To provide different kinds of documentation support (quick info on hover, generated documentation, external documentation links), a plugin implements the DocumentationProvider (consulo.language.editor.documentation.DocumentationProvider) interface.

There are two extension API variants for registering a documentation provider:

• LanguageDocumentationProvider (consulo.language.editor.documentation.LanguageDocumentationProvider) -- annotated with @ExtensionAPI(ComponentScope.APPLICATION). This is a language-specific documentation provider that extends both DocumentationProvider and LanguageExtension. Implementations must override getLanguage() to specify which language the provider applies to. Multiple providers per language are supported and are composed automatically.

• UnrestrictedDocumentationProvider (consulo.language.editor.documentation.UnrestrictedDocumentationProvider) -- annotated with @ExtensionAPI(ComponentScope.APPLICATION). This is a language-independent documentation provider that is not restricted to a specific language.

For most custom language plugins, implement LanguageDocumentationProvider.

DocumentationProvider Methods

All methods in the DocumentationProvider interface have default implementations that return null, so you only need to override the methods relevant to your language.

Method	Description
getQuickNavigateInfo(PsiElement element, PsiElement originalElement)	Returns the text shown in the Ctrl+hover popup for the specified element. The element parameter is the resolved target (e.g., the method a reference points to), while originalElement is the element under the cursor.
generateDoc(PsiElement element, PsiElement originalElement)	Returns the full HTML documentation for the element. This is the main method for generating documentation content. May be called from a background thread. Use DocumentationMarkup constants (DEFINITION_START, DEFINITION_END, CONTENT_START, CONTENT_END, SECTIONS_START, SECTION_HEADER_START, SECTION_SEPARATOR, SECTION_END, SECTIONS_END) to produce properly formatted output.
generateHoverDoc(PsiElement element, PsiElement originalElement)	Returns the HTML documentation shown on mouse hover in the editor. By default, delegates to generateDoc(). Override this to show a shorter version of the documentation on hover.
getUrlFor(PsiElement element, PsiElement originalElement)	Returns a list of URLs for external documentation. If the list contains a single URL, it is opened directly. If multiple URLs are returned, the user is prompted to choose.
getDocumentationElementForLookupItem(PsiManager psiManager, Object object, PsiElement element)	Returns the PSI element to show documentation for when the user requests documentation for a code completion lookup item.
getDocumentationElementForLink(PsiManager psiManager, String link, PsiElement context)	Returns the navigation target for a link in a documentation popup. The link must use the DocumentationManagerProtocol.PSI_ELEMENT_PROTOCOL protocol.

Registration

To register a language-specific documentation provider, implement LanguageDocumentationProvider and annotate the class with @ExtensionImpl:

import consulo.annotation.component.ExtensionImpl;
import consulo.language.Language;
import consulo.language.editor.documentation.LanguageDocumentationProvider;
import consulo.language.psi.PsiElement;
import consulo.language.psi.PsiManager;
import consulo.myLanguage.MyLanguage;

import jakarta.annotation.Nonnull;
import jakarta.annotation.Nullable;

@ExtensionImpl
public class MyLanguageDocumentationProvider implements LanguageDocumentationProvider {
    @Nonnull
    @Override
    public Language getLanguage() {
        return MyLanguage.INSTANCE;
    }

    @Nullable
    @Override
    public String getQuickNavigateInfo(PsiElement element, PsiElement originalElement) {
        if (element instanceof MyNamedElement namedElement) {
            return namedElement.getName() + " (" + namedElement.getContainingFile().getName() + ")";
        }
        return null;
    }

    @Nullable
    @Override
    public String generateDoc(PsiElement element, @Nullable PsiElement originalElement) {
        if (element instanceof MyNamedElement namedElement) {
            StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
            sb.append(DocumentationMarkup.DEFINITION_START);
            sb.append(namedElement.getName());
            sb.append(DocumentationMarkup.DEFINITION_END);
            sb.append(DocumentationMarkup.CONTENT_START);
            sb.append("Defined in ").append(namedElement.getContainingFile().getName());
            sb.append(DocumentationMarkup.CONTENT_END);
            return sb.toString();
        }
        return null;
    }
}

Related Interfaces

• CodeDocumentationProvider -- extends DocumentationProvider with methods for finding and generating doc comments in source code.
• ExternalDocumentationProvider -- provides the ability to fetch external documentation and show it inline rather than in a browser.
• DocumentationMarkup -- constants for laying out documentation content in the documentation popup.