klammertext/doc/edit/vscode

Klammertext support for Visual Studio Code

VS Code support for editing Klammertext files (.kt documents and .k klammer definitions): syntax highlighting, delimiter matching and jumping, structural reindentation, table alignment, and delimiter diagnostics in the Problems panel.

The extension has no npm dependencies and no build step. Highlighting is a TextMate grammar (converted from the Sublime Text syntax); everything structural comes from the Klammertext language server (klammertext_ls.py), a dependency-free Python process the extension spawns, which itself runs the shared editor core (klammertext_edit.py) used by the Sublime Text and Vim integrations. One implementation of the language's structure, everywhere.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.75 or later — a minimum, not a target: VS Code's monthly releases count 1.75, 1.76, … (1.75 is from January 2023), so any version from the last few years qualifies.
• python3 on PATH (or set klammertext.pythonPath); Klammertext itself already requires Python.
• The language server, found automatically in this order:
  1. the klammertext.serverPath setting, if set;
  2. klammertext_ls.py vendored next to extension.js (the layout the Klammertext editing zip ships);
  3. ../shared/klammertext_ls.py relative to the extension directory (the layout of the Klammertext repository — using the extension straight from a checkout just works);
  4. $KLAMMERTEXT_HOME/doc/edit/shared/klammertext_ls.py.

Install

Package the extension as a .vsix and install it (the builder needs only bash and python3; the editing zip from the Klammertext website ships a prebuilt klammertext.vsix, so there the first step is already done):

./make_vsix.sh
code --install-extension klammertext.vsix

then restart VS Code (or run the Developer: Reload Window command). make_vsix.sh vendors the shared core and the language server into the package automatically, from this folder or from ../shared/.

Do not copy this directory into ~/.vscode/extensions/ by hand: modern VS Code loads only registered extensions, so a merely copied folder is silently ignored (and flagged for deletion in that directory's .obsolete file). Installing the .vsix is what registers it.

Note: .kt is also Kotlin's extension. Stock VS Code has no Kotlin support built in, so there is no conflict out of the box; if you install a Kotlin extension, the two will contend for .kt and you can decide per file with the language-mode picker (or files.associations).

What you get

Syntax highlighting — the same token classes as the Emacs, Sublime Text, and Vim support: text removal (#, ##, nestable #[ ... ]#), the three @-tiers — application (@), definition (@@), system (@@@) — each as an opening (@name, one unit) or a close (name@, bare @), ^-escapes, and verbatim @code ... code@ interiors. Colors come from your theme (applications as functions, definitions as types, system commands as keywords, removed text as comments). To adopt the full Klammertext palette (application blue / definition green / system orange, opens bright and closes darker), add editor.tokenColorCustomizations rules for the *.klammertext scopes in your settings.

Diagnostics — unclosed and mismatched delimiters appear in the Problems panel as you type.

Formatting — Format Document / Format Selection reindent structurally (2 spaces per nesting level; bar runs and closing delimiters sit at their opener's column; @document content stays at the margin; verbatim @code interiors, @eval code, and removed text are never touched). Reindentation is explicit-only: there is deliberately no format-on-type, because whitespace is content in Klammertext.

Delimiter matching — with the cursor on an application delimiter, the matching delimiter highlights (occurrences highlighting); Go to Definition on a delimiter goes to its match. Literal klammers match by name (@code ↔ code@) with their verbatim content opaque; everything else matches by depth.

Commands and keybindings (when editing Klammertext):

Key	Command
Ctrl+Alt+J (Cmd+Alt+J)	Klammertext: Jump to Matching Delimiter
Ctrl+Alt+A (Cmd+Alt+A)	Klammertext: Align Table

Table alignment pads the cells of the @table enclosing the cursor so the | separators line up, with the shared rules: rows end with ||; a row with a cell over 30 characters or spanning lines is left untouched; beyond 100 columns the command declines; bars inside a nested klammer are not separators; no whitespace is ever inserted inside a bar run.

Text removal toggling — Ctrl+/ toggles # line removal and Shift+Alt+A wraps the selection in #[ ... ]#, via the standard VS Code comment commands.

Settings

Setting	Meaning (default)
klammertext.pythonPath	Python interpreter for the server (python3)
klammertext.serverPath	full path to klammertext_ls.py (auto-located)