devonfw · areinicke · May 5, 2026 · May 5, 2026 · May 5, 2026 · May 5, 2026
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.adoc b/CHANGELOG.adoc
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ Release with new features and bugfixes:
 * https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/1853[#1853]: Add ARM releases for VSCode on Mac
 * https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/797[#797]: Use system unzip on macOS to preserve symlinks in ZIP extraction
 * https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/1723[#1723]: Add commandlet for GitHub Copilot CLI
+* https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/1880[#1880]: Reinstall all plugins for IDE in force mode
 * https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/861[#861]: Fix install of pgadmin throws IllegalStateException when the install wizard starts
 * https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/1844[#1844]: VSCode plugin installation progress freezing
 * https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/1456[#1456]: Uninstall via Windows settings not working

diff --git a/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/context/AbstractIdeContext.java b/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/context/AbstractIdeContext.java
@@ -799,6 +799,12 @@ public boolean isForcePlugins() {
     return this.startContext.isForcePlugins();
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public boolean isForcePluginReinstall() {
+
+    return this.startContext.isForcePluginReinstall();
+  }
+
   @Override
   public boolean isForceRepositories() {
 

diff --git a/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/context/IdeStartContext.java b/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/context/IdeStartContext.java
@@ -60,6 +60,11 @@ public interface IdeStartContext extends ReadOfflineMode {
    */
   boolean isForcePlugins();
 
+  /**
+   * @return {@code true} to force plugin reset and reinstallation, {@code false} otherwise.
+   */
+  boolean isForcePluginReinstall();
+
   /**
    * @return {@code true} to force repositories (including cloning inactive and pull existing ones), {@code false} otherwise.
    */

diff --git a/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/context/IdeStartContextImpl.java b/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/context/IdeStartContextImpl.java
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ public class IdeStartContextImpl implements IdeStartContext {
 
   private boolean forcePlugins;
 
+  private boolean forcePluginReinstall;
+
   private boolean forceRepositories;
 
   private boolean batchMode;
@@ -238,6 +240,20 @@ public void setForcePlugins(boolean forcePlugins) {
     this.forcePlugins = forcePlugins;
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public boolean isForcePluginReinstall() {
+
+    return this.forcePluginReinstall;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @param forcePluginReinstall new value of {@link #isForcePluginReinstall()}.
+   */
+  public void setForcePluginReinstall(boolean forcePluginReinstall) {
+
+    this.forcePluginReinstall = forcePluginReinstall;
+  }
+
   @Override
   public boolean isForceRepositories() {
 

diff --git a/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/tool/plugin/PluginBasedCommandlet.java b/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/tool/plugin/PluginBasedCommandlet.java
@@ -11,10 +11,13 @@
 
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.cli.CliException;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.common.Tag;
+import com.devonfw.tools.ide.context.AbstractIdeContext;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.context.IdeContext;
+import com.devonfw.tools.ide.context.IdeStartContextImpl;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.io.FileAccess;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.process.ProcessContext;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.process.ProcessErrorHandling;
+import com.devonfw.tools.ide.property.FlagProperty;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.step.Step;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.LocalToolCommandlet;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ToolInstallRequest;
@@ -29,6 +32,9 @@ public abstract class PluginBasedCommandlet extends LocalToolCommandlet {
 
   private ToolPlugins plugins;
 
+  /** {@link FlagProperty} to force the reset and reinstallation of plugins as configured in the project settings. */
+  public FlagProperty forcePluginReinstall;
+
   /**
    * The constructor.
    *
@@ -41,6 +47,12 @@ public PluginBasedCommandlet(IdeContext context, String tool, Set<Tag> tags) {
     super(context, tool, tags);
   }
 
+  @Override
+  protected void initProperties() {
+    this.forcePluginReinstall = add(new FlagProperty("--force-plugin-reinstall"));
+    super.initProperties();
+  }
+
   /**
    * @return the {@link ToolPlugins} of this {@link PluginBasedCommandlet}.
    */
@@ -109,20 +121,35 @@ protected void postInstall(ToolInstallRequest request) {
     super.postInstall(request);
     Path pluginsInstallationPath = getPluginsInstallationPath();
     FileAccess fileAccess = this.context.getFileAccess();
-    if (!request.isAlreadyInstalled()) {
-      fileAccess.delete(pluginsInstallationPath);
-      List<Path> markerFiles = fileAccess.listChildren(this.context.getIdeHome().resolve(IdeContext.FOLDER_DOT_IDE), Files::isRegularFile);
-      for (Path path : markerFiles) {
-        if (path.getFileName().toString().startsWith("plugin." + getName())) {
-          LOG.debug("Plugin marker file {} got deleted.", path);
-          fileAccess.delete(path);
-        }
-      }
+
+    IdeStartContextImpl startContext = ((AbstractIdeContext) this.context).getStartContext();
+    startContext.setForcePluginReinstall(this.forcePluginReinstall.isTrue());
+
+    if (!request.isAlreadyInstalled() || this.context.isForcePluginReinstall()) {
+      LOG.info("Resetting all installed plugins...");
+      deleteAllPlugins(pluginsInstallationPath);
     }
     fileAccess.mkdirs(pluginsInstallationPath);
     installPlugins(request.getProcessContext());
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Deletes all installed plugins for this {@link IdeToolCommandlet} by deleting the plugins installation folder and all plugin marker files.
+   * @param pluginsInstallationPath the {@link Path} to the plugins installation folder.
+   */
+  private void deleteAllPlugins(Path pluginsInstallationPath) {
+
+    FileAccess fileAccess = this.context.getFileAccess();
+    fileAccess.delete(pluginsInstallationPath);
+    List<Path> markerFiles = fileAccess.listChildren(this.context.getIdeHome().resolve(IdeContext.FOLDER_DOT_IDE), Files::isRegularFile);
+    for (Path path : markerFiles) {
+      if (path.getFileName().toString().startsWith("plugin." + getName())) {
+        fileAccess.delete(path);
+        LOG.debug("Plugin marker file {} got deleted.", path);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   private void installPlugins(ProcessContext pc) {
     installPlugins(getPlugins().getPlugins(), pc);
   }

diff --git a/cli/src/main/resources/nls/Help.properties b/cli/src/main/resources/nls/Help.properties
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ opt.--batch=enable batch mode (non-interactive).
 opt.--code=clone given code repository containing a settings folder into workspaces so that settings can be committed alongside code changes.
 opt.--debug=enable debug logging.
 opt.--force=enable force mode.
+opt.--force-plugin-reinstall=resets installed plugins to the project configuration
 opt.--force-plugins=force plugin (re)installation.
 opt.--force-pull=force pull of settings even for code repository.
 opt.--force-repositories=force setup of repositories to even clone inactive and pull existing ones.

diff --git a/cli/src/main/resources/nls/Help_de.properties b/cli/src/main/resources/nls/Help_de.properties
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ opt.--batch=Aktiviert den Batch-Modus (nicht-interaktive Stapelverarbeitung).
 opt.--code=Git-Repository sowohl als Code- als auch als Settings-Repository verwenden.
 opt.--debug=Aktiviert Debug-Ausgaben (Fehleranalyse).
 opt.--force=Aktiviert den Force-Modus (Erzwingen).
+opt.--force-plugin-reinstall=Setzt installierte Plugins zurück auf die Projektkonfiguration.
 opt.--force-plugins=Erzwingt die (Re)Installation von Plugins.
 opt.--force-pull=Erzwingt einen Pull der settings auch im Fall eines Code-Repositories.
 opt.--force-repositories=Erzwingt das Setup von Repositories um auch Inaktive zu clonen oder Existierende zu pullen.

diff --git a/documentation/plugin.adoc b/documentation/plugin.adoc
@@ -31,3 +31,12 @@ For `VisualStudio Code`,  this is the extension ID you can directly get from the
 |`active`|`true`|(optional) `true` to tell IDEasy that this plugin shall be installed automatically for everybody in your team. Default is `false`. If not auto-installed, it can still be installed via `ide install-plugin «ide» «plugin»`.
 |`tags`|e.g. `java,spring,ai`|(optional) Tags to classify the plugin. Will be used by the GUI of IDEasy for selection by tag.
 |===
+
+
+== Resetting installed plugins
+
+When first installing an IDE using `ide install «ide»`, IDEasy will automatically install all plugins that are configured in the project settings.
+This configuration is intended to serve as a baseline for the entire team.
+However, after the initial setup, you can freely change the plugin configuration for your IDE as you see fit.
+
+To revert to the initial plugin configuration, you can run `ide «ide» --force-plugin-reinstall`, which will uninstall all currently installed plugins and reinstall them as configured in the project settings.