kate-deft/docs/PLAN.md

# Plan — kate-custom

## Goal

Build a suite of Kate plugins that make the editor usable without menus, tuned
to one specific operator profile:

- mouse-heavy, with the mouse used at the caret rather than at the menubar
- one-handed keyboard typing
- no complex chords; single modifier at most
- compact keyboard where F-keys/nav clusters sit behind a layer toggle
- long Emacs history and some Sublime Text; `M-x` and type-to-filter palettes
  are familiar and welcome

The spine of the suite is a single **action registry** reached through three
interchangeable doors: `M-x` (keyboard), a radial caret menu (mouse), and the
`:` command line (optional). Every feature registers its commands once and
becomes reachable from all three. No action depends on an F-key or a chord.

### Guiding principle: natural actions drive editing

Each door suits a different kind of action, and placing an action in the wrong
door breaks flow:

- **Radial** is for actions that **complete in place** — cut, copy, paste,
  comment, case changes, join lines. The gesture starts and ends at the cursor;
  attention never leaves the text.
- Actions that **open a panel demanding immediate focus elsewhere** (Find,
  Replace, goto) do **not** belong in the radial. Being flung to a panel right
  after a cursor gesture is jarring. These belong in the **command palette** or
  a **keybind**, where the context switch is expected. The radial keeps a
  "Command Palette…" slice as the escape hatch to them.

## Why a custom matcher is the keystone

Kate's built-in command bar cannot be fixed in place:

- `KCommandBar` (KConfigWidgets) exposes only `setActions()`. There is no hook
  to replace or configure its matcher.
- `KFuzzyMatcher` (KCoreAddons) is single-needle, strictly in-order
  subsequence, and not typo tolerant. KDE's own docs state `"gti"` will not
  match `"git"`. No orderless, no company-style completion.

Therefore the palette is replaced, not extended, and the replacement is built on
`FuzzyRanker`, a matcher with:

- **orderless** tokenization (space-separated needles matched in any order)
- **layered scoring**, strongest tier first:
  1. exact
  2. substring
  3. word-boundary initials (`rs` -> **R**ename **S**ymbol)
  4. in-order subsequence
  5. bounded typo via a single adjacent transposition (`gti` -> `git`;
     deliberately narrow to avoid false positives like `ren` -> "Open File")
- **merged highlight ranges** for the UI
- AND semantics across needles, case-folded, shorter-candidate preference

## Milestones

### M1 — FuzzyRanker (keystone) — DONE
- Repo scaffold: top-level CMake (KF6/Qt6/ECM), `src/`, `src/fuzzy/`.
- `src/fuzzy/fuzzyranker.{h,cpp}`: tokenize + layered scoring + ranges.
- `src/fuzzy/test_fuzzyranker.cpp`: QTest suite, 14 cases, all green,
  including `gti -> git` and `ren sym -> Rename Symbol`.

### M2 — Palette widget (replaces KCommandBar) — DONE
- `PaletteModel` (`src/palette/palettemodel.{h,cpp}`): `QAbstractListModel`,
  re-ranks via `FuzzyRanker` on `setQuery`, exposes id/label/group/score and
  highlight ranges per row, frecency bonus. No widget dependency.
- `PaletteWidget` (`src/palette/palettewidget.{h,cpp}`): frameless popup, filter
  line + results list, live company-style updates, top hit preselected, custom
  delegate bolds matched ranges. Keyboard: Up/Down/PageUp/PageDown, Enter
  activates, Esc cancels — cursor stays in the filter line, no chords. Mouse:
  click a row to activate. Emits `activatedId(id)` / `cancelled()`.
- `src/palette/test_palettemodel.cpp`: 10 QTest cases, all green (filtering,
  orderless, typo, best-first ordering, frecency tie-break, highlight ranges).

### M3 — KTextEditor plugin + M-x + action registry — DONE
- `src/plugin/ollieplugin.{h,cpp}` + `ollieplugin.json`: a loadable
  `KTextEditor::Plugin` (`olliepalette.so`) built with `kcoreaddons_add_plugin`.
- `OllieView` (one per MainWindow) provides the **M-x** launcher on `Alt+X`.
  LAUNCHER KEYS ARE NOT QAction SHORTCUTS: `Alt+X` (M-x), `Alt+P` (Go to File)
  and `Alt+G` (Go to Symbol) are intercepted in `eventFilter()` (accept the
  `ShortcutOverride`, act on the `KeyPress`), scoped to this plugin's window.
  Registering them as `ApplicationShortcut` QActions clashed with Kate's own
  `Alt+<letter>` bindings and Qt refused to fire either ("ambiguous shortcut").
  The event-filter route cannot be ambiguous because nothing is registered —
  the same technique already used for the Acme line-editing keys. The QActions
  still exist (objectName/label) for command-palette harvest and as radial
  escape-hatch slices (`ollie_command_palette` / `ollie_goto_file` /
  `ollie_goto_symbol`, handled directly in `onRadialActivated`).
- On trigger it aggregates every enabled, visible `QAction` from the window's
  `guiFactory()->clients()` action collections, keyed by stable `objectName`,
  and feeds them to `PaletteWidget`. The action's current shortcut is shown in
  the group column. Accepting a row triggers the underlying `QAction`.
- Installs to `kf6/ktexteditor`; metadata verified valid via `KPluginMetaData`.
- Frecency: wired. `OllieView` holds a persisted `FrecencyStore`; activations
  are recorded and `PaletteItem::frecency` is populated for every palette (see
  the Frecency entry under M5).
- Duplicate handling: actions are deduplicated only by pointer identity (the
  exact same action object reachable through several GUI clients is listed
  once — functionally lossless). Distinct actions are never dropped. When two
  distinct actions would render with the same label, the label is enriched
  through a fallback chain until every visible row is unique: component name →
  objectName → shortcut → numeric suffix. Each entry also gets a unique id so
  activation always triggers the intended action.

### M4 — Radial caret menu (mouse door) — DONE (first increment)
- `src/radial/radialmodel.{h,cpp}`: pure tree + geometry. Multi-level
  (branch/leaf) `RadialNode` tree, angle hit-testing (0 = up, clockwise), inner
  dead zone, far-flick snaps by angle, descend/ascend navigation. 14 tests.
- `src/radial/radialmenu.{h,cpp}`: frameless translucent `QWidget`; paints the
  current ring (wedges, labels, branch ▸, central "back" hub), highlights the
  slice under the pointer. Two interaction modes from one widget: a **drag
  gesture** (opened with a button held — drag out and release to select; a
  release that never left the dead zone switches to click mode and keeps the
  menu open) and a **discrete click mode** (click a slice to select, click
  outside the ring to cancel). Esc ascends/cancels. Opens centred on the given
  point without moving the caret.
- `src/radial/radialconfig.{h,cpp}`: JSON → radial tree parser (+ built-in
  default) so multiple radials can be bound to different triggers. 8 tests.
- Wired into the plugin: `OllieView::setupRadials()` registers a key trigger
  (default **Alt+R**) and a **mouse-button gesture** (default **right mouse
  button**) per configured radial. Because the opening RMB press leaves an
  implicit grab on the editor view, the whole gesture (hover + release) is
  driven from the plugin's application event filter in global coordinates
  (`driveHoverGlobal`/`driveReleaseGlobal`), not from a popup mouse grab — this
  fixes stale hover and wrong-slice selection. The press and the following
  `ContextMenu` are consumed, so the context menu is suppressed and the caret
  does not move. Key-triggered radials pop at the caret
  (`View::cursorPositionCoordinates()`) and use the widget's own click handling.
- A slice may reference any Kate action by objectName, resolved via
  `findActionByName`; the special `ollie_command_palette` slice opens the palette.
- Honours the agreed model: radials are triggerable by keys (weapon-wheel style)
  and by mouse buttons/gestures; the config carries both a key `trigger` and a
  mouse `button` per radial.
- Not yet done: free-form stroke gestures (only button-press gesture so far).
- User-file radial config — DONE. `RadialConfig::load()` reads
  `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/olliepalette/radials.json` when present and non-empty,
  otherwise returns `builtinDefault()`; a present-but-broken file also falls
  back (never leaves the user with no radials). `userConfigPath()` and
  `loadFile(path, &error)` are exposed for callers/tests. `setupRadials()` now
  calls `load()`. Example config at `docs/radials.example.json`. 4 added tests
  (valid file, missing, invalid JSON, non-empty fallback).

### Mouse chording (Acme-style) — DONE
- Left-button chords (button 1 held while selecting is the anchor):
  **left + middle = Cut**, **left + right = Paste**. Both use `edit_cut` /
  `edit_paste` → the **standard KDE clipboard** (Klipper-backed), not the X11
  primary selection.
- The right-button paste chord is free of conflict because the radial gesture is
  already suppressed while the left button is held: right alone = radial, right
  while left-held = paste.
- Cut/Copy/Paste were removed from the radial once the chords covered them —
  the radial should not duplicate what a more in-flow gesture already does.
- **Middle-click primary paste is suppressed** inside the editor — the middle
  button is consumed on both press and release (the paste fires on release, so
  swallowing only the press leaked it). Paste in the editor is the KDE-clipboard
  paste (`Ctrl+V`, palette, or the left+right chord).

### Bracket-pair double-click selection — DONE
- Double-clicking next to a bracket (`()[]{}`) selects the text strictly between
  the matching pair, **multi-line aware** and nesting-aware. Adjacency is checked
  on both sides of the click; openers select forward, closers select backward.
- Implemented in the event filter via `selectBracketPairAt`: maps the click to a
  document cursor (`coordinatesToCursor`), reads neighbouring characters
  (`characterAt`), scans with depth counting across line ends, and sets the
  selection. When no bracket is adjacent it falls through to Kate's default
  double-click (word select).
- A left double-click leaves the button held, so it also arms the chord anchor:
  the user can go straight from a double-click (bracket- or word-select) into a
  left+middle / left+right chord without releasing.

### Acme line-editing keys — DONE
- Keys bound (overriding Kate/KDE defaults, `ApplicationShortcut`):
  **C-a** beginning of line, **C-e** end of line, **C-h** erase char back,
  **C-u** erase to line start, **C-w** erase word back. Semantics ported from
  plan9port acme `text.c` (`^A`/`^U` stop at the line's newline; `^W` skips
  non-alphanumerics then eats the alphanumeric run; isalnum excludes `_`).
- Implemented directly against the View/Document API (`cursorPosition`,
  `setCursorPosition`, `removeText`, `characterAt`, `lineLength`).
- Bound via the application **event filter**, not QActions: QActions for
  `Ctrl+A/W/…` collide with Kate's own (Select All, Close) and Qt reports
  ambiguous shortcuts. Instead the filter accepts the `ShortcutOverride` for
  these combos (so Kate's shortcut never fires) and acts on the `KeyPress`,
  consuming it — no registered shortcut, so no ambiguity, no per-view sweeping.

### M5 — Command vocabulary + project model + switchers — IN PROGRESS
- `:`-verb pack — DONE (palette **and** `:` command line). `src/commands/`:
  `texttransforms.{h,cpp}` (pure, unit-tested: sort/rsort, case
  upper|lower|title|snake|camel|kebab, base64 enc/dec, rot13, uuid) +
  `olliecommands.{h,cpp}`. The verb logic lives in
  `OllieCommands::runVerb(view, cmd, msg)` and transforms the selection in place
  (or the whole document when nothing is selected); `pipe <shell>` runs
  `sh -c <shell>` with the selection on stdin.
  - Verbs are invoked from the **M-x palette** (entries prefixed `ollie:cmd:`,
    executed by calling `OllieCommands::runVerb` directly). `case` is expanded
    into one entry per style; `pipe` is palette-omitted (needs free text).
  - They are **also reachable from Kate's `:` command line**. `OllieCommands`
    is a `KTextEditor::Command`; its base constructor auto-registers its names
    at the global `Editor::instance()`, and `exec()` forwards to `runVerb`.
  - ROOT-CAUSE FIX of the earlier "not reachable from `:`" problem: the
    KTextEditor registry **aborts registering a Command object entirely if any
    one of its names collides** with an already-registered command. Our list
    led with `sort`, which Kate ships as a built-in, so the collision silently
    dropped **all** our verbs. The sort verb is now registered as **`osort`**
    (runVerb still accepts the bare `sort`, so palette entries are unchanged).
    `test_ollieregistration` asserts every verb resolves to our object via
    `Editor::queryCommand`/`commandList` and guards against reclaiming `sort`.
  - A live test (`test_olliecommands_live`, headless KTextEditor doc/view)
    proves the transforms mutate a real buffer.
- Project = directory ("open folder == open project"): DONE (explicit + core +
  switcher). `src/project/projectindex.{h,cpp}` (`project_lib`, Qt::Core only,
  15 unit tests):
  - `findRoot(startDir)` walks up for a VCS marker (`.git`/`.hg`/`.svn`) and
    returns that ancestor, else the start directory itself — so any folder is a
    usable project with zero config.
  - `resolveRoot(explicitRoot, startDir)` is the effective-root decision: an
    existing explicit pick is honoured **exactly** (no walk-up — VSCode/Sublime
    "open folder" semantics); otherwise it derives via `findRoot(startDir)` with
    cwd as the final fallback. A stale explicit root reverts to discovery.
  - Explicit folder-as-project is **not** reimplemented: Kate's project plugin
    already opens folders and shows a file tree, so we build on it rather than
    duplicate it (see `KateProjectBridge` below).
  - `KateProjectBridge` (`src/project/kateprojectbridge.{h,cpp}`, in
    `project_lib`, 7 unit tests) reads Kate's built-in `kateprojectplugin` view
    through the **meta-object system** — `projectBaseDir` / `projectName` /
    `projectFiles` properties and the `projectMapChanged` /
    `projectFileNameChanged` / `pluginProjectAdded|Removed` signals (relayed to
    a single `projectChanged()`), with **no link dependency**. `OllieView`
    attaches it on construction and follows `MainWindow::pluginViewCreated` /
    `pluginViewDeleted`. Tested headlessly against a stand-in QObject that
    mirrors the plugin's property/signal surface.
  - `currentProjectRoot()` is a **two-tier** resolution:
    `KateProjectBridge::baseDir()` (Kate's loaded project) →
    `ProjectIndex::resolveRoot("", activeDocDir)` (VCS discovery, cwd fallback).
  - `listFiles(root)` prefers `git ls-files --cached --others
    --exclude-standard` inside a git work tree (honours .gitignore, includes
    untracked-not-ignored), and falls back to a bounded recursive walk
    (`walkDirectory`) that skips noise dirs (node_modules, build, target, …) and
    symlinks when there is no git (or git yields nothing).
  - Wired into the plugin: **Alt+P** "Go to File (project)" opens a second
    PaletteWidget populated with the project's files. The **full project-relative
    path** is the matched/displayed label, so FuzzyRanker scores across the
    whole path (orderless: "palette model" matches `src/palette/palettemodel.cpp`)
    and highlights matched characters along it; a base-name hit still ranks first
    because `/` is a word boundary and the length penalty favours shorter paths.
    The root is `currentProjectRoot()` (Kate's loaded project, else derived).
    Activation opens the file via `MainWindow::openUrl` + `activateView`. Also
    reachable from the M-x palette (`ollie:switch:file`) and, by objectName
    `ollie_goto_file`, from a radial. (2 path-ranking tests in
    `test_palettemodel`.)
- Fuzzy symbol switcher scoped to the folder: DONE.
  `src/project/symbolindex.{h,cpp}` (in `project_lib`, 7 unit tests incl. a
  live ctags run):
  - System ctags is **Exuberant 5.9** (no JSON), so `parseTags` parses the
    classic extended tab format from `ctags -f - -L - --fields=+nK
    --excmd=number --sort=no` (file list fed on stdin so a big project never
    overflows ARG_MAX; paths relative to the root). Each `Symbol` carries
    name / file / line / kind / scope.
  - Wired into the plugin: **Alt+G** "Go to Symbol (project)" opens a third
    PaletteWidget of the project's symbols. The label is
    `Scope::name  —  kind file` — the name leads (so a name hit ranks first)
    while the kind and file are both visible and filterable in the same query
    (e.g. "method olliecommands"). Activation opens the file via
    `MainWindow::openUrl` and jumps the cursor to the symbol's line (ctags
    1-based → cursor 0-based). Also in the M-x palette (`ollie:switch:symbol`)
    and reachable from a radial by objectName `ollie_goto_symbol`.
    (Alt+R is reserved for the radial key trigger, so this uses Alt+G.)
- Frecency (usage-aware ranking) — DONE.
  `src/palette/frecencystore.{h,cpp}` (in `palette`, Qt::Core only, 11 unit
  tests):
  - Per-id `{count, last-used}` persisted as flat JSON (via `QSaveFile`) at
    `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/olliepalette/frecency.json`. `bonus(id, now)` combines a
    recency bucket (<1d=100, <1w=70, <1mo=50, <3mo=30, else 10) with a visit
    count capped at 10 → an integer in [0,100]. The cap keeps the bonus well
    below a textual-match tier (substring=400) so frecency nudges ordering and
    breaks ties without overriding a clearly better match; on an empty query it
    floats habitual choices to the top.
  - Wired into the plugin: `OllieView` loads the store in its ctor, every
    activation (`runAction` for the M-x palette; the file/symbol switcher
    lambdas) calls `recordUsage` (bump + save), and each palette sets
    `PaletteItem::frecency` from `bonus()` before showing. File/symbol keys are
    **project-qualified** (prefixed by the resolved root) so usage never bleeds
    between repos that share relative paths.

## Build and test

```sh
cmake -B build -S .
cmake --build build
ctest --test-dir build
# or directly:
QT_QPA_PLATFORM=offscreen ./build/bin/test_fuzzyranker
```

## Environment facts (verified)

- Kate 25.12.3, KDE Frameworks 6, Qt 6.10, cmake 4.2.3, g++, extra-cmake-modules.
- KTextEditor + KCoreAddons + KConfigWidgets + KXmlGui + KRunner dev headers present.
- No Python/Pâté binding installed; C++ is the only first-class plugin path.