spacemacs/layers/+lang/haskell/README.org

#+TITLE: Haskell layer

[[file:img/haskell.png]]

* Table of Contents                                      :TOC_4_gh:noexport:
 - [[#description][Description]]
   - [[#features][Features:]]
 - [[#install][Install]]
   - [[#layer][Layer]]
   - [[#dependencies][Dependencies]]
   - [[#setup-path][Setup PATH]]
   - [[#completion-support][Completion support]]
     - [[#company-ghci][=company-ghci=]]
     - [[#intero][=intero=]]
     - [[#ghc-mod][=ghc-mod=]]
   - [[#optional-extras][Optional extras]]
     - [[#structured-haskell-mode][structured-haskell-mode]]
     - [[#hindent][hindent]]
 - [[#key-bindings][Key bindings]]
   - [[#documentation][Documentation]]
   - [[#debug][Debug]]
   - [[#debug-buffer][Debug Buffer]]
   - [[#repl][REPL]]
   - [[#intero-repl][Intero REPL]]
   - [[#cabal-commands][Cabal commands]]
   - [[#cabal-files][Cabal files]]
   - [[#refactor][Refactor]]
   - [[#ghc-mod-1][Ghc-mod]]
     - [[#insert-template][Insert template]]
 - [[#syntax-checking][Syntax checking]]
   - [[#flycheck][Flycheck]]
   - [[#hlint][HLint]]
   - [[#ghc-mod-2][ghc-mod]]
   - [[#interactive-haskell-mode][Interactive haskell-mode]]
   - [[#flymake][Flymake]]
   - [[#troublesshooting][Troublesshooting]]
 - [[#faq][FAQ]]
   - [[#the-repl-doesnt-work][The REPL doesn't work]]
   - [[#the-repl-is-stuck][The REPL is stuck]]
   - [[#i-am-using-stack-and-ghc-mod-but-ghc-mod-doesnt-work][I am using =stack= and =ghc-mod=, but =ghc-mod= doesn't work]]
   - [[#ghc-mod-doesnt-work][=ghc-mod= doesn't work]]
   - [[#indentation-doesnt-reset-when-pressing-return-after-an-empty-line][Indentation doesn't reset when pressing return after an empty line]]
   - [[#flycheck-displays-hlint-warnings-but-not-errors][Flycheck displays HLInt warnings but not errors]]
   - [[#i-can-see-highlighted-errors-but-they-dont-appear-in-the-error-list][I can see highlighted errors but they don't appear in the error list]]
   - [[#flycheck-doesnt-work][Flycheck doesn't work]]
   - [[#flycheck-doesnt-work-with-stack][Flycheck doesn't work with =stack=]]
     - [[#the-stack-build-directory-is-wrong][The stack build directory is wrong]]
     - [[#the-project-root-directory-is-not-set-properly][The Project root directory is not set properly]]
   - [[#haskell-mode-commands-dont-work][haskell-mode commands don't work]]
   - [[#ghc-mod-and-haskell-mode-commands-overlap-how-do-i-know-which-command-belongs-to-what][=ghc-mod= and =haskell-mode= commands overlap. How do I know which command belongs to what?]]
   - [[#some-commands-start-with-ghc--and-some-with-haskell--what-does-that-mean][Some commands start with =ghc-= and some with =haskell-=. What does that mean?]]

* Description
This layer adds support for the [[https://www.haskell.org/][Haskell]] language.

** Features:
- syntax highlighting for [[https://github.com/haskell/haskell-mode][haskell source]], [[https://github.com/haskell/haskell-mode][cabal files]], [[https://github.com/bgamari/cmm-mode][C-- source]],
- auto-completion with one of selected backends (=intero=, =ghci= or =ghc-mod=).

*This layer is in construction, it needs your contributions and bug reports.*

* Install
** Layer
To use this configuration layer, add it to your =~/.spacemacs=. You will need to
add =haskell= to the existing =dotspacemacs-configuration-layers= list in this
file.

** Dependencies
This layer requires some [[https://www.haskell.org/cabal/][cabal]] packages:
- =apply-refact= (required by =hlint-refactor=)
- =hlint= (required by =hlint-refactor=)
- =stylish-haskell= (optional for =haskell-mode=)
- =hasktags= (optional)
- =hoogle= (optional for =haskell-mode= and =helm-hoogle=)
- =ghc-mod= (optional for completion)
- =intero= (optional for completion)

To install them, use following command (or the =stack= equivalent):

#+BEGIN_SRC sh
$ cabal install apply-refact hlint stylish-haskell hasktags hoogle
#+END_SRC

** Setup PATH
First of all make sure that your =$PATH= contains the installation path for
Haskell tools like =ghc=, =ghci= etc. It depends on how you have installed
=ghc=, but you can always check it by running =which ghc= in your terminal.
=Stack= users should add only the installation path of =stack= itself. Usually
it's =~/.local/bin=.

Then make sure that your =$PATH= contains the installation path for =cabal=
packages. If you are using =cabal= it should be =~/.cabal/bin= or
=~/Library/Haskell/bin= (for 'Haskell for Mac' users). If you
are using =stack= then it should be =~/.local/bin=.

For information about setting up =$PATH=, check out the corresponding section in
the FAQ (~SPC h SPC $PATH RET~).

** Completion support
This layer provides several completion backends - =intero=, =ghci= and =ghc-mod=. By
default =ghci= (=company-ghci=) is used as it requires no dependencies and works
both with =stack= and pure =cabal= projects. In order to manually set completion
backend set value of =haskell-completion-backend=.

#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers
  '((haskell :variables haskell-completion-backend 'intero)))
#+END_SRC

*** =company-ghci=
[[https://github.com/juiko/company-ghci][company-ghci]] communicates directly with =ghci= in order to provide completion. In
order to use it you have to call =haskell-process-load-or-reload= (=SPC s b=).

*** =intero=
=Intero= works only for =stack= users. You can manually install =intero= executable by
calling =stack install intero=, but this step is optional as =Intero= installs
itself.

*** =ghc-mod=
[[http://www.mew.org/~kazu/proj/ghc-mod/][ghc-mod]] enhances =haskell-mode= with for example code completion, templates,
case-splitting and much more. In order to use it you need to install the
executable with =cabal install ghc-mod= (or =stack= equivalent).

=Stack= users also should make sure that =dist/setup-config= doesn't exist in the
project root. As it will confuse =ghc-mod=. For more troubleshooting, checkout
this [[https://github.com/kazu-yamamoto/ghc-mod/wiki#known-issues-related-to-stack][document]].

Also note that =ghc-mod= works only with =GHC= version that was used to build
=ghc-mod=. You can check which version was used by calling =ghc-mod --version=.

** Optional extras
The Haskell layer supports some extra features that can be enabled through layer
variables.

*** structured-haskell-mode
Currently there is no support for [[https://github.com/chrisdone/structured-haskell-mode][structured-haskell-mode]], since it doesn't play
very well with non-emacs editing style ([[https://github.com/chrisdone/structured-haskell-mode/issues/81][structured-haskell-mode/#81]]). Emacs
editing style users might easily enable it by adding =structured-haskell-mode= to
list of =dotspacemacs-additional-packages= in your =.spacemacs= file. For more
installation instructions, please refer to the official documentation at
[[https://github.com/chrisdone/structured-haskell-mode#features][structured-haskell-mode]] page. In case you are non-emacs editing style user and
still want to use =structured-haskell-mode= - use it at your own risk.

Any contributions that will help to solve issues with =structured-haskell-mode=
are warmly welcome!

*** hindent
[[https://github.com/chrisdone/hindent][hindent]] is an extensible Haskell pretty printer, which let's you
reformat your code. You need to install the executable with =cabal
install hindent= or =stack install hindent=

To enable it you have to set the variable =haskell-enable-hindent-style= to a
supported style. The available styles are:
- fundamental
- johan-tibell
- chris-done
- gibiansky

See examples [[https://github.com/chrisdone/hindent#example][here]].

#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers
  '((haskell :variables haskell-enable-hindent-style "johan-tibell")))
#+END_SRC

* Key bindings
All Haskell specific bindings are prefixed with the major-mode leader
~SPC m~.

Top-level commands are prefixed by ~SPC m~:

| Key Binding | Description                                                         |
|-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| ~SPC m g g~ | go to definition or tag                                             |
| ~SPC m g i~ | cycle the Haskell import lines or return to point (with prefix arg) |
| ~SPC m f~   | format buffer using haskell-stylish                                 |
| ~SPC m F~   | format declaration using hindent (if enabled)                       |

** Documentation
Documentation commands are prefixed by ~SPC m h~

| Key Binding | Description                                                                |
|-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| ~SPC m h d~ | find or generate Haddock documentation for the identifier under the cursor |
| ~SPC m h f~ | do a helm-hoogle lookup                                                    |
| ~SPC m h h~ | do a Hoogle lookup                                                         |
| ~SPC m h H~ | do a local Hoogle lookup                                                   |
| ~SPC m h i~ | gets information for the identifier under the cursor                       |
| ~SPC m h t~ | gets the type of the identifier under the cursor                           |
| ~SPC m h y~ | do a Hayoo lookup                                                          |

** Debug
Debug commands are prefixed by ~SPC m d~:

| Key Binding | Description                                |
|-------------+--------------------------------------------|
| ~SPC m d a~ | abandon current process                    |
| ~SPC m d b~ | insert breakpoint at function              |
| ~SPC m d B~ | delete breakpoint                          |
| ~SPC m d c~ | continue current process                   |
| ~SPC m d d~ | start debug process, needs to be run first |
| ~SPC m d n~ | next breakpoint                            |
| ~SPC m d N~ | previous breakpoint                        |
| ~SPC m d p~ | previous breakpoint                        |
| ~SPC m d r~ | refresh process buffer                     |
| ~SPC m d s~ | step into the next function                |
| ~SPC m d t~ | trace the expression                       |

** Debug Buffer

| Key Binding | Description                                 |
|-------------+---------------------------------------------|
| ~RET~       | select object at the point                  |
| ~a~         | abandon current computation                 |
| ~b~         | break on function                           |
| ~c~         | continue the current computation            |
| ~d~         | delete object at the point                  |
| ~n~         | go to next step to inspect bindings         |
| ~N~ or ~p~  | go to previous step to inspect the bindings |
| ~r~         | refresh the debugger buffer                 |
| ~s~         | step into the next function                 |
| ~t~         | trace the expression                        |

** REPL
REPL commands are prefixed by ~SPC m s~:

| Key Binding | Description                                     |
|-------------+-------------------------------------------------|
| ~SPC m s b~ | load or reload the current buffer into the REPL |
| ~SPC m s c~ | clear the REPL                                  |
| ~SPC m s s~ | show the REPL without switching to it           |
| ~SPC m s S~ | show and switch to the REPL                     |

** Intero REPL
Intero REPL commands are prefixed by ~SPC m i~:

| Key Binding | Description                                                   |
|-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------|
| ~SPC m i c~ | change directory in the backend process                       |
| ~SPC m i d~ | reload the module =DevelMain= and then run =DevelMain.update= |
| ~SPC m i k~ | stop the current worker process and kill its associated       |
| ~SPC m i l~ | list hidden process buffers created by =intero=               |
| ~SPC m i r~ | restart the process with the same configuration as before     |
| ~SPC m i t~ | set the targets to use for stack =ghci=                       |

** Cabal commands
Cabal commands are prefixed by ~SPC m c~:

| Key Binding | Description                                                |
|-------------+------------------------------------------------------------|
| ~SPC m c a~ | cabal actions                                              |
| ~SPC m c b~ | build the current cabal project, i.e. invoke =cabal build= |
| ~SPC m c c~ | compile the current project, i.e. invoke =ghc=             |
| ~SPC m c v~ | visit the cabal file                                       |

** Cabal files
This commands are available in a cabal file.

| Key Binding | Description                                 |
|-------------+---------------------------------------------|
| ~SPC m d~   | add a dependency to the project             |
| ~SPC m b~   | go to benchmark section                     |
| ~SPC m e~   | go to executable section                    |
| ~SPC m t~   | go to test-suite section                    |
| ~SPC m m~   | go to exposed modules                       |
| ~SPC m l~   | go to libary section                        |
| ~SPC m n~   | go to next subsection                       |
| ~SPC m p~   | go to previous subsection                   |
| ~SPC m s c~ | clear the REPL                              |
| ~SPC m s s~ | show the REPL without switching to it       |
| ~SPC m s S~ | show and switch to the REPL                 |
| ~SPC m N~   | go to next section                          |
| ~SPC m P~   | go to previous section                      |
| ~SPC m f~   | find or create source-file under the cursor |

** Refactor
Refactor commands are prefixed by ~SPC m r~:

| Key Binding | Description                                       |
|-------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| ~SPC m r b~ | apply all HLint suggestions in the current buffer |
| ~SPC m r r~ | apply the HLint suggestion under the cursor       |

Only some of the HLint suggestions can be applied.

** Ghc-mod
These commands are only available when ghc-mod is enabled.

For more info, see
http://www.mew.org/~kazu/proj/ghc-mod/en/emacs.html

ghc-mod commands are prefixed by ~SPC m m~:

| Key Binding | Description                               |
|-------------+-------------------------------------------|
| ~SPC t~     | insert template                           |
| ~SPC m m u~ | insert template with holes                |
| ~SPC m m a~ | select one of possible cases (~ghc-auto~) |
| ~SPC m m f~ | replace a hole (~ghc-refine~)             |
| ~SPC m m e~ | expand template haskell                   |
| ~SPC m m n~ | go to next type hole                      |
| ~SPC m m p~ | go to previous type hole                  |
| ~SPC m m >~ | make indent deeper                        |
| ~SPC m m <~ | make indent shallower                     |

*** Insert template
~SPC m m t~ inserts a template. What this means is that in the beginning of a
buffer, =module Foo where= is inserted. On a function without signature, the
inferred type is inserted. On a symbol =foo= without definition, =foo =
undefined= is inserted or a proper module is imported. ~SPC m m u~ inserts a
hole in this case. On a variable, the case is split. When checking with hlint,
original code is replaced with hlint's suggestion if possible.

* Syntax checking
At the moment there are four components which can check the syntax and indicates
somehow error and warnings in the code. Those components are

- flycheck
- hlint (via flycheck)
- ghc-mod
- haskell-mode interactive

As all these components can be active at the same time, it can be tricky to know
which component is displaying which message, especially when they disagree or
one is not working. Only flycheck errors (ghc and hlint) are displayed in the
error list and can be navigated using the standard spacemacs key bindings (under
~SPC e~) even though errors from other modes might highlight the actual buffer.

** Flycheck
This is the standard spacemacs way to do syntax checking and the most elaborate.
You need the syntax-checking layer to enable this. Please the documentation for
that layer on how to interact with flycheck.

Flycheck has different Haskell checkers: =haskell-ghc=, =haskell-stackghc= and
=haskell-hlint=. Normally it can automatically detect the best one to use, but
if it doesn't work, you can change it using ~SPC e s~.

** HLint
HLint is a linter for Haskell. It doesn't detect errors (as long as it can parse
the file) but bad coding style and code smell. The HLint checker is called
*after* the flycheck GHC checker.

** ghc-mod
Ghc-mod, when enabled, also does syntax checking. It doesn't highlight errors
but instead displays an exclamation point in the fringe. You can navigate
between errors using =ghc-goto-next-error= (~M-n~) and =ghc-goto-prev-error=
(~M-p~).

** Interactive haskell-mode
Finally, interactive haskell-mode (~SPC m s b~) also displays errors. These
errors can be navigated from the interactive buffer (by clicking on the error)
or using =haskell-goto-next-error= (~M-n~) and =haskell-goto-prev-error=
(~M-p~).

** Flymake
An alternative to syntax checking is to build your project using
=flymake-compile=. It doesn't highlight error in the buffer but is more
reliable. The error navigation is similar to interactive haskell-mode.

** Troublesshooting
Flycheck and ghc-mod can fail silently for miscellaneous reasons. See the [[FAQ]]
for troubleshooting.

* FAQ
** The REPL doesn't work
Usually =haskell-mode= is great at figuring out which interactive process to
bring up. But if you are experiencing problems with it you can help
=haskell-mode= by setting =haskell-process-type= as in following code:

#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers
  '((haskell :variables haskell-process-type 'stack-ghci)))
#+END_SRC

Available options are:

- ghci
- cabal-repl
- cabal-dev
- cabal-ghci
- stack-ghci

** The REPL is stuck
Make sure that when you are typing anything in REPL there is a space between
what you type and =λ>=. When there is no space - REPL will behave as it's stuck.
Usually, when you enter normal state, cursor is moved back, so there is no
required space when you switch to insert mode. There is possible workaround -
just add following snippet to your =dotspacemacs/user-config= function:

#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(when (configuration-layer/package-usedp 'haskell)
  (add-hook 'haskell-interactive-mode-hook
            (lambda ()
              (setq-local evil-move-cursor-back nil))))
#+END_SRC

It will make cursor stay at the right place in the REPL buffer when you enter
normal state. Which in most cases helps you to avoid the problem with 'stuck'
REPL.

Also, some users might want to start REPL in insert mode. For this to happen you
could place following snippet in your =dotspacemacs/user-config= function:

#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(when (configuration-layer/package-usedp 'haskell)
    (defadvice haskell-interactive-switch (after spacemacs/haskell-interactive-switch-advice activate)
      (when (eq dotspacemacs-editing-style 'vim)
        (call-interactively 'evil-insert))))
#+END_SRC

** I am using =stack= and =ghc-mod=, but =ghc-mod= doesn't work
Make sure that =dist= directory doesn't exist in your project root. So if it
exists, just remove it and try again.

** =ghc-mod= doesn't work

First of all - make sure that the version of =ghc= matches the version of =ghc= that
was used to build =ghc-mod=. To get the latter call =ghc-mod --version= in terminal.
If they don't match you have to rebuild =ghc-mod=.

=Stack= provides ability to use different =ghc= versions across different projects.
In case you are using this feature you have to rebuild =ghc-mod= quite often. If
you use =ghc-mod= only for completion and don't want to rebuild =ghc-mod= every time
you switch project you'd better disable =ghc-mod= support, so =company-ghci= will be
used for completion.

The second thing to do if it's still not working - call =ghc-mod debug= in the
root of project you are currently working on. Make sure that it shows no errors.
If there are errors you can't solve - it's better to report them [[https://github.com/DanielG/ghc-mod][upstream]].

** Indentation doesn't reset when pressing return after an empty line
This is the intended behavior in =haskell-indentation-mode=. If you want to
reset indentation when pressing return after an empty line, add the following
snippet into your =dotspacemacs/user-config= function.

#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(defun haskell-indentation-advice ()
  (when (and (< 1 (line-number-at-pos))
             (save-excursion
               (forward-line -1)
               (string= "" (s-trim (buffer-substring (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position))))))
    (delete-region (line-beginning-position) (point))))

(advice-add 'haskell-indentation-newline-and-indent
            :after 'haskell-indentation-advice)
#+END_SRC

** Flycheck displays HLInt warnings but not errors
The HLint checker is called *after* normal flycheck checker even if the checker
fails. Check the [[Flycheck doesn't work]] section.

** I can see highlighted errors but they don't appear in the error list
The error list is only set by flycheck. You are probably seeing errors
highlighted by either ghc-mode or haskell-mode. Check the [[Flycheck doesn't work]]
section.

** Flycheck doesn't work
You can check what is wrong with flycheck with the =flycheck-compile= command.
This will show you the exact command line used and its output.

If you are using stack, check the [[Flycheck doesn't work with =stack=]] section.

** Flycheck doesn't work with =stack=
First check that flycheck uses the correct checker and all the paths are
properly configured using =flycheck-verify-setup= (~SPC e v~). You can force the
checker with =flycheck-select-checker= (~SPC e s~) to ensure it uses
=haskell-stack-ghc=. If it still doesn't work, it could be one of the following
problems:

- The stack build directory is wrong
- The project root is not set properly

*** The stack build directory is wrong
The path to the build directory containing some generated files is normally
under =.stack-work/install/<os>/Cabal-<version>/build=.

However, the version of the cabal library used by stack to generate the
directory name is not the version of the cabal library installed by stack, but
the version of cabal associated to the GHC version. This error can happen after
upgrading cabal or cabal-install. To check if this is the problem, compare the
path name of the build path used by flycheck using =flycheck-compile= and
compare it to to the actual path in the =.stack-work= directory. If they are
different you need to reinstall ghc using the command =stack setup
--upgrade-cabal=.

*** The Project root directory is not set properly
Flycheck launches the GHC command not from the project root directory but from
the the directory of the file being checked. This is normally not a problem as
all the paths are set properly, however it could be a problem if some template
Haskell functions use relative paths (e.g. in Yesod scaffolded projects).

Until it's fixed in flycheck the workaround is to the wrap the stack command to
run all subcommands from the project root directory. You can do so with the
following script:

#+BEGIN_SRC bash
#!/bin/bash
cd `stack --project-root`
stack $*
#+END_SRC

Make sure you set =flycheck-haskell-stack-ghc-executable= to this script.

** haskell-mode commands don't work
Some (most of) the haskell-mode commands only works when haskell-mode is in
interactive mode, i.e. as a interactive session associated to it. Load it using
~SPC m s b~.

** =ghc-mod= and =haskell-mode= commands overlap. How do I know which command belongs to what?
ghc-mod commands are prefixed with =ghc-=, haskell-mode ones are prefixed with
=haskell-=.

** Some commands start with =ghc-= and some with =haskell-=. What does that mean?
Commands starting with =ghc-= are ghc-mod commands. Commands starting with
=haskell-= are haskell-mode commands.