Plugin Knowledge Base (AI)

This page provides a knowledge base for AI assistants to better understand and work with the EasyYapi plugin. It mirrors the knowledge base bundled with the plugin — the same pages the in-IDE assistant reads through its get_plugin_doc tool, and the pages installed with the external easy-yapi-assistant skill.

What is EasyYapi?

EasyYapi is an IntelliJ IDEA plugin that generates API documentation from Java/Kotlin source code based on Javadoc, KDoc, and ScalaDoc comments.

Out of the Box

EasyApi understands standard HTTP frameworks (Spring MVC, WebFlux, JAX-RS, Feign) out of the box — most projects need no custom rules. For custom framework behaviour the scanner can't see (e.g. a jakarta.servlet.Filter that requires a header, or a ResponseBodyAdvice that wraps every response in an envelope), use the built-in AI Assistant or the external skill to detect it and generate the rule. See Rule Authoring for the guide.

Key Concepts

• Folder-based rule files (3.0+): .easyapi/*.rules at project (<project>/.easyapi/) and global (~/.easyapi/) scopes — discovered automatically, reloaded on change. Legacy .easy.api.config* files are still read for backwards compatibility.
• Built-in AI Assistant: a provider-neutral AI service (LangChain4j-backed) embedded in the Rules tab (Chat / Magic buttons). Authors rules in natural language and never writes files without explicit approval.
• External easy-yapi-assistant skill: a skill you install (npx skills add tangcent/easy-yapi -g -y) so external AI coding assistants (Trae, Cursor, Cline, Continue, etc.) author rules from the same knowledge base as the built-in assistant.
• Configuration Rules: key-value pairs that customize documentation generation. See Available Config Rules.
• Groovy Scripts: advanced customization via the groovy: prefix. See Script Tools.
• Parse Events: callbacks that execute at specific points during the parsing process. See Callbacks & Events.
• Script Tools: built-in utilities available in Groovy scripts.

Ways to Write Rules

EasyYapi 3.x offers two ways to author rules. Both write to .easyapi/*.rules files. See Rule Authoring for the full guide.

Way	Best for
Built-in AI Assistant	Natural-language rule creation in Settings → Rules → Chat / Magic
External easy-yapi-assistant skill	Driving rule authoring from an external AI coding assistant

Common Workflows

1. Install the plugin from JetBrains Marketplace
2. Add Javadoc/KDoc comments to your code
3. (Optional) Author rules in .easyapi/*.rules files via the AI Assistant or the external skill
4. Export documentation to YApi, Postman, or Markdown

Configuration File Locations

• Project rules (3.0+): <project>/.easyapi/*.rules
• Global rules (3.0+): ~/.easyapi/*.rules
• Legacy project config: .easy.api.config (still read for backwards compatibility)
• Remote: configured in Settings → Rules → Remote