# Set up Java local development

It is possible to carry out local development of Transforms Java repos, allowing for high-speed iterative development.

## Setting up local development for Java transforms repositories

### Clone the repository

1. In your repository’s menu bar, select **Work locally** and copy the repository URI, also referred to as the "git remote URL".

:::callout{theme="warning"}
The repository URI (git remote URL) contains sensitive information linked to your account and should not be shared. To maintain platform security, do **not** share this link with anyone else or post it publicly.
:::

![The option to clone your in-platform repository.](../../../assets/339996975726eb5954f68c1c084405590b627c9cba75a5ce83fa47d0a69d5bc3.webp)
![The "Work locally" dialog.](../../../assets/e81364ef1d8b3e296c6cb63154ee31e2e952e282176055ba6b53e3f2cbf42c11.webp)

2. Using the command line, run `git clone <URI>` on your local machine in a directory of your choice. Then use the `cd` command to navigate to the repository.

### Limitations

* The token granted for cloning is short-lived and read-only, with the exception of pushing back to your repository.
* You will still need to push your changes to Foundry to publish job specs or artifacts, or if you wish to run checks or build.

### Preview

Dataset Previews are supported in local development. See [Local preview](../../transforms-common/local-preview/index.md) for more details.

## Set up the development environment

### Prerequisites

* Ensure Java 17 is installed and the environment variable `JAVA_HOME` points to the right Java installation. You can download Java 17 from the [Oracle website ↗](https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/downloads/#java17).

:::callout{theme="neutral"}
Setting the `JAVA_HOME` environment variable based on your operating system:

* Windows: Run `SETX JAVA_HOME -m "<java-home-dir>"` in PowerShell. This modifies the system environment variable and you will need to restart the shell for changes to take effect. Alternatively you can run ` [System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("JAVA_HOME", "<java-home-dir>")` to set `JAVA_HOME` in the running process.
* Linux or macOS: Run `export JAVA_HOME=<java-home-dir>`.
:::

* Ensure your repository is upgraded to the latest template version by following the steps outlined [here](../../code-repositories/repository-upgrades/index.md#manual-branch-upgrade).

### Configure the IDE

* Install [IntelliJ Idea ↗](https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/download/) on your machine.
* Open up your command line terminal and navigate into the directory containing your repository using `cd` and run `./gradlew openIdea`. This Gradle task will generate an IntelliJ Idea project and open it.
  * On Windows, the `./gradlew openIdea` command must be run from Git BASH, which is included in [Git for Windows ↗](https://gitforwindows.org/).

### Limitations

* Gradle commands must be run from the terminal using `./gradlew`, rather than using IntelliJ's Gradle plugin.
* Local development works with Java versions up to Java 17, and does not currently support any higher Java versions.