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TODO Tags in IDEs: Manage TODO/FIXME/HACK in IntelliJ IDEA

Don’t stop at TODO. Add patterns for common task tags (FIXME/XXX/HACK/OPTIMIZE/REVIEW) so IDEs can surface them in one place and you can distinguish bugs, hacks, and real follow-ups.

Many Java projects end up with TODO comments everywhere, typically in a single format:

// TODO: refactor this later

Over time, TODOs pile up and everything gets mixed together: real bugs, temporary hacks, “needs review” warnings, and regular follow-ups. You lose the ability to prioritize.

The good news: IDEs can recognize more than just TODO. With a bit of configuration, you can:

  • Use different tags to distinguish follow-ups / known bugs / temporary hacks / review hotspots
  • Let IntelliJ IDEA (and other IDEs) collect them into a single TODO view

1. Common task comment tags

In Java projects (and most languages), these task-style tags are widely used:

  • TODO: future work, refactors, missing tests/docs, follow-ups
  • FIXME: known issue that should be fixed (more “bug-like” than TODO)
  • XXX: suspicious code / potential risk that deserves attention
  • HACK: temporary workaround that should be replaced with a proper solution
  • NOTE / INFO: important notes (not necessarily actionable)
  • BUG: explicitly marking a bug (often combined with a ticket ID)
  • OPTIMIZE: potential performance/structure/readability improvements
  • REVIEW: areas you want reviewers to pay extra attention to

These tags are just plain words in comments. Whether the IDE indexes them depends on your configuration.

2. Why does the IDE only show TODO/FIXME by default?

A common surprise:

“I wrote HACK, XXX, OPTIMIZE — but nothing shows up in the TODO tool window.”

That’s because the IDE only scans comments using the patterns you configured.

  • IntelliJ IDEA: Settings/Preferences → Editor → TODO
    • By default, you’ll usually only have TODO (sometimes FIXME)
  • Eclipse: Preferences → Java → Compiler → Task Tags
    • By default, it often includes TODO, FIXME, XXX

In short:

  • Configured patterns → indexed and shown in the TODO/TASK panel
  • Unconfigured tags → treated as normal comments

3. Enable more tags in IntelliJ IDEA

3.1 Open TODO settings

Path: Settings/Preferences → Editor → TODO

You’ll see a Patterns list of regex rules. Many setups only include something like:

  • \bTODO\b.*
  • maybe \bFIXME\b.*

3.2 Add patterns for your tags

Click the + button and add patterns such as:

  • \bHACK\b.*
  • \bXXX\b.*
  • \bOPTIMIZE\b.*
  • \bREVIEW\b.*

Two small tips:

  • Patterns are regex (not simple text matching)
  • Prefer the form \bTAG\b.*
    • \b ensures word boundaries (avoid matching within other words)
    • .* captures the rest of the line so the TODO panel shows context

After saving, IDEA will re-scan and your new tags should appear in the TODO tool window.

4. Configure Task Tags in Eclipse

If you use Eclipse, the idea is the same, just a different menu:

Path: Preferences → Java → Compiler → Task Tags

You can:

  • Add tags (e.g. OPTIMIZE, HACK)
  • Remove rarely used tags
  • Set priorities, for example:
    • FIXME / BUG: High
    • TODO: Normal
    • OPTIMIZE: Low

If you define too many tags, you may run into:

  • Harder filtering/searching
  • Inconsistent meaning across teammates

A practical set is 2–4 core tags, with a shared meaning:

  • TODO: features/refactors/docs/tests to do
  • FIXME: known defects to fix
  • OPTIMIZE (optional): improvements (performance/structure/maintainability)
  • REVIEW (optional): needs extra attention or confirmation

You can also combine tags with ticket IDs for traceability:

  • FIXME(#1234): race condition under high concurrency
  • TODO(#5678): replace with unified auth component

Recommended format:

  • TAG: description
  • TAG(#IssueId): description

6. Common pitfalls

  • Relying on syntax highlight instead of the TODO panel
    Editor highlight may depend on themes/inspections. The TODO panel is the source of truth.

  • Patterns too broad → false matches
    Use \bTAG\b.* to avoid matching inside other words.

  • No team agreement
    Document which tags are allowed, what they mean, and whether issue IDs are required.

Summary

  • Common tags include TODO / FIXME / XXX / HACK / NOTE / BUG / OPTIMIZE / REVIEW.
  • IDEs only index what you configured in TODO/Task patterns (IDEA) or Task Tags (Eclipse).
  • Keep a small set of shared tags (2–4), optionally combine them with issue IDs, and make them visible in the TODO panel.