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Guide for JetBrains AI Assistant

Integrate JetBrains AI Assistant with AI Architect for more accurate, codebase-aware AI assistance.

Use Bito's AI Architect with JetBrains AI Assistant to enhance your AI-powered coding experience.

Once connected via MCP (Model Context Protocol), JetBrains AI Assistant can leverage AI Architect’s deep contextual understanding of your project, enabling more accurate code suggestions, explanations, and code insights.

Prerequisites

  1. Follow the AI Architect installation instructions. Upon successful setup, you will receive a Bito MCP URL and Bito MCP Access Token that you need to enter in your coding agent.

  2. Download BitoAIArchitectGuidelines.md file. You will need to copy/paste the content from this file later when configuring AI Architect.

    • Note: This file contains best practices, usage instructions, and prompting guidelines for the Bito AI Architect MCP server. The setup will work without this file, but including it helps AI tools interact more effectively with the Bito AI Architect MCP server.

  3. JetBrains IDE: IntelliJ IDEA 2025.1+ (or PyCharm, WebStorm, PhpStorm, etc. 2025.1+)

  4. AI Assistant Plugin (version 251.26094.80.5 or higher)

    1. Open your JetBrains IDE

    2. Go to: Settings (Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + S)

    3. Navigate to: Plugins

    4. Search for "AI Assistant"

    5. Verify version is 251.26094.80.5 or higher

  5. Node.js: 20.18.1+ installed (for mcp-remote proxy)

    1. Why Node.js 20+? The mcp-remote proxy depends on undici v7, which requires Node.js 20+ (needs the File global API added in Node 20.0.0). Node.js 18 and earlier will fail with ReferenceError: File is not defined.

    2. Verify:

      node --version  # Should show v20.x.x or higher
npx --version

    3. If Node.js is not installed or the version < 20 then download Node.js 20.x LTS

Set up AI Architect

JetBrains AI Assistant has the same setup process across all platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux, WSL).

1

Access MCP settings

  1. Open your JetBrains IDE (IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, etc.)

  2. Go to: Settings (Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + S)

  3. Navigate to: Tools → AI Assistant → Model Context Protocol (MCP)

  4. Click Add to add a new MCP server

2

Configure BitoAIArchitect

macOS/Linux configuration:

Fill in the fields as follows:

  • Name: BitoAIArchitect

  • Command: npx

  • Args (add each on a separate line by clicking the + button):

    1. -y

    2. mcp-remote

    3. <Your-Bito-MCP-URL>

    4. --header

    5. Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}

  • Environment Variables (click + to add):

    • Key: AUTH_HEADER

    • Value: Bearer <Your-Bito-MCP-Access-Token>

Note:

  • Replace <Your-Bito-MCP-URL> with the Bito MCP URL you received after completing the AI Architect setup.

  • Replace <Your-Bito-MCP-Access-Token> with the Bito MCP Access Token you received after completing the AI Architect setup.

Windows configuration (IMPORTANT - uses cmd):

Fill in the fields as follows:

  • Name: BitoAIArchitect

  • Command: cmd

  • Args (add each on a separate line):

    1. /c

    2. npx

    3. -y

    4. mcp-remote

    5. <Your-Bito-MCP-URL>

    6. --header

    7. Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}

  • Environment Variables:

    • Key: AUTH_HEADER

    • Value: Bearer <Your-Bito-MCP-Access-Token>

Note:

  • Replace <Your-Bito-MCP-URL> with the Bito MCP URL you received after completing the AI Architect setup.

  • Replace <Your-Bito-MCP-Access-Token> with the Bito MCP Access Token you received after completing the AI Architect setup.

3

Save and restart

  1. Click OK to save the MCP server configuration

  2. Click OK to close Settings

  3. Restart your IDE completely

4

Verify connection

  1. Go to: Settings → Tools → AI Assistant → Model Context Protocol (MCP)

  2. Find BitoAIArchitect in the list

  3. Check the Status column - should show Running or Connected

5

Enable Codebase Mode

IMPORTANT: MCP tools only work in "Codebase" mode or Edit mode.

To use BitoAIArchitect:

  1. Open JetBrains AI Assistant chat

  2. Toggle on the "Codebase" mode switch at the top of the chat window

  3. OR use Edit mode (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Enter), which implicitly enables codebase context

6

Add guidelines (optional but highly recommended)

The BitoAIArchitectGuidelines.md file contains best practices, usage instructions, and prompting guidelines for the Bito AI Architect MCP server.

The setup will work without this file, but including it helps AI tools interact more effectively with the Bito AI Architect MCP server.

To add Bito AI Architect usage rules to a specific project:

  1. Navigate to your project root

  2. Create .aiassistant/rules/ directory:

  3. Create a rule file (e.g., bitoai-architect.md):

    Copy the contents of your BitoAIArchitectGuidelines.md file into .aiassistant/rules/bitoai-architect.md file:

  4. In your IDE: Settings → Tools → AI Assistant → Rules

  5. The rule file should appear automatically

  6. Configure how it should be applied:

    • Always: Applied to all chats automatically

    • Manually: Invoked using @rule:bitoai-architect

    • By Model Decision: AI decides when to apply

    • By File Patterns: Applied when specific files are open

What AI Assistant rules should contain:

  • BitoAIArchitect MCP usage instructions

  • When to query organizational repositories

  • How to search for dependencies and tech stacks

Troubleshooting

JetBrains AI Assistant not showing MCP settings:

  1. Verify IDE version is 2025.1 or later

  2. Verify AI Assistant plugin is version 251.26094.80.5+

  3. Update both if needed

BitoAIArchitect not appearing or showing "Not started":

  1. Verify Node.js is installed: node --version

  2. Check that you've toggled "Codebase" mode ON in the chat

  3. On Windows, ensure you're using cmd command (not npx directly)

  4. Restart the IDE completely

  5. Check IDE logs for errors: Help → Show Log in Explorer/Finder

    • Look for files in the mcp folder

Connection errors:

  1. Test the endpoint manually:

Note:

  • Replace <Your-Bito-MCP-URL> with the Bito MCP URL you received after completing the AI Architect setup.

  • Replace <Your-Bito-MCP-Access-Token> with the Bito MCP Access Token you received after completing the AI Architect setup.

  1. Verify your Bito MCP URL and Bito MCP Access Token are correct

  2. Check firewall settings

  3. Verify the --header argument format: Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER} (colon, no space)

Windows-specific issues:

  1. Verify you're using cmd as the command (not npx)

  2. Ensure /c is the first argument

  3. Node.js must be in system PATH

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