Install PHP Support in KDevelop (2026 Edition)
The official kdev-php plugin provides code highlighting, completion, navigation, and more.
KDevelop itself doesn't have a built-in plugin manager for external language plugins — install via package manager, Flatpak, or build from source.
Most major distros package it as kdevelop-php (or similar). Install KDevelop first if you haven't already, then add the PHP plugin.
- Ubuntu / Debian / Linux Mint / Pop!_OS:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install kdevelop kdevelop-php - Fedora:
sudo dnf install kdevelop kdevelop-php - Arch Linux / Manjaro:
sudo pacman -S kdevelop kdevelop-php - openSUSE:
sudo zypper install kdevelop kdevelop-plugin-php(or kdevelop5-plugin-php on older versions) - Other distros: Search your package manager for kdevelop-php or kdev-php.
After installation: Restart KDevelop (or log out/in if needed). Create/open a PHP project → syntax highlighting, completion, navigation should work automatically.
- Install Flatpak if not already present: https://flatpak.org/setup/
- Add the KDE repository (if not already):
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo - Install KDevelop:
flatpak install flathub org.kde.kdevelop
The PHP plugin is usually bundled or available as an extension in recent Flatpak builds. Check inside KDevelop → Settings → Plugins after install.
(If missing, fall back to distro packages.)
KDE Gear releases are quite active as of 2026.
- Install dependencies (Ubuntu/Debian example):
sudo apt install extra-cmake-modules qt6-base-dev libkf6*-dev kdevelop-dev kdevelop-pg-qt - Clone & build:
git clone https://invent.kde.org/kdevelop/kdev-php.git
cd kdev-php
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make installRestart KDevelop afterward.
