# LocalInspectionTool ProblemDescriptor not displayed in Problems Window/Hover for Shell Script (.sh) files when plugin is zip-installed (works in RunID) **URL:** \ **Category:** IntelliJ Platform\ **Tags:** inspections, plugin-development\ **Created:** [February 4, 2026, 8:42am UTC](https://platform.jetbrains.com/t/localinspectiontool-problemdescriptor-not-displayed-in-problems-window-hover-for-shell-script-sh-files-when-plugin-is-zip-installed-works-in-runid/3635 "2026-02-04T08:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cx-aniket-shinde](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/platform.jetbrains.com/cx-aniket-shinde/32/2254_2.png) [@cx-aniket-shinde](https://platform.jetbrains.com/u/cx-aniket-shinde)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2026, 8:42am UTC](https://platform.jetbrains.com/t/localinspectiontool-problemdescriptor-not-displayed-in-problems-window-hover-for-shell-script-sh-files-when-plugin-is-zip-installed-works-in-runid/3635/1 "2026-02-04T08:42:54Z")
### **Problem description:** We are developing an IntelliJ plugin that uses `LocalInspectionTool` to report security vulnerabilities detected by an external scanner. The inspection works correctly for most file types (`.json`, `.java`, `.py`, `.cs`), but **for Shell Script (`.sh`) files, the ProblemDescriptor objects are not displayed in the Problems window or as hover tooltips** when the plugin is installed from a zip file. **What Works:** - ✅ Vulnerabilities are correctly detected in `.sh` files - ✅ Lines are highlighted in the editor (via custom `MarkupModel.addRangeHighlighter()`) - ✅ Gutter icons appear in the left margin (via custom `GutterIconRenderer`) - ✅ Our `checkFile()` method returns valid `ProblemDescriptor[]` (confirmed via logging) - ✅ Everything works correctly when running the plugin via `runIde` Gradle task **What Doesn’t Work (only for .sh files):** - ❌ Problems Window shows no entries - ❌ Hover tooltips don’t appear when hovering over highlighted lines **Critical Finding:** The issue occurs **only when the plugin is installed from a zip file** , not when running via `runIde`. This happens regardless of IDE version: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/jetbrains_platform/original/2X/a/ad428a851fb8fbb1555d6e4591d1fda945e841ea.png) **Technical Details:** ```auto Our inspection extends LocalInspectionTool and is registered in plugin.xml as: < ``` We create `ProblemDescriptor` using: `InspectionManager.createProblemDescriptor(` ` psiFile, // PsiFile (ShFile for .sh files)` ` textRange, // TextRange for the problem line` ` description, // HTML description` ` ProblemHighlightType.GENERIC_ERROR,` ` isOnTheFly,` ` localQuickFixes` `);` **What We’ve Tried (All Failed):** 1. ❌ Using `PsiElement` instead of `PsiFile` with relative `TextRange` 2. ❌ Adding `level="WARNING"` and `runForWholeFile="true"` to inspection registration 3. ❌ Verified `PsiFile` instance consistency (same instance used throughout) 4. ❌ Confirmed `PsiFile.isValid()` returns `true` 5. ❌ Verified Shell Script plugin is installed and enabled **Debug Logging Confirms:** `RTS-DEBUG: File: deploy.sh, PsiFile class: com.intellij.sh.psi.ShFile, TextRange: (0,53), HighlightType: GENERIC_ERROR` `RTS-DEBUG: Returning 9 problem descriptors for file: deploy.sh` The `ProblemDescriptor` objects are valid and being returned, but IntelliJ’s inspection framework is not displaying them. ### **Steps to reproduce:** 1. Create an IntelliJ plugin with a `LocalInspectionTool` implementation 2. In `checkFile()`, return `ProblemDescriptor[]` for `.sh` files using `InspectionManager.createProblemDescriptor(psiFile, textRange, ...)` 3. Build the plugin using `./gradlew buildPlugin` 4. Install the plugin from the zip file (Settings → Plugins → ⚙ → Install Plugin from Disk) 5. Open a `.sh` file that triggers the inspection 6. Observe that: 7. Compare with `./gradlew runIde` where everything works correctly **Environment:** - **Product** : IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition & PyCharm Professional - **Product Versions Tested** : - **Operating System** : Windows 11 - **Plugin Build Configuration** : - **Shell Script Plugin** : Installed and enabled - **Plugin Dependencies** : Only `com.intellij.modules.platform` **Question** - Is there a known issue with `LocalInspectionTool` and Shell Script files that causes `ProblemDescriptor` objects to not be displayed in the Problems window when the plugin is zip-installed? Is there a different approach we should use for Shell Script files, such as `ExternalAnnotator`? ---
**Author:** ![robert.novotny](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/platform.jetbrains.com/robert.novotny/32/2046_2.png) [@robert.novotny](https://platform.jetbrains.com/u/robert.novotny)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 7:31am UTC](https://platform.jetbrains.com/t/localinspectiontool-problemdescriptor-not-displayed-in-problems-window-hover-for-shell-script-sh-files-when-plugin-is-zip-installed-works-in-runid/3635/3 "2026-02-05T07:31:07Z")
Hello, please provide a minimal working plugin example, so it can be reproduced. ---
**Author:** ![jansorg](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/platform.jetbrains.com/jansorg/32/52_2.png) [@jansorg](https://platform.jetbrains.com/u/jansorg)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 9:10am UTC](https://platform.jetbrains.com/t/localinspectiontool-problemdescriptor-not-displayed-in-problems-window-hover-for-shell-script-sh-files-when-plugin-is-zip-installed-works-in-runid/3635/4 "2026-02-05T09:10:36Z")
My guess would be this: [intellij-community/plugins/sh/core/src/com/intellij/sh/ShErrorFilter.java at 6d1f55f16043ad48f67762c50ab1035e0a589ca7 · JetBrains/intellij-community · GitHub](https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/6d1f55f16043ad48f67762c50ab1035e0a589ca7/plugins/sh/core/src/com/intellij/sh/ShErrorFilter.java#L28) If it’s working in internal mode (perhaps enabled via runIde?), then it’s likely. ---
**Author:** ![Atish\_Jadhav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/65b543/32.png) [@Atish\_Jadhav](https://platform.jetbrains.com/u/Atish_Jadhav)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 10:00am UTC](https://platform.jetbrains.com/t/localinspectiontool-problemdescriptor-not-displayed-in-problems-window-hover-for-shell-script-sh-files-when-plugin-is-zip-installed-works-in-runid/3635/5 "2026-02-05T10:00:12Z")
Hi @jansorg, Thank you for pointing us to `ShErrorFilter.java` - you were absolutely correct! We confirmed that the filter blocks highlights with severity \>= WARNING for `.sh` files when `isInternal()` is false. This explains why our `LocalInspectionTool` works in RunIDE (internal mode) but not when the plugin is zip-installed. Our plugin uses `ProblemHighlightType.GENERIC_ERROR` to report security vulnerabilities, which gets filtered out in production mode. We’ve implemented a workaround using `ProblemHighlightType.WEAK_WARNING` specifically for .sh files to bypass the filter. **While this makes the issues visible in the Problems window and hover tooltips, the disadvantage is that security vulnerabilities now appear with a warning icon instead of an error icon - which doesn’t accurately represent their severity.** Do you know if there’s a better approach? For example: 1. Is there a way to register an exception to `ShErrorFilter` for third-party plugins? 2. Would using ExternalAnnotator instead of LocalInspectionTool bypass this filter? 3. Is this filter behavior intentional for all third-party inspections, or is it meant only for the Shell Script plugin’s own parser errors? Any guidance would be appreciated! ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/jetbrains_platform/original/2X/3/38cc0679594f9d53662e91191c6fcb5f2a7d6324.png) ---
**Author:** ![jansorg](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/platform.jetbrains.com/jansorg/32/52_2.png) [@jansorg](https://platform.jetbrains.com/u/jansorg)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 11:05am UTC](https://platform.jetbrains.com/t/localinspectiontool-problemdescriptor-not-displayed-in-problems-window-hover-for-shell-script-sh-files-when-plugin-is-zip-installed-works-in-runid/3635/6 "2026-02-05T11:05:31Z")
Implementing your own `` is not possible, because the first filter returning `false` turns off highlighting. You can’t override that to `true`. > [@Atish\_Jadhav](#): > > Our plugin uses `ProblemHighlightType.GENERIC_ERROR` to report security vulnerabilities, which gets filtered out in production mode. > > We’ve implemented a workaround using `ProblemHighlightType.WEAK_WARNING` specifically for .sh files to bypass the filter. **While this makes the issues visible in the Problems window and hover tooltips, the disadvantage is that security vulnerabilities now appear with a warning icon instead of an error icon - which doesn’t accurately represent their severity.** If I’m not mistaken `ProblemHighlightType.GENERIC_ERROR` means to use the configured highlighting of your inspection, e.g. info/warning/error. Can’t you use `ProblemHighlightingType.ERROR`, perhaps just for shell files? ---
**Author:** ![robert.novotny](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/platform.jetbrains.com/robert.novotny/32/2046_2.png) [@robert.novotny](https://platform.jetbrains.com/u/robert.novotny)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 12:09pm UTC](https://platform.jetbrains.com/t/localinspectiontool-problemdescriptor-not-displayed-in-problems-window-hover-for-shell-script-sh-files-when-plugin-is-zip-installed-works-in-runid/3635/7 "2026-02-06T12:09:55Z")
Not an official answer, but `GENERIC_ERROR_OR_WARNING` uses configuration in the Inspection settings. The same goes for `GENERIC_ERROR`, but with error-ish highlighting.