JetBrains/intellij-community · error · IncorrectOperationException

Can't change name of JShell holder method

Error message

Can't change name of JShell holder method

What it means

PsiJShellHolderMethodImpl is a synthetic PsiMethod created as a holder for JShell snippet evaluation in the IDE console. Its name is internal plumbing for the JShell protocol, not user-visible source, so setName throws IncorrectOperationException("Can't change name of JShell holder method").

Source

Thrown at java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/source/PsiJShellHolderMethodImpl.java:185

  @Override
  public @Nullable PsiMethod findDeepestSuperMethod() {
    return null;
  }

  @Override
  public PsiMethod @NotNull [] findDeepestSuperMethods() {
    return PsiMethod.EMPTY_ARRAY;
  }

  @Override
  public @NotNull PsiModifierList getModifierList() {
    return new LightModifierList(getManager());
  }

  @Override
  public PsiElement setName(@NotNull String name) throws IncorrectOperationException {
    throw new IncorrectOperationException("Can't change name of JShell holder method");
  }

  @Override
  public @NotNull HierarchicalMethodSignature getHierarchicalMethodSignature() {
    return PsiSuperMethodImplUtil.getHierarchicalMethodSignature(this);
  }

  @Override
  public boolean isDeprecated() {
    return false;
  }

  @Override
  public @Nullable PsiDocComment getDocComment() {
    return null;
  }

  @Override

View on GitHub (pinned to be881553f2)

Solutions

1. Filter out synthetic/non-physical elements: check method.isPhysical() == false or instanceof PsiJShellHolderMethodImpl (or skip files from the Java Shell console file type) before renaming.
2. Scope rename/refactoring actions to source files only (e.g. restrict to FileElementType sources, or check file.getViewProvider().getVirtualFile() is in the project source roots).
3. If you must rename the snippet code, edit the snippet text in the console rather than PSI mutation.

Example fix

// before
method.setName(newName); // holder method from JShell console -> throws

// after
if (!method.isPhysical() || method.getContainingFile().getFileType().getName().equals("JAVA SHELL")) continue;
method.setName(newName);

if (!method.isPhysical()) continue; // synthetic JShell holder

static boolean isRenamableMethod(PsiMethod m) { return m.isPhysical() && !(m instanceof PsiJShellHolderMethodImpl); }

try { method.setName(n); } catch (IncorrectOperationException e) { /* skip console snippet holder */ }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling setName on a method discovered inside a JShell snippet file (java shell console PSI); typically a generic plugin (rename, find-usages, refactoring) walking the console's in-memory PSI tree.

Common situations: Plugins that traverse all PsiMethods in open editors/buffers while a JShell or Java REPL console session is active; refactorings invoked from the shell console; tests exercising snippet PSI.

Related errors

• ''{0}'' is not an identifier.
• Cannot rename light class
• Implicitly declared class may have no name
• psi.error.attempt.to.edit.class.file
• Cannot rename receiver parameter

AI-assisted analysis of JetBrains/intellij-community@be881553f2 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9790c25b4fb75f31. Report an issue: GitHub.