# Kate

Kate is the feature-packed text editor from KDE.

A screen recording version is available

{% embed url="<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBWVTKEVkOU>" %}

### kdesrc-build

Make sure kdesrc-build works correctly. Make sure \~/.config/kdesrc-buildrc contains the lines:

```ini
cmake-options -G "Kate - Unix Makefiles" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
# Build with LSP support for everything that supports it
compile-commands-linking true
compile-commands-export true
```

Using kdesrc-build build a module. E.g.

```bash
kdesrc-build kcalc
```

### kate

See the web page "Building Kate from Sources on Linux" <https://kate-editor.org/build-it/>

The web page talks about how to build kate using kdesrc-build and how to configure kate.

In kate enable the plugins: Project Plugin, LSP Client, Build Plugin, GDB.

Some of the features available in kate:

* LSP Client Symbol Outline
* Right click in text editor on a C++ identifier > LSP Client > Go to Declaration/Find References/ Switch Source Header F12/ Symbol Info/ Search and Go to Symbol Ctrl+Alt+P/ Format/ Rename/ Switch to diagnostics tab/ Quickfix This menu is also available from kate main menu > LSP Client.
* kate main menu > Tools > External Tools > Git > git blame/ gitk
* kate main menu > Tools > External Tools > Tools > Clang Format Full File/ Search KDE/Qt API/ JSON/XML Format Full File.

#### Build and debug

**With the ".kateproject" file**

```bash
cd ~/kde/src/kcalc
ln -s ~/kde/build/kcalc/.kateproject ~/kde/src/kcalc/.kateproject
kate . &
```

* Build. kate main menu > Build > Select Target... > Target Set > Working Directory should be "\~/kde/build/kcalc", all of the CMake targets should be listed, > OK button. "Build Output" tool view > "Output" is shown. kate main menu > Build > Build Default Target.
* Debugger. kate main menu > Debug > Targets > Target 1. kate main menu > View > Tool Views > Show Debug View > Settings tab > Executable > select "\~/kde/build/kcalc/bin/kcalc". Click on source code line, from kate main menu > Debug > Toggle Breakpoint. kate main menu > Debug > Start Debugging. kate main menu > Debug > Continue/ Step Over/ Step In/ Step Out.

**Without the ".kateproject" file**

If we do not have a ".kateproject" file. Then:

* Build. kate main menu > Build > Select Target... > Target Set > Working Directory should be "~~/kde/build/kcalc" > OK button. "Build Output" tool view > "Output" is shown. Change to tab "Target Settings" from tool view "Build Output" > double click on cell "Dir:" > select "~~/kde/build/kcalc", press Enter. kate main menu > Build > Build Default Target.
* Debugger. kate main menu > Debug > Targets > Target 1. kate main menu > View > Tool Views > Show Debug View > Settings tab > Executable > select "\~/kde/build/kcalc/bin/kcalc". Click on source code line, from kate main menu > Debug > Toggle Breakpoint. kate main menu > Debug > Start Debugging. kate main menu > Debug > Continue/ Step Over/ Step In/ Step Out.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.novaflowos.com/start/kde-developer-platform/readme/getting-started/building/ide/kate.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.