Emacs Configuration

Overview

A lightweight GNU Emacs 31.1 configuration focused on Rust (eglot + rust-analyzer + tree-sitter) and Org-mode notes. It also borrows several ideas from Neovim (telescope-style search, flash-style jumps, surround-style editing).

The configuration is modular: each plugin lives in its own file under ~/.config/emacs/modules/. init.el loads them in order; early-init.el sets up package mirrors, quickstart, and GC tuning. For fast emacs --daemon startup, non-essential packages are deferred (:defer 1 loads them 1s after idle) and the native-comp cache is warmed in the background (see Notes).

Requirements

Run ./install-dependencies.sh to install the system packages, or install them manually.

Package	Used by
ripgrep	consult-ripgrep (live grep)
fd	dirvish (fast file search)
libvips (vipsthumbnail)	dirvish (image preview)
poppler	dirvish (PDF preview)
graphviz	org-roam (graph layout, fdp)
cmake libvterm	vterm (terminal module)
ffmpegthumbnailer	dirvish (video thumbnails, optional)
texlive-core	org-mode LaTeX preview (dvisvgm, optional)

Non-pacman dependencies:

rust-analyzer

rustup component add rust-analyzer

mmdc (mermaid-cli)

npm install -g @mermaid-js/mermaid-cli (for ob-mermaid)

Rust tree-sitter grammar

compiled and placed in ~/.config/emacs/tree-sitter/

ELPA packages are installed automatically on first launch via use-package :ensure t.

Install

git clone <this-repo> ~/.config/emacs
cd ~/.config/emacs
./install-dependencies.sh

Launch Emacs. Packages install automatically on the first run.

Plugins

Each plugin lives in its own file under modules/. init.el loads redirect-file-config.el first, then the rest in alphabetical order.

Appearance

ui-config.el

font (JetBrainsMono NF), absolute line numbers, pixel scrolling, UI chrome

keycast-config.el

keycast (show pressed keys on the mode line)

which-key-config.el

which-key (keybinding hints popup)

Editing

paren-config.el

show-paren (highlight matching pair) + electric-pair (auto-insert pairs)

editing-config.el

global editing defaults (delete-selection, no tabs, auto-chmod scripts, …)

auto-revert-config.el

auto-revert buffers when files change on disk

so-long-config.el

fall back to fundamental-mode for files with very long lines

repeat-config.el

repeat commands by pressing only their last key

embrace-config.el

add/change/delete surrounding pairs (surround.nvim style)

Navigation

better-jumper-config.el

jump list (C-c j b / C-c j f)

avy-config.el

jump to visible text via labels (flash.nvim style)

Completion and search (vertico + consult stack)

vertico-config.el

vertical minibuffer completion UI

orderless-config.el

out-of-order fuzzy matching

marginalia-config.el

annotate candidates with descriptions

embark-config.el

contextual actions on candidates / things at point

consult-config.el

interactive search/navigation (telescope replacement)

consult-eglot-config.el

LSP workspace symbol search through consult

symbol-overlay-config.el

highlight all occurrences of the symbol at point

completion-config.el

global completion defaults (Tab completes, vertical list)

corfu-config.el

in-buffer completion popup (auto-trigger + docs)

cape-config.el

extra completion-at-point backends (dabbrev, files, keywords, elisp)

Buffers, windows, files

ibuffer-config.el

ibuffer (advanced buffer list, replaces list-buffers)

recentf-config.el

track recently opened files

savehist-config.el

persist minibuffer history, kill ring, search rings

dired-config.el

dired defaults (dwim target, auto-revert)

window-config.el

winner undo/redo + windmove + display rules

dirvish-config.el

yazi-style file manager (two-pane dir + preview)

nerd-icons-config.el

nerd-icons fonts (completion/corfu/ibuffer/marginalia; dirvish draws its own icons, so nerd-icons-dired is disabled)

IDE / LSP

eglot-config.el

LSP client (rust-analyzer)

exec-path-from-shell-config.el

import shell env for GUI/daemon

editorconfig-config.el

apply .editorconfig project settings

flymake-config.el

diagnostics navigation

flymake-popon-config.el

show diagnostics in a popup near point

rust-config.el

rust-ts-mode remap + cargo commands

Git / shell

magit-config.el

magit (git porcelain)

diff-hl-config.el

inline git change indicators

vterm-config.el

vterm (terminal emulator)

Org-mode

org-config.el

org-mode (agenda, capture, latex preview)

ob-mermaid-config.el

mermaid diagrams in org-babel source blocks

ox-gfm-config.el

GitHub Flavored Markdown export backend

org-roam-config.el

networked notes (backlinks, graph)

Utilities / housekeeping

helper-config.el

helper commands (add lexical-binding header, fullwidth→halfwidth)

redirect-file-config.el

redirect cache/config files into var/ (org-roam db, tramp, eww, eshell, bookmarks, transient, backups, auto-saves, recentf, …)

Keybindings

Navigation

Key	Action
C-c j b	jump backward (better-jumper)
C-c j f	jump forward (better-jumper)
M-g c	jump to a character (avy)
M-g l	jump to a line (avy)

Jump points are recorded automatically before xref/consult/consult-eglot/avy/ org-roam/mark navigation commands, so C-c j b / C-c j f can navigate them.

Search (consult)

Key	Action
C-x b	fuzzy switch buffer/file
M-s l	fuzzy search in current buffer (consult-line)
M-s g	live grep in project (consult-ripgrep)
M-s r	restore search history (consult-history)
M-g g	go to line (consult-goto-line)
M-g i	outline/imenu navigation (consult-imenu)
M-y	fuzzy yank (consult-yank-pop)

Embark

Key	Action
C-.	act on target (embark-act)
C-;	do the right thing (embark-dwim)

LSP (eglot, in Rust buffers)

Key	Action
C-c l a	code actions
C-c l r	rename
C-c l f	format buffer
C-c l .	go to definition
C-c l ,	go to references
C-c l s	workspace symbols

Symbol (symbol-overlay, in code buffers)

Key	Action
M-n	jump to next same symbol
M-p	jump to previous same symbol

Diagnostics

Key	Action
C-c q	list diagnostics (consult-flymake)
C-c ! n	next error (flymake)
C-c ! p	previous error (flymake)

Surround editing

Key	Action
C-c e a	add a surrounding pair
C-c e c	change surrounding pair
C-c e d	delete surrounding pair

Files (dirvish)

Key	Action
C-x d	open dirvish (replaces dired)
C-c d	open dirvish sidebar

Windows

Key	Action
C-c w u / C-c w r	undo / redo layout
C-c w n/p/b/f	move down/up/left/right

Cargo (Rust)

Key	Action
C-c C-c C-u	rust-compile
C-c C-c C-k	rust-check
C-c C-c C-t	rust-test
C-c C-c C-l	rust-run-clippy
C-c C-f	rust-format-buffer

Text tools

Key	Action
C-c C-t p	convert fullwidth to halfwidth (CJK to ASCII)

Git (magit)

Key	Action
C-x g	magit-status
C-c g	magit-dispatch
C-c f	magit-file-dispatch

Org

Key	Action
C-c a	org-agenda
C-c c	org-capture

Org-roam

Key	Action
C-c n f	find or create a note (org-roam-node-find)
C-c n i	insert a link to an existing note
C-c n l	toggle the backlinks sidebar
C-c n g	show the notes graph
C-c n t	add a tag to the current note
C-c n a	add an alias to the current note

Buffers

Key	Action
C-x C-b	ibuffer (advanced buffer list, remaps list-buffers)

Other

Key	Action
C-c p	cape commands

Notes

• Startup speed: emacs --daemon startup is kept fast by (1) deferring non-essential packages — the completion stack (vertico / marginalia / orderless / corfu / which-key) uses :defer 1 (loaded 1s after idle), ox-gfm loads :after org, and the heavy ones (magit / org-roam / vterm / org) are deferred; and (2) native compilation is kept non-blocking: package-native-compile is nil (no compile during install), native-comp-jit-compilation is t (async JIT: bytecode first, native code compiled in the background), native-comp-async-report-warnings-errors is nil (silent), and init.el pre-warms the cache via native-compile-async over elpa/. early-init.el no longer nils out file-name-handler-alist (that hack conflicted with native-comp). Note: the first run is still slow mainly because ~30 packages are downloaded over the network, not because of compilation.
• Rust mode: .rs files open in the tree-sitter rust-ts-mode. The rust-mode package is kept only for the cargo commands.
• Dirvish extensions: dirvish installs its optional extensions (dirvish-icons, dirvish-subtree, dirvish-collapse, dirvish-side, …) under elpa/dirvish-<ver>/extensions/, which is not on the load-path by default. dirvish-config.el adds it so that nerd-icons / subtree-state / collapse attributes work (otherwise dirvish errors with Cannot open load file dirvish-icons). For the same reason dirvish-side is autoloaded explicitly (:bind would mis-autoload it from dirvish).
• Dirvish layout: dirvish-default-layout is set to '(0 0 0.4), a clean two-pane current dir | preview split. The upstream default '(1 0.11 0.55) also opens parent-directory panes, which clutter the frame. dirvish-use-header-line and dirvish-use-mode-line are both set to nil because Dirvish draws those as extra windows (above/below the panes).
• Dirvish sidebar size: the sidebar width is dirvish-side-width (integer columns, default 35). Set it in dirvish-config.el to resize, e.g. =#+begin_src emacs-lisp (setq dirvish-side-width 30) ; narrower sidebar

  Its position is controlled by dirvish-side-display-alist (default ((side . left) (slot . -1)); set side to right to flip it).

• Dirvish image preview: previews (images, pdf, video thumbnails) only appear in the full-frame layout (C-x d / M-x dirvish), which has a dedicated preview pane. The sidebar (C-c d / dirvish-side) is a plain tree view with no preview window. Image preview needs vipsthumbnail (from libvips); video thumbnails need ffmpegthumbnailer.
• Fonts: the icons need a Nerd Font (JetBrainsMono NF is used). If icons look broken, run M-x nerd-icons-install-fonts.
• Tree-sitter: grammars go in ~/.config/emacs/tree-sitter/ and are found automatically through treesit-extra-load-path.