# JavaScript documentation look-up

> **TL;DR**
> Required plugin:
>
>
>
> `JavaScript and TypeScript` -    the plugin is bundled with CLion and enabled by default.

CLion shows you reference for standard JavaScript APIs, for symbols from your project and from its dependencies, as well as for symbols defined in external libraries. You can view the documentation for symbols in the Documentation popup and open documentation on external sites if links to them are available.

* For a project symbol or for a symbol from the project dependencies, CLion generates the documentation from the corresponding [JSDoc comment](https://github.com/jsdoc3/jsdoc/).

* For a standard JavaScript object or method, CLion shows the corresponding JSDoc comment from the built-in [TypeScript definition files](https://github.com/Microsoft/TypeScript/tree/master/lib) `d.ts`. These files are bundled with CLion and updated on a regular basis.

* If no comment is found in the `d.ts` files, CLion shows a summary from the corresponding [MDN article](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript).

By default, documentation is shown in the Documentation popup but you can always open it in the  [Documentation tool window](documentation-tool-window.html) or even configure it to appear in the Documentation tool window by default.

## Quick Documentation in a popup

Procedure:

* Hover over the necessary symbol in the editor.

* Place the caret at the symbol and press `Ctrl+Q` (Windows), `F1` (macOS), `⌃ J` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ I` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+Q` (XWin), `Ctrl+Q` (GNOME), `Ctrl+Q` (KDE), `Ctrl+Q` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Q` (Sublime Text), `Ctrl+Q` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `⌘ ⌃ ⇧ /` (Xcode), `Ctrl+K, I` (Visual Studio), `⌘ K, I` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+Q` (ReSharper), `⌃ Q` (ReSharper (macOS)), `Ctrl+Q` (QtCreator), `Ctrl+Q` (QtCreator (macOS)), `Ctrl+Q` (NetBeans), `Alt+Middle-Click` (Eclipse), `⌥ Middle-Click` (Eclipse (macOS)) or select `View | Quick Documentation` from the main menu.

Press `Ctrl+Q` (Windows), `F1` (macOS), `⌃ J` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ I` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+Q` (XWin), `Ctrl+Q` (GNOME), `Ctrl+Q` (KDE), `Ctrl+Q` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Q` (Sublime Text), `Ctrl+Q` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `⌘ ⌃ ⇧ /` (Xcode), `Ctrl+K, I` (Visual Studio), `⌘ K, I` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+Q` (ReSharper), `⌃ Q` (ReSharper (macOS)), `Ctrl+Q` (QtCreator), `Ctrl+Q` (QtCreator (macOS)), `Ctrl+Q` (NetBeans), `Alt+Middle-Click` (Eclipse), `⌥ Middle-Click` (Eclipse (macOS)) again to open this documentation in the Documentation tool window.

* Click ![the Show Options Menu icon](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.actions.more.svg)  in the popup to change the font size, display the quick documentation toolbar, or go to the source code.

> **Note:**
> To toggle the focus between the Quick Documentation popup and the Documentation tool window, press `Ctrl+Q` (Windows), `F1` (macOS), `⌃ J` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ I` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+Q` (XWin), `Ctrl+Q` (GNOME), `Ctrl+Q` (KDE), `Ctrl+Q` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Q` (Sublime Text), `Ctrl+Q` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `⌘ ⌃ ⇧ /` (Xcode), `Ctrl+K, I` (Visual Studio), `⌘ K, I` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+Q` (ReSharper), `⌃ Q` (ReSharper (macOS)), `Ctrl+Q` (QtCreator), `Ctrl+Q` (QtCreator (macOS)), `Ctrl+Q` (NetBeans), `Alt+Middle-Click` (Eclipse), `⌥ Middle-Click` (Eclipse (macOS)) sequentially.

Click ![the Show Options Menu icon](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.actions.more.svg)  in the popup to change the font size, display the quick documentation toolbar, or go to the source code.

## MDN documentation for symbols

Procedure:

* In the Documentation popup `Ctrl+Q` (Windows), `F1` (macOS), `⌃ J` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ I` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+Q` (XWin), `Ctrl+Q` (GNOME), `Ctrl+Q` (KDE), `Ctrl+Q` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Q` (Sublime Text), `Ctrl+Q` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `⌘ ⌃ ⇧ /` (Xcode), `Ctrl+K, I` (Visual Studio), `⌘ K, I` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+Q` (ReSharper), `⌃ Q` (ReSharper (macOS)), `Ctrl+Q` (QtCreator), `Ctrl+Q` (QtCreator (macOS)), `Ctrl+Q` (NetBeans), `Alt+Middle-Click` (Eclipse), `⌥ Middle-Click` (Eclipse (macOS)), click the link at the bottom:

![ws_mdn_docs.png](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/ws_mdn_docs.png)

* Press `Shift+F1` (Windows), `⇧ F1` (macOS), `⇧ F1` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⇧ F1` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Shift+F1` (XWin), `Shift+F1` (GNOME), `Shift+F1` (KDE), `Shift+F1` (Emacs), `Shift+F1` (Sublime Text), `⇧ F1` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `⌘ ⌃ ⌥ /` (Xcode), `Shift+F1` (Visual Studio), `⇧ F1` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Shift+F1` (ReSharper), `⇧ F1` (ReSharper (macOS)), `Shift+F1` (QtCreator), `⇧ F1` (QtCreator (macOS)), `Shift+F1` (NetBeans), `Shift+F2` (Eclipse), `⇧ F2` (Eclipse (macOS)) or select `View | External Documentation` from the main menu.

CLion  opens the MDN article in the  [default CLion browser](configuring-third-party-tools.html#web-browsers).

## Documentation for third-party JavaScript libraries

Procedure:

1. Download the required library or framework, configure it as an external JavaScript library, and specify the link to its external documentation. For more information, refer to [Configuring a custom third-party JavaScript library](configuring-javascript-libraries.html#ws_js_custom_third_party_library).

2. Place the caret at the symbol and press `Shift+F1` (Windows), `⇧ F1` (macOS), `⇧ F1` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⇧ F1` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Shift+F1` (XWin), `Shift+F1` (GNOME), `Shift+F1` (KDE), `Shift+F1` (Emacs), `Shift+F1` (Sublime Text), `⇧ F1` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `⌘ ⌃ ⌥ /` (Xcode), `Shift+F1` (Visual Studio), `⇧ F1` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Shift+F1` (ReSharper), `⇧ F1` (ReSharper (macOS)), `Shift+F1` (QtCreator), `⇧ F1` (QtCreator (macOS)), `Shift+F1` (NetBeans), `Shift+F2` (Eclipse), `⇧ F2` (Eclipse (macOS)) or choose `View | External Documentation` from the main menu.

## Documentation for npm packages

Procedure:

* In a `package.json` file or in a `require` or `import` statement, place the caret at the name of the package and press `Ctrl+Q` (Windows), `F1` (macOS), `⌃ J` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ I` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+Q` (XWin), `Ctrl+Q` (GNOME), `Ctrl+Q` (KDE), `Ctrl+Q` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Q` (Sublime Text), `Ctrl+Q` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `⌘ ⌃ ⇧ /` (Xcode), `Ctrl+K, I` (Visual Studio), `⌘ K, I` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+Q` (ReSharper), `⌃ Q` (ReSharper (macOS)), `Ctrl+Q` (QtCreator), `Ctrl+Q` (QtCreator (macOS)), `Ctrl+Q` (NetBeans), `Alt+Middle-Click` (Eclipse), `⌥ Middle-Click` (Eclipse (macOS))

Import statement:

![Quick Doc for an npm package is opened from an import statement](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/ws_quick_doc_for_npm_package.png)

package.json:

![Quick Doc for an npm package is opened from a package.json](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/ws_quick_doc_for_npm_package_from_package_json.png)

* To open the documentation on the [npm official website](https://www.npmjs.com) in the browser, click the link in the popup or press `Shift+F1` (Windows), `⇧ F1` (macOS), `⇧ F1` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⇧ F1` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Shift+F1` (XWin), `Shift+F1` (GNOME), `Shift+F1` (KDE), `Shift+F1` (Emacs), `Shift+F1` (Sublime Text), `⇧ F1` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `⌘ ⌃ ⌥ /` (Xcode), `Shift+F1` (Visual Studio), `⇧ F1` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Shift+F1` (ReSharper), `⇧ F1` (ReSharper (macOS)), `Shift+F1` (QtCreator), `⇧ F1` (QtCreator (macOS)), `Shift+F1` (NetBeans), `Shift+F2` (Eclipse), `⇧ F2` (Eclipse (macOS)).

## See also