The problem
"Oops, fixing broken build" commits are a universal developer experience. Most
IDEs will happily let you push compilation-broken code. CI catches it a few
minutes later, by which point you've already broken main for
everyone else, and someone's Slacking you about it.
I wanted a fast, local feedback loop that blocks the push before it leaves your machine, without waiting on CI and without slowing down the pushes that are actually fine.
What I built
- IDE push guard, hooks into IntelliJ's native push dialog via
the
prePushHandlerextension point. - Smart compile scope, compiles only the modules containing
changed files, and automatically falls back to a full project build when build
files (
build.gradle,pom.xml, …) or file deletions are in play. - IDE problem check: if IntelliJ already reports errors in the files being pushed, the push is blocked instantly, skipping a redundant compile.
- Terminal push guard, installs a managed
pre-pushhook so pushes from the terminal, Sublime Merge, SourceTree, or GitHub Desktop are also protected. - Compilation Checker tool window, a right-side panel that lists errors from the last check with file icons. Double-click to jump to the offending line.
- Refresh action: fix your errors, click refresh in the block dialog, and the push flow resumes without restarting anything.
Design decisions
- Two surfaces, one source of truth. Both the IDE push and the
terminal hook write to the same
.idea/pre-push-checker/last-run.log, which the IDE parses into the tool window so the experience is identical wherever the push came from. - Idempotent hook installation. The
pre-pushhook is written respectingcore.hooksPath, worktrees, and submodules, and chains non-destructively with any existing user hook. - Escape hatch. The
PRE_PUSH_CHECKER_COMMANDenvironment variable lets teams substitute any custom check command (e.g. a lint+test combo) without forking the plugin. - Fail fast, then fail well. If the IDE already knows there are errors, don't waste seconds on a compile. Just surface them immediately.
Why the terminal hook matters: most "pre-push" plugins only
cover the IDE dialog. Real teams push from terminals, GUI clients and CI scripts,
not just the one dialog the plugin author happened to test. This plugin installs
a hook that mirrors the IDE check and re-surfaces errors inside IntelliJ whenever
it's open, even if you triggered the push from somewhere else entirely.