My goal is to set Kate up to work properly on Python files but to use different settings (tabs not spaces) on other documents. I'm sure others are doing this, but I can't figure out a convenient solution. I appreciate any advice.Kate has settings for indentation here:Click the Settings menuClick Configure - KateOn the right expand EditorClick IndentationOne option is Default indentation mode. One choice for that setting is Python. However, I cannot find where to set (or even display) the options used for the Python choice.Furthermore, it is not clear what is the interaction between Default indentation mode and the explicit settings for indentation on that page. Does one override the other? 
How do I make Kate indent with spaces on Python files but use tabs for text files and other files?
python;editors;kate;indentation;tabulation
There are multiple ways to achieve what you want. In order, Kate is doing the following:Kate reads the settings that are configured globally in the config dialog in the Indentation tab.Kate reads optional session data, i.e. if you use sessions and manually chose settings in a file, these settings should be restored again when opening the file.Kate reads the Filetype configuration: The filetype, also called mode, can be configured in Settings > Configure Kate > Open/Save > Modes & Filetypes tab. Choose your filetype, e.g. Scripts/Python and then add a modeline like this: kate: indent-pasted-text false; indent-width 4;Kate searches for document variables in .kateconfig files recursively upwards. If found, it will apply these settingsKate reads document variables in the document itself. So in a Python file, you can simply add a comment in the first or last 10 lines of the file and write e.g.:# kate: indent-pasted-text false; indent-width 4;All this is also described in the Kate Handbook.