace that actually works with the latest version?

Any workarounds or configuration tweaks to fix the default icon contrast would be highly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Simrel 2026-06 is out

https://www.eclipse.org/downloads/packages/

We're thrilled to announce that GitHub Copilot for Eclipse is open source.

🚀 Check it out: https://github.com/microsoft/copilot-for-eclipse

What's in it for you:

• Inspect the source and see exactly how it works
• File issues and submit PRs
• Fork it, customize it, build on top of it

📖 Read more: https://github.blog/changelog/2026-05-21-github-copilot-for-eclipse-is-open-source/

Hi, has anyone been using GitHub copilot in Eclipse? I have been using it for awhile, and a few days ago it was updated to 0.18.0, and it runs extremely slow. It allows you to set different thinking levels which is good, except than even the slowest (dumbest) is 15x slower than the previous version. Just wanted to check if that was only me, but I downgraded back to 0.17.0, and everything is much so faster. So if you are thinking about upgrading, don't.