I’ve been using the default create("IC", "2025.1") (matching the build one) but have recently discovered select() and recommended(). Is there a benefit to using these two and if, which one is better?
create("IC", "2025.1") is the most explicit option: it verifies against one exact IDE, so it is stable and fast, but also fairly narrow. recommended() is useful when you want verification to follow your declared compatibility automatically, because it resolves IDEs from your current product type and ideaVersion range and checks the latest matching releases for that range. select() uses the same resolution mechanism as recommended(), but lets you override the filters, so it’s the better choice if you want only RELEASE builds, multiple IDE types, or a tighter range.
So there isn’t one universally “better” option. For most plugins, recommended() is the sensible default. Use select() when you need control. Keep create(...) if you only want a pinned single-IDE smoke check. Also, since 2.14.0 the plugin already falls back to recommended() when no verifier IDEs are configured explicitly.