diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index d6740cf8..155d5b89 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 plugins {
     id 'java'
+    id("org.jetbrains.gradle.plugin.idea-ext") version "1.0"
 }
 
 group 'marginalia'
@@ -13,6 +14,20 @@ task dist(type: Copy) {
     into "$buildDir/dist"
 }
 
+idea {
+    module {
+        excludeDirs.add(file("$projectDir/run/model"))
+        excludeDirs.add(file("$projectDir/run/samples"))
+        excludeDirs.add(file("$projectDir/run/db"))
+        excludeDirs.add(file("$projectDir/run/logs"))
+        excludeDirs.add(file("$projectDir/run/install"))
+        excludeDirs.add(file("$projectDir/run/data"))
+        excludeDirs.add(file("$projectDir/run/conf"))
+        excludeDirs.add(file("$projectDir/run/vol"))
+        excludeDirs.add(file("$projectDir/run/test-data"))
+    }
+}
+
 java {
     toolchain {
         languageVersion.set(JavaLanguageVersion.of(17))