Settings
Everything the plugin adds lives under Settings → Tools → SpecBinder. The defaults are chosen to be sensible on a fresh project, so nothing here is required — but three of them are worth a look on day one.
Worth setting early
1. File extensions
Whether the plugin handles .feature, .specb, or both.
Set this if you also have the Cucumber/Gherkin plugin installed. Both want to own .feature
files and only one can — the loser stops providing its editor features for them. Giving
SpecBinder's specs the .specb extension and choosing .specb only here hands .feature back
to Cucumber, so both plugins work on their own files.
2. On feature file save
What happens when you save a spec. By default the affected class is rebuilt straight away, so editing a step and re-running needs no separate build. Touch marker class only marks it for the next build, and Off leaves saving alone.
3. JSON-report results
Reads the execution reporter's output to show pass/fail icons in the gutter and the inline error panel on a failed step. Turn this on if your project uses the execution reporter.
Every section
| Section | Settings |
|---|---|
| File extensions | Handle .feature, .specb, or both. |
| On feature file save | What happens when you save a spec file: nothing, mark for rebuild, or rebuild now. |
| Code folding | Make Rules foldable; collapse Rules / Scenarios / """html / """json / """xml / """yaml doc strings by default. |
| Doc string previews | Auto-open HTML previews when a feature file is opened. |
| Project view | Show Feature / Rule / Scenario / Background as expandable children of feature files. |
| Spell checking | Enable spell checking inside feature files. |
| JSON-report results | Read execution-reporter JSON for gutter pass/fail icons; hide stale icons. |
| Inline error panel — folding | Initial fold state of multi-line Message / Expected / Actual values. |
| Inline error panel — stack trace styling | Colour and font style for in-module stack-trace frames. |
Elsewhere in Settings
Two things sit outside the SpecBinder page, alongside IntelliJ's own equivalents:
- Colours for Gherkin tokens — Settings → Editor → Color Scheme → Gherkin (SpecBinder)
- Formatting defaults — Settings → Editor → Code Style → Gherkin (SpecBinder)