What is the easiet way to develop a plugin based on existing YAML plugin?

Hi Team,

We're currently embarking on an exciting project: developing a declarative language based on YAML. During this process, we also want to create an IntelliJ plugin that builds upon the existing offical YAML plugin. This new plugin aims to introduce features like syntax highlighting for multi-line sql strings and auto-completion for keywords following specific patterns, etc.

Since we plan to base our new plugin on the existing YAML plugin, I'm exploring the most efficient ways to leverage existing code. I came across this page on plugin dependencies: https://plugins.jetbrains.com/docs/intellij/plugin-dependencies.html.  Do you think this resource will be helpful for our purpose?

Additionally, I'd like to gather your thoughts on whether developing a plugin might be an overkill for our objectives. If you believe it's not a viable path, do you have any recommendations or insights to share? Your expertise and advice are greatly valued!

Thank you very much for your support!