IntelliJ Platform provides a set of standard module types which can be chosen, however, you might need to create a module of a type that isn't supported yet. This tutorial shows how to register a new module type and link it to the project creation procedure and the UI.

Pre-requirements

Create an empty plugin project, see Creating a Plugin Project.

1. Register a New Module Type

Add a new moduleType extension in the plugin.xml configuration file.

<extensions defaultExtensionNs="com.intellij">
    <moduleType id="DEMO_MODULE_TYPE" implementationClass="com.intellij.tutorials.module.DemoModuleType"/>
</extensions>

2. Implement ModuleType Interface

public class DemoModuleType extends ModuleType<DemoModuleBuilder> {
    private static final String ID = "DEMO_MODULE_TYPE";

    public DemoModuleType() {
        super(ID);
    }

    public static DemoModuleType getInstance() {
        return (DemoModuleType) ModuleTypeManager.getInstance().findByID(ID);
    }

    @NotNull
    @Override
    public DemoModuleBuilder createModuleBuilder() {
        return new DemoModuleBuilder();
    }

    @NotNull
    @Override
    public String getName() {
        return "Demo Module Type";
    }

    @NotNull
    @Override
    public String getDescription() {
        return "Demo Module Type";
    }

    @Override
    public Icon getBigIcon() {
        return AllIcons.General.Information;
    }

    @Override
    public Icon getNodeIcon(@Deprecated boolean b) {
        return AllIcons.General.Information;
    }

    @NotNull
    @Override
    public ModuleWizardStep[] createWizardSteps(@NotNull WizardContext wizardContext, @NotNull DemoModuleBuilder moduleBuilder, @NotNull ModulesProvider modulesProvider) {
        return super.createWizardSteps(wizardContext, moduleBuilder, modulesProvider);
    }
}

3. Implement Custom Module Builder

public class DemoModuleBuilder extends ModuleBuilder {
    @Override
    public void setupRootModel(ModifiableRootModel model) throws ConfigurationException {

    }

    @Override
    public ModuleType getModuleType() {
        return DemoModuleType.getInstance();
    }

    @Nullable
    @Override
    public ModuleWizardStep getCustomOptionsStep(WizardContext context, Disposable parentDisposable) {
        return new DemoModuleWizardStep();
    }
}

4. Provide Custom Wizard Steps

Provide implementation of UI components for the project creating stage.

public class DemoModuleWizardStep extends ModuleWizardStep {
    @Override
    public JComponent getComponent() {
        return new JLabel("Provide some setting here");
    }

    @Override
    public void updateDataModel() {
        //todo update model according to UI
    }
}

5. Creating a Module of New Type

After compiling and running the plugin, create a new project with a source-compiled instance of IntelliJ IDEA. You will see a new module type and its settings panel available in the Project Wizard.