Latte Dock: KDE Plasma dock with parabolic zoom, built on plasma frameworks

Parabolic zoom and plasma frameworks: how Latte Dock animates the KDE taskbar

Latte Dock is a plasma frameworks-based dock that animates taskbar items and plasmoids with a parabolic zoom effect. When you hover over a dock item, neighboring icons scale in a curve. The README describes this as delivering "an elegant and intuitive experience for your tasks and plasmoids" and says the dock "tries to be there only when it is needed," pointing to its auto-hide behavior.

The dock handles both tasks (running application windows) and plasmoids (KDE widgets). That dual support means a clock, system monitor or any other plasmoid can be placed on the dock rather than on the desktop panel.

Development and merge requests are at https://invent.kde.org/plasma/latte-dock. Bug reports go to https://bugs.kde.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=lattedock. Both are on KDE infrastructure, not GitHub.

Nineteen KF5 packages and three Qt5 packages as the minimum build dependencies

Building Latte Dock from source requires Plasma >= 5.24.0, PlasmaWaylandProtocols >= 1.6.0, and Qt >= 5.15 as top-level minimums. Beyond those, nineteen KF5 packages must each be at version 5.82.0 or higher: KF5Plasma, KF5PlasmaQuick, KF5Activities, KF5CoreAddons, KF5GuiAddons, KF5DBusAddons, KF5Declarative, KF5Kirigami2, KF5Wayland, KF5Package, KF5XmlGui, KF5IconThemes, KF5KIO, KF5I18n, KF5Notifications, KF5NewStuff, KF5Archive, KF5GlobalAccel and KF5Crash.

The Qt5 development packages required for the base build are Qt5Core, Qt5Gui and Qt5Dbus, each at 5.15.0 or higher.

That dependency count makes building more demanding than a typical Qt application. On Arch Linux, where most of these KDE frameworks are grouped into the kde-frameworks package set, a single group install covers most of the list. On Ubuntu, satisfying all of them at the required versions may require the KDE Neon PPA or a newer Ubuntu base.

X11 support adds KF5WindowSystem, Qt5X11Extras and four C libraries

Wayland support is already covered by the base dependency set through KF5Wayland. X11 support is a separate layer that requires four more packages: KF5WindowSystem >= 5.82.0, Qt5X11Extras >= 5.7.0, libxcb, libxcb-randr, libxcb-shape and libSM.

The Qt5X11Extras minimum is 5.7.0, which is lower than the 5.15.0 minimum for the other Qt5 packages. That discrepancy appears in the README as written, with no explanation for the different floor.

CMakeLists.txt at the root drives the build, and install.sh and uninstall.sh handle installation and removal. INSTALLATION.md covers distributions not listed in the README's quick links, as well as development builds. The README points to that file for anyone whose distribution is not among the eight listed.

Eight distribution packages and the latte-dock command to start the dock

Distribution packages are available for Ubuntu, openSUSE, Fedora, Arch Linux (via the AUR at aur.archlinux.org/packages/latte-dock), Gentoo, Solus, Void Linux and FreeBSD (via a port at freshports.org/deskutils/latte-dock). Each entry in the README is a link to that distribution's package page.

Once installed, the dock is started with:

latte-dock

Or it can be launched from the applications menu as "Latte Dock." The README gives no flags or options for the command.

The repository root also holds a default.nix file, which provides a Nix package definition. A Nix build path alongside the CMake-based source build gives NixOS users an option that does not depend on the distribution package index.

NEWFEATURES.md alongside a second history file: a root detail the README omits

CHANGELOG.md documents the project's change history as a named file at the repository root, and NEWFEATURES.md sits alongside it as a separate file. Having two distinct files that both cover project additions at the same level raises a question a directory listing alone cannot answer: the README does not explain how the two files divide their content, nor does it reference either one.

The repository root also includes a .kde-ci.yml file, which configures KDE's own CI infrastructure. No .github/ directory is present in the repository, so GitHub Actions workflows are absent. The CI runs through KDE's systems, consistent with the project's use of KDE Invent as the primary repository.

KDE Invent as the primary repository and GitHub as a secondary mirror

The README states that the "official KDE repo in which you can also send your MRs is located at: https://invent.kde.org/plasma/latte-dock." That sentence makes the division clear: GitHub is not where merge requests or upstream issues belong. Bug reports go to KDE's Bugzilla instance at https://bugs.kde.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=lattedock.

GitHub shows no version tags for this project. The .reuse/ directory and LICENSES/ subdirectory at the repository root indicate REUSE-compliant source code attribution, but the GitHub metadata carries no named SPDX identifier for the project's licensing.

Anyone who forks from GitHub rather than from KDE Invent may receive a mirror that lags behind upstream, and a merge request opened on GitHub will not reach the maintainers.

Plasma-only by design: the built-in Task Manager and Dash to Dock as alternative paths

Latte Dock's dependency on plasma frameworks means it runs on KDE Plasma and nowhere else. A system running GNOME, XFCE or MATE cannot run Latte Dock without also installing the full KDE Plasma stack, which is not a realistic option for users committed to a different desktop.

For GNOME users who want a similar dock with icon-zoom behavior, Dash to Dock is an established alternative. It is a GNOME Shell extension that operates inside the GNOME session, with no plasma frameworks required. The design difference is direct: Dash to Dock runs as a Shell extension and modifies the existing GNOME dash; Latte Dock is a standalone application that requires Plasma and cannot function without it.

KDE Plasma users who want a taskbar without the additional dependency scope of Latte Dock can use the built-in Plasma Task Manager widget, which provides window-switching without the parabolic zoom effect or the separate dock window.

Editorial conclusion

Latte Dock is a good fit for KDE Plasma users who want a dock that hides when not in use and expands icons with a parabolic zoom on hover. It is the wrong tool if your desktop runs GNOME, XFCE or any non-Plasma environment, because the plasma frameworks dependency ties it to Plasma specifically. Before adopting a distribution package, check the version your package manager provides against the requirement of Plasma >= 5.24.0, since older LTS versions may ship an outdated build. GitHub shows no version tags for this project, so the change history lives at the official KDE repository at invent.kde.org.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. Issues
2. KDE/latte-dock on GitHub
3. Project website
4. README