Pre-Push Compilation Checker

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 minutes later, and you've already broken main for everyone else.

I wanted a fast, local feedback loop that blocks the push before it leaves your machine, without waiting on CI and without slowing down healthy pushes.

What I built

• IDE push guard — hooks into IntelliJ's native push dialog via the prePushHandler extension point.
• Smart compile scope — compiles only the modules containing changed files; 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-push hook 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 errors, click refresh in the block dialog, and the push flow resumes without restarting.

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-push hook is written respecting core.hooksPath, worktrees, and submodules, and chains non-destructively with any existing user hook.
• Escape hatch. The PRE_PUSH_CHECKER_COMMAND environment 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 — surface them immediately.

Links

• JetBrains Marketplace listing
• Source on GitHub
• Changelog