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| Kate | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Kate 24.12.0 inKDE Plasma 6 | |
| Developer | KDE |
| Initial release | 2001; 24 years ago (2001) |
| Stable release | 25.08.0[1]  / 14 August 2025 |
| Repository | invent |
| Written in | C++,Qt |
| Operating system | |
| Type | Source code editor |
| License | LGPL-2.0-or-later,MIT[6] |
| Website | kate-editor |
TheKDE Advanced Text Editor, orKate, is asource code editor developed by theKDEfree software community. It has been a part ofKDE Software Compilation sinceversion 2.2, which was first released in 2001. Intended for software developers, it featuressyntax highlighting,code folding, customizable layouts, multiple cursors and selections,regular expression support, and extensibility via plugins. The text editor's mascot is Kate the Cyber Woodpecker.
Kate has been part of the KDE Software Compilation sincerelease 2.2 in 2001.[9] Because ofKParts technology, it is possible to embed Kate as an editing component in other KDE applications. MajorKDE applications which use Kate as an editing component include theintegrated development environmentKDevelop, the web development environment Quanta Plus, and the LaTeX front-endKile.[citation needed]
Kate has won the advanced text editor comparison inLinux Voice magazine.[10]
As of July 2014[update], development had started to port Kate, along withDolphin,Konsole,KDE Telepathy, andYakuake, toKDE Frameworks 5.[11]
In 2022, the KDE text-editorKWrite was modified to use the same code base as Kate with deactivated features.[12]
Kate is asource code editor that features syntax highlighting for over 300 file formats with code folding rules.[13][14] The syntax highlighting is extensible viaXML files.[15] It supportsUTF-8,UTF-16,ISO-8859-1 andASCIIencoding schemes and can detect a file'scharacter encoding automatically.[citation needed] Kate offers code completion and reference finding for various programming languages through itsLanguage Server Protocol Client plugin. The default configuration supportsC,C++,D,Fortran,Go,Latex,Python,Rust, andOCaml.[16]
Kate's main text editor widget is calledKatePart, which is reusable under the terms of the LGPL version 2 license.[17] It must not be confused with the KParts, a KDE plugin framework for user interface components that Kate also uses.[18]
Kate can be used as amodal text editor through itsvi input mode.[19]
Kate featuresmultiple document interface, window splitting, project editing[20] and sessions to facilitate editing multiple documents. Usingsessions, one can customize Kate for different projects by saving the list of open files, the list of enabled plug-ins and the window configuration.[21]
Kate includes the KDEterminal emulatorKonsole through its Terminal Tool View plugin.[22] Since version 23.04, the terminal is also available on windows.[23]
The "quick open" feature allows searching opened files by name for quick recalling.[24] Line modification indicators highlight lines with unsaved changes and lines added in the current session.[25][26]
Being a KDE application, Kate transparently opens and saves files over all protocols supported byKIO libraries. This includesHTTP,FTP,SSH,SMB andWebDAV, among others.[citation needed]
As of September 2021[update], unlikeXed,Kate is equipped with asession manager which allows naming, saving, and restoring sessions, meaning a list of momentarily open file tabs. Saved sessions are stored askey-value-formatted*.katesession files into~/.local/share/kate/sessions/.
Other features are aclipboard history with up to ten items, the ability to jump to a line number,[27] andsource control integration usingGit[28][29]
Show line modification markers
Media related toKate (text editor) at Wikimedia Commons
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