# Use textmate / vscode compliant syntax-highlighting in plugin

**URL:** <https://platform.jetbrains.com/t/use-textmate-vscode-compliant-syntax-highlighting-in-plugin/559>\
**Category:** IntelliJ Platform\
**Created:** [February 17, 2025, 10:34pm UTC](https://platform.jetbrains.com/t/use-textmate-vscode-compliant-syntax-highlighting-in-plugin/559 "2025-02-17T22:34:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pawrequest](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/platform.jetbrains.com/pawrequest/32/480_2.png) [@pawrequest](https://platform.jetbrains.com/u/pawrequest)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 10:34pm UTC](https://platform.jetbrains.com/t/use-textmate-vscode-compliant-syntax-highlighting-in-plugin/559/1 "2025-02-17T22:34:16Z")

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im making my first plugin, totally new to java, gradle and all this stuff (can i please write intellij plugins in python?!!) i’m adding support for a custom language (redscript, ‘\*.reds’, for game modding).

the language is already well defined by open source tools - the language itself with a cli for building etc, an lsp, a dap, a syntax-highlighter. well written and well supported tools that are well integrated into vscode… but i like my intellij tools, so as far as possible i want to simply port those tools.

so far i’ve implemented a language server which uses lsp4ij to proxy the already existing open source lsp. it works, i get click-thru goToDefinition behaviour

now i’m trying to add syntax highlighting, and there already exist open source syntax-highlighting + associated vsCode plugin. in intelliJ UI i can import the vscode plugin and get syntax highlighting from it - how can i do the same in my plugin and avoid formally describing the language in 1st-party intelliJ syntax?

i guess i need to extend TextMateBundles, or something like that? but despite finding the [intellij textmate plugin source](https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/tree/master/plugins/textmate) i can’t work out how to do it.

or how else do i use the existing regex gramar [redscript.tmLanguage.json](https://github.com/jackhumbert/redscript-syntax-highlighting/blob/master/syntaxes/redscript.tmLanguage.json) in my plugin?

any help well appreciated…

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![yann.cebron](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/platform.jetbrains.com/yann.cebron/32/15_2.png) [@yann.cebron](https://platform.jetbrains.com/u/yann.cebron)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 1:11pm UTC](https://platform.jetbrains.com/t/use-textmate-vscode-compliant-syntax-highlighting-in-plugin/559/3 "2025-02-18T13:11:09Z")

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TextMate plugin allows 3rd party plugins to provide custom bundles, see [IntelliJ Community Plugins Extension Point and Listener List | IntelliJ Platform Plugin SDK](https://plugins.jetbrains.com/docs/intellij/intellij-community-plugins-extension-point-list.html#orgjetbrainspluginstextmate)

When you click on the Extension Point name, you can browse existing OSS plugins using it as reference.

See also [Explore the IntelliJ Platform API | IntelliJ Platform Plugin SDK](https://plugins.jetbrains.com/docs/intellij/explore-api.html) for more strategies.