Using the Sublime Text plugin for Python

In this article, you'll learn how to access all the features the Sublime plugin has to offer for Python.

Prerequisites

The only prerequisites are that you have Kite Engine running and the Sublime plugin installed. If you don't have the Sublime plugin installed, you can learn how to do so here.

Note: If you installed the Sublime plugin while Sublime was already running, you'll need to restart Sublime for the plugin to activate.

Checking the Status of Kite

If Kite is installed properly, you should see a text indicator at the bottom left corner of the Sublime window.

There are a handful of possible states Kite can be in, as described in the following table:

Note: If you're running Kite for the first time, it may take several minutes for Kite to finish indexing your codebase.

Writing Code and Accessing Features

In the following sections, the $ character indicates the position of your editor's text cursor.

Completions

To start, open a Python file. Make sure that this file has been saved with a .py extension. Now type the following code:

import j$

A list of suggested completions should automatically appear.

Kite can provide completions for Python keywords, name expressions, or attribute expressions. The example above illustrates a name expression completion. An example of an attribute completion would be:

import json
json.d$

In the case of name and attribute completions, Kite will also provide the type of value represented by the completion e.g. module or function.

Function signatures

Continuing with the example code above, complete the function call to by typing the opening parentheses.

import json
json.dumps($

Kite should show you information about how to call json.dumps.

The top half of the UI shows the arguments that the function accepts. Arguments with default values will also have their default values shown. You may also click on the "Show" **kw link to show the arguments that are found in the keyword arguments dictionary.

As you type, Kite will stay in-sync with your cursor and highlight which argument you are currently focused on.

The “How others used this” section in the bottom half of the UI shows you common ways other programmers use the function json.dumps. Kite learns these calling patterns by analyzing all the open source code available on GitHub and then ranks them from most popular to last popular. If you are calling a function that you have defined locally, Kite will extract patterns from your codebase directly instead of GitHub.

Snippets

When you call a function, Kite may suggest snippets as completions you may choose. Snippets are denoted by placeholders enclosed with <>. In the screenshot below, the highlighted completion has two placeholders: <obj> and <indent>.

When you select a snippet, you can use the tab key to jump between placeholders as you edit them.

Viewing documentation

Kite can also quickly retrieve documentation for the code you are working with. If you hover your mouse over an identifier, you can click on the “Docs” link to open the documentation in the Copilot.

You may also select the Kite: Docs at Cursor command from the command palette.

When triggered, the documentation shows up in the Copilot.

Jump to definition

You can also jump to the definition of a module, class or function from your local codebase using Kite. The hover UI provides a def link to do so.

Commands and Keyboard Shortcuts

The Sublime plugin provides a number of commands and keyboard shortcuts for ease of use. The GitHub repository contains information on the available commands and shortcuts.