Git++ Kate Plugin

A comprehensive Git integration plugin for the Kate text editor. Provides a tabbed side panel with status tracking, branch management, stash operations, and worktree support — all integrated with Kate's project module.

Features

Status Tab

• Live file status — tree view showing Staged, Changed, and Untracked files
• Stage / Unstage — select files and click, or double-click to toggle
• Discard changes — revert selected files (with confirmation)
• Commit — inline message editor with amend support
• Amend — checkbox loads last commit message for editing
• Push / Pull / Fetch — with real-time progress spinner and git transfer output
• Stash — quick-save button in the toolbar
• Open commit — view any commit's diff in the editor
• Auto-refresh — watches .git/index and HEAD for external changes

Branches Tab

• Filterable list of all local and remote branches
• Checkout — double-click or button; remote branches auto-create local tracking branch
• Create branch — dialog shows source branch name
• Delete branch — with confirmation
• Compare — diff between selected branch and current, opens in editor with syntax highlighting
• Create worktree — from any branch (see Worktrees below)
• Copy branch name — right-click to clipboard

Stashes Tab

• List of all stashes with their messages
• Save — with optional message
• Apply — applies selected stash (keeps it)
• Pop — applies and removes selected stash
• Drop — removes selected stash (with confirmation)
• Diff — view stash contents in the editor

Worktrees Tab

• List of all active worktrees with path, commit, and branch
• Create — editable combo box lets you pick an existing branch or type a new one
• Remove — deletes the worktree directory (with confirmation)
• Prune — clean up stale worktree references
• Open project — double-click to open worktree in Kate
• Copy path — right-click to clipboard

Indicators

• Panel header — shows repo name, branch, dirty state with color coding
  • Green ○ when clean
  • Orange ● with file counts when dirty
  • Red ⚠ DETACHED with dark background when HEAD is detached
• Status bar — persistent branch + dirty indicator visible even when panel is hidden
• Remote operations — animated spinner with progress streaming during push/pull/fetch

Worktree Workflow

Git worktrees let you have multiple branches checked out simultaneously in separate directories, without needing multiple clones. Git++ makes this practical for daily use.

How It Works

When you create a worktree from a branch, Git++ creates a sibling directory next to your main repo using the naming convention:

{repo-name}.{branch-name}

For example, if your repo is at:

~/projects/myproject/

And you create a worktree for branch ISSUE-123_my-feature, it creates:

~/projects/myproject.ISSUE-123_my-feature/

This convention means:

• Worktrees are always next to the main repo (easy to find)
• The name tells you both the repo and the branch
• No collisions if you have worktrees from multiple repos in the same parent directory

Recommended Workflow

1. Start a feature — go to the Branches tab, select the base branch, right-click → "Create worktree" (or use the Worktrees tab → Create button)
2. Work in isolation — double-click the worktree entry to open it as a Kate project. Each worktree has its own working directory, so you can switch between features without stashing.
3. Review another branch — create a worktree for a colleague's branch to review their code without disrupting your current work.
4. Clean up — when done with a feature branch, remove the worktree from the Worktrees tab. The branch remains intact for merging.

Kate Project Detection

Git++ automatically creates a .kateproject file in each new worktree so that Kate's project plugin recognizes it immediately. The project uses git for file listing, so the file tree shows exactly what git tracks.

Building

Supports both KF5 (Kate on Qt5) and KF6 (Kate on Qt6). The build system auto-detects which framework is available, preferring KF6.

Dependencies (install the set matching your Kate version):

• KF6: libkf6texteditor-dev, libkf6i18n-dev, libkf6coreaddons-dev, qt6-base-dev, extra-cmake-modules
• KF5: libkf5texteditor-dev, libkf5i18n-dev, libkf5coreaddons-dev, qtbase5-dev, extra-cmake-modules

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -Wno-dev
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install

Or use the provided Makefile:

make install

Installation Path

The plugin installs to Kate's KTextEditor plugin directory:

• KF6: /usr/lib64/qt6/plugins/kf6/ktexteditor/gitplusplus.so
• KF5: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins/ktexteditor/gitplusplus.so

The exact path depends on your distribution's library layout.

Enable it in Kate → Settings → Configure Kate → Plugins → "Git++".

Project Integration

Git++ reads the project base directory from Kate's project plugin (kateprojectplugin). When you switch projects or open a new one, all tabs refresh automatically. If no project is open, it falls back to the directory of the active file.