Jewel Swing Interop

Embed Compose/Jewel into Swing with bridge primitives from ide-laf-bridge and foundation.

Quick Snippets

Tool window tab:

toolWindow.addComposeTab(tabDisplayName = "My Tab") {
    SwingBridgeTheme {
        MyToolWindowContent()
    }
}

Generic Swing host:

val panel = JewelComposePanel {
    MyPluginComposable()
}

Manual compositing enablement (non-toolwindow entrypoint):

enableNewSwingCompositing()
val panel = JewelComposePanel { MyPluginComposable() }

Use The Highest-Level API First

Pick the simplest valid entrypoint:

1. •Tool window tab: ToolWindow.addComposeTab(...).
2. •Generic Swing host: compose(...) / JewelComposePanel(...).
3. •Custom theming flow: composeWithoutTheme(...) / JewelComposeNoThemePanel(...).

Default to themed entrypoints; use no-theme variants only when theme wrapping is intentionally external.

Enable New Swing Compositing Early

Call enableNewSwingCompositing() before attaching Compose content when needed.

Notes:

1. •ToolWindow.addComposeTab(...) already does this internally.
2. •Function is idempotent and safe at multiple entry points.
3. •This improves z-order/resizing behavior but can affect performance with infinitely repeating animations.
4. •Treat enableNewSwingCompositing() and no-theme entrypoints as advanced/experimental paths.

Apply Bridge Theme In Plugin Context

Use SwingBridgeTheme for IntelliJ plugin UI:

1. •Pulls Swing LaF colors/metrics/typography into Compose.
2. •Provides bridge locals (icon/new-ui behavior, clipboard, density scaling, shortcuts, URI handling).

Do not use standalone IntUiTheme for plugin-hosted Swing integration.

Bridge Compose To Swing/AWT Safely

For bidirectional operations:

1. •Use LocalComponent to obtain host Swing component when APIs require Component.
2. •Use bridge utilities for color conversion and LaF key lookup when styling custom interop elements.
3. •Keep file chooser and dialog operations delegated to Swing (JFileChooser, etc.) from Compose callbacks.

Version Discipline

Treat this skill as Jewel-version scoped.

1. •Ask for target IntelliJ Platform baseline and Jewel API version.
2. •Validate behavior against Jewel release notes when APIs differ by platform generation.
3. •Prefer high-level bridge entrypoints that are stable in target versions.
4. •For shipped skill updates, refresh reference links to the corresponding release tag.

Interop Checklist

Before finishing:

1. •Confirm compositing flag is set at proper entrypoints.
2. •Confirm theme wrapper is SwingBridgeTheme (unless deliberately no-theme).
3. •Confirm host component access uses LocalComponent.
4. •Confirm toolwindow integrations use addComposeTab when applicable.
5. •Confirm interop code avoids creating extra unmanaged ComposePanel wrappers.

References

Read these source files when implementing:

1. •ToolWindowExtensions.kt
2. •JewelComposePanelWrapper.kt
3. •SwingBridgeTheme.kt
4. •Compatibility.kt (enableNewSwingCompositing)
5. •README Swing interoperability section