HLSL Language Support for CLion/Rider

plugin providing syntax highlighting and DXC validation for HLSL (High Level Shading Language) files.

Features

• Syntax highlighting for keywords, types, built-in functions, semantics, preprocessor directives, numbers, strings, operators, and comments
• Struct/class name highlighting — struct, cbuffer, tbuffer, class, interface, enum names and typedef aliases are highlighted at declaration and every usage site, including names declared in transitively #included files
• Go to declaration (Ctrl+Click / Ctrl+B) — jump to function, variable, and type declarations in the current file or any included file
• Code completion — keywords, types, built-in functions (with auto-inserted parentheses), semantics (suggested after :), local identifiers, and symbols pulled from included files (functions, struct-like names, #define macros, and top-level const globals)
• Code folding — collapse any multi-line { ... } block (functions, structs, cbuffers, control-flow blocks) and block comments, each region independent
• clang-format integration — Reformat Code routes HLSL files through a user-configured clang-format binary that picks up your .clang-format file (walks up from the file's directory)
• DXC compiler validation — real-time error and warning annotations powered by the DirectX Shader Compiler
• "Add DXC pragmas" intention — inserts #pragma hlsl profile / entry / hv skeleton at the top of the file
• Line and block commenting (Ctrl+/, Ctrl+Shift+/)
• Brace matching for (), {}, []
• Color settings page — customize all highlight colors under Settings → Editor → Color Scheme → HLSL

Supported File Extensions

hlsl, hlsli, fx, fxh

Additional extensions can be added via Settings → Editor → File Types → HLSL.

DXC Validation

The plugin can run the DirectX Shader Compiler (dxc) in the background to show compilation errors and warnings inline.

Setup

1. Go to Settings → Tools → HLSL / DXC
2. The plugin auto-detects dxc.exe from your PATH, Windows SDK, or Vulkan SDK
3. Optionally set the path manually, default shader profile (default: ps_6_6), entry point (default: main), and HLSL version (default: 2021)

Per-file Overrides

Use pragma comments at the top of your shader files:

// #pragma hlsl profile vs_6_6
// #pragma hlsl entry VSMain

clang-format

Because HLSL isn't a language clang-format recognizes by extension, the built-in JetBrains ClangFormat integration does not engage on .hlsl files. This plugin adds its own integration that transparently routes the Reformat Code action through clang-format.

Setup

1. Go to Settings → Tools → HLSL / clang-format
2. The plugin auto-detects clang-format from your PATH. Optionally set the path manually
3. Set a fallback style (LLVM, Google, Chromium, Mozilla, WebKit, Microsoft) for files not covered by a .clang-format
4. Use Reformat Code (Ctrl+Alt+L, or whatever you've mapped it to — e.g. Alt+Shift+F) on an .hlsl file

Your .clang-format is discovered automatically by walking up from the file's directory. Range formatting (reformat selection) is supported.

Building

Requires JDK 21.

.\gradlew.bat buildPlugin

The plugin zip will be in build/distributions/.

Installation

1. Download the latest .zip from the Releases page, or build it yourself (see above)
2. In CLion/IntelliJ, go to Settings → Plugins → ⚙ → Install Plugin from Disk...
3. Select the .zip file
4. Restart the IDE

Compatibility

• IntelliJ Platform 2024.1 – 2026.1
• Works alongside the C/C++ plugin without conflicts

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.