kwriteconfig-edit

name	kwriteconfig-edit
description	Safely edit KDE config files via kwriteconfig6 / kwriteconfig5 with backup-before-write. Use whenever you need to set a key in a KDE rc file (kwinrc, kdeglobals, plasmarc, etc.) — never edit those files with sed.

kwriteconfig safe edit

KDE config files use a custom INI dialect with array suffixes ([$e], [$i]), nested groups (--group A --group B), and comments KDE will rewrite. Never use sed / awk / hand-rolled INI parsers on them — use kwriteconfig6 (or kwriteconfig5 on KF5).

Detection

KW=$(command -v kwriteconfig6 || command -v kwriteconfig5)
KR=$(command -v kreadconfig6 || command -v kreadconfig5)

Read a key

$KR --file kdeglobals --group General --key ColorScheme

Set a key (with backup)

TARGET="$HOME/.config/kwinrc"
[ -f "$TARGET" ] && cp -a "$TARGET" "$TARGET.bak.$(date +%s)"
$KW --file kwinrc --group Compositing --key Backend "OpenGL"

Nested groups

$KW --file plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc \
    --group Containments --group 1 --group General \
    --key wallpaperplugin "org.kde.image"

Delete a key / group

$KW --file kwinrc --group Compositing --key Backend --delete
$KW --file kwinrc --group Compositing --delete-group

After-edit reload

Different components watch different files. Common ones:

File	Reload
kwinrc	qdbus org.kde.KWin /KWin reconfigure
kglobalshortcutsrc	qdbus org.kde.kglobalaccel /kglobalaccel reloadConfiguration
kdeglobals	most apps re-read on launch; kbuildsycoca6 for menu/icon caches
plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc	restart plasmashell
khotkeysrc	qdbus org.kde.kded6 /modules/khotkeys reread_configuration

Notes

• Backups go to ${CLAUDE_USER_DATA:-${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/claude-plugins}/kde-plasma/state/kwriteconfig-backups/ (preferred over inline .bak clutter for non-trivial sessions).
• Boolean values are lowercase: true / false.