dotfiles/.config/dot/.claude/tasks/0004-kde-freeform-mechanism.md

spec, blocked-by

spec	blocked-by
dot-kde	0002-kde-schema-backed-apply 0003-kde-schema-backed-diff

What to build

Add the freeform mechanism as a dispatch branch across save, apply, and diff: for settings with no KConfigXT schema (e.g. kxkbrc's Options= line), read and write via kreadconfig6/kwriteconfig6, with "default" defined as "the key is absent" rather than any schema-declared value. In the identifier-resolution decision from the first schema-backed task, this is the fallback branch: an identifier whose (rcfile, group, key) doesn't resolve through the mapping table is freeform. Because there's no schema to enumerate, freeform settings can only be checked by diff when already declared in the manifest — they never participate in undeclared broad-scan discovery.

As the real-world validation for this task, bring the machine's live, already-hand-set kxkbrc caps-lock/Escape swap (Options=caps:escape_shifted_capslock) under tracking via dot kde save, and confirm dot kde apply/dot kde diff behave correctly against it.

Acceptance criteria

• An identifier whose (rcfile, group, key) has no schema match is treated as freeform rather than erroring
• dot kde save <identifier> and dot kde save (refresh) work for freeform entries
• dot kde apply writes freeform entries via kwriteconfig6, idempotently
• dot kde diff reports a freeform mismatch when its identifier is already declared in the manifest, and never surfaces an undeclared freeform setting via broad scan
• Tests run against a scratch $HOME, covering freeform save/apply/diff using a fixture rc file with no corresponding schema
• The live kxkbrc caps-lock/Escape swap is tracked via dot kde save and the manifest committed to the dotfiles repo