What Plugins and Extensions Does Kate Include?

Kate ships with many plugins installed by default, so the editor's capabilities extend well beyond plain text editing without any extra setup. According to the official site, these built-in plugins include an embedded terminal, search and replace tools, a document preview, SQL execution, GDB debugging, and one-click project building. The sections below break down what each one does and when it is useful.

Plugins installed by default

The Kate website states that "Kate contains many plugins installed by default, making it more powerful than any other text editor." Because they are already present, you do not need to hunt through a marketplace before you can use them — the workflow extensions are available as soon as you install Kate.

Embedded terminal

Kate includes an integrated terminal emulator that lets you launch console commands directly from the editor. Instead of switching to a separate terminal window, you can run commands alongside the file you are editing. This is useful when you want to run a build script, check a Git status, or execute a quick command without leaving your editing context.

Search and replace

The site describes "powerful search and replace plugins" that let you quickly search inside your entire project, not just the open file. Combined with the project sidebar for navigating directory structures, this supports working across a large codebase rather than one document at a time.

Preview plugin

A preview plugin can show you what your Markdown, HTML, and even SVG will look like. This is helpful when you are writing documentation or markup and want to check the rendered result without opening a separate browser or viewer.

SQL extension

The SQL extension lets you execute SQL queries from within Kate. If your work involves databases, this keeps query testing in the same window as your other files.

GDB debugging

Kate can use GDB to debug your program. Rather than running a debugger in a separate session, you can step through code from the editor itself.

One-click project building

The site notes you can "build projects with just one click." This reduces the number of manual steps between editing and compiling.

How the plugins fit together

These plugins complement Kate's core editing features, such as syntax highlighting for over 400 languages, multi-cursor and multi-selection editing, split views, and autocompletion via the Language Server Protocol (LSP). The result is a workflow where editing, searching, previewing, querying, debugging, and building can all happen inside one application.

What to check before relying on a plugin

• Availability across platforms. Kate is available for Linux, Windows, and macOS. The site does not state that every plugin behaves identically on every platform, so if a specific plugin is critical to your workflow, confirm it works on your operating system.
• Default vs. optional. The site says many plugins are installed by default, but it does not enumerate every plugin or guarantee that all are enabled out of the box. Expect to enable or configure some through Kate's settings.
• External dependencies. Plugins like GDB debugging and SQL execution depend on the corresponding tools being available on your system. The plugin provides the integration; the underlying tool still needs to be present.

If your goal is to keep editing, running commands, previewing markup, and debugging in a single window, Kate's default plugin set is designed for exactly that. If you only need basic text editing, the extra plugins stay out of the way until you invoke them.