Spacemacs

The best editor is not Emacs nor Vim, the best editor is Emacs+Vim !

Table of Contents generated with DocToc

• Goals
• Screenshot
• Who can benefit from this ?
• Install
• Packages and Extensions Organization
• How it works
• How to switch to normal mode efficiently ?
• Evil plugins
• How to use it ?
  • Executing Vim and Emacs commands
  • Key bindings help
  • About helm
  • Navigation
    • Point/Cursor
    • ace-jump mode
    • Buffers and Files
    • Bookmarks
  • Window manipulation
  • Text manipulation commands
  • Spell checking
  • Region selection
  • Region narrowing
  • Auto highlight
  • Color theme
  • UI elements
    • Mode-line
    • Toggles
  • Minor Modes
  • Line formatting
  • Errors handling
  • Project management
  • Modes
    • Helm
    • Erlang
    • Ledger
    • Lisp
    • Magit
    • Org
    • Perforce
    • Python
      • Inferior REPL process
      • Testing in Python
      • Other Python commands
    • R (ESS)
      • Inferior REPL process
      • Other R commands
    • rcirc
  • And more...
• TODO list

Goals

• The main goal of Spacemacs is to bring the power of Vim modal editing to the powerful Emacs editing platform.

• The ultimate goal for Spacemacs is to pack as much stuff as possible while keeping a "blazingly fast" boot time. Currently Spacemacs ships with more than 120 packages and its load time is approx. 2 seconds on my Macbook Air

• Slick integration with Vi modes, tries as much as possible to keep your fingers on the home row, no matter the mode you are in.

• Minimalistic UI

Screenshot

Who can benefit from this ?

Spacemacs is first intended to be used by Vim users who want to go to the next level by using Emacs.

It is also a good fit for people wanting to lower the risk of RSI induced by the default Emacs key bindings.

People wanting to learn a different way to edit files or wanting to learn Vim key bindings.

As a note side, if you are a programmer and you don't know Vim key bindings yet, I deeply recommend you to learn the basics as recommended in Sacha Chua's one-page guide about how to learn Emacs.

Install

Spacemacs is only tested with Emacs 24.3.1.

cd ~
mv .emacs.d .emacs.bak
git clone http://github.com/syl20bnr/spacemacs .emacs.d
cd .emacs.d
mkdir .desktop

Get the sub-modules:

cd ~/.emacs.d
git submodule init
git submodule update

Packages and Extensions Organization

Modes/libraries are separated into two categories:

• package: packages installed from package.el compliant repositories.
• extension: modes directly fetched from git repositories (as sub-modules)

There are two types of extensions:

• pre-extensions: loaded before packages
• post-extensions: loaded after packages

Modes/libraries are listed in the following three files depending whether they are packages, pre-extensions or post-extensions, in order of loading:

• pre-extensions.el
• packages.el
• post-extensions.el

A package or extension may have a corresponding init-....el file responsible for its initialization, those files are stored respectively in the init-package and init-extension directories.

init-....el files lazy load the modes by using the use-package macro.

How it works

Spacemacs uses the evil mode to emulate Vim key bindings. It is a very complete emulation (the most complete I've seen yet).

Spacemacs heavily uses the evil-leader mode which brings the Vim leader key to the Emacs world.

This leader key is commonly set to , by Vim users, in Spacemacs the leader key is set on SPC (space bar, this is why the name spacemacs). This key is the most accessible key on a keyboard and it is pressed with the thumb which is a good choice to lower the risk of RSI.

So with Spacemacs there is no need to remap your keyboard modifiers to attempt to reduce the risk of RSI, every command can be executed very easily while you are in normal mode by pressing the SPC leader key, here are a few examples:

• Save a buffer: <SPC> f s
• Save all opened buffers: <SPC> f S
• Open (switch) to a buffer with helm: <SPC> b s

How to switch to normal mode efficiently ?

One of the main design flaw in Vim key bindings is that you often have to press the ESC key to return to normal mode and ESC key is very far from the home row.

The popular way to avoid this is to replace ESC by jj pressed rapidly. In Spacemacs you have to press fd quickly by default.

fd also works to quit minibuffer prompts.

Note: For those who know about keychords.el mode. This mode is not used to achieve this, the reasons for this is latency and the fact that keychords wants you to press several keys almost at the same time which is something very difficult to master correctly on a keyboard. Spacemacs has a special function called fd-trigger to handle the fd key sequence and fix the above keychords issues.

Evil plugins

Spacemacs ships with the following evil plugins:

             Mode                   |                          Description

----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------- evil-leader | vim leader that bring a new layer of keys in normal mode evil-little-word | port of camelcasemotion.vim evil-operator-comment | comment/uncomment with CC evil-matchit | port of matchit.vim evil-visualstar | search for current selection with * evil-exchange | port of vim-exchange surround | port of surround.vim

How to use it ?

Every sequences must be performed in normal mode.

Executing Vim and Emacs commands

Vim commands are execute as usual with the : key.

To execute an Emacs command:

<SPC> :

Key bindings help

A list of all the key bindings can be accessed by pressing:

<SPC> ?

To narrow the list to Spacemacs specific key bindings set the pattern to SPC

About helm

Spacemacs tries to use helm as much as possible. helm is coupled to popwin so helm window always appears in a new temporary windows at the bottom.

The following helm modes are installed with Spacemacs:

Mode	Key Binding	Description
helm-swoop	<SPC> h s	search for occurrences within a file and edit the result
helm-css-scss	<SPC> h c	for quick navigation in CSS
helm-c-yasnippet	<SPC> a y	select snippets
helm-themes	<SPC> h t	select a theme
helm-projectile	<SPC> p f	select files within a projectile project
helm-descbinds	<SPC> ?	show key bindings
cofi/helm-flyspell-correct	<SPC> s c	choose a corrected word

Navigation

Point/Cursor

Navigation is performed using the Vi key bindings hjkl.

Key Binding	Description
h	move cursor left
j	move cursor down
k	move cursor up
l	move cursor right
H	move quickly up (10 lines at a time)
L	move quickly down (10 lines at a time)
<SPC> j h	go to the beginning of line (and set a mark at the previous location in the line)
<SPC> j l	go to the end of line (and set a mark at the previous location in the line)
<SPC> z z	lock the cursor at the center of the screen

ace-jump mode

Key Binding	Description
,	initiate ace jump
<SPC> ,	go back to the previous location (before the jump)

Buffers and Files

Spacemacs uses ido for opening files since ido way to navigate the file system is better than helm in my opinion (especially because ido can remember the last selected directories and buffers, maybe helm can do this ?). ido is also used to kill buffers.

Buffer manipulation commands (start with b):

Key Binding	Description
<SPC> b d	delete the current buffer (beware the associated file is also deleted)
<SPC> b k	kill the current buffer
<SPC> b K	kill all buffers except the current one
<SPC> b m h	move a buffer to the left
<SPC> b m j	move a buffer to the bottom
<SPC> b m k	move a buffer to the top
<SPC> b m l	move a buffer to the right
<SPC> b n	switch to next buffer
<SPC> b p	switch to previous buffer
<SPC> b r	rename the current buffer
<SPC> b s	switch to a buffer using helm
<SPC> b w	toggle read-only

Files manipulation commands (start with f):

Key Binding	Description
<SPC> f f	open a file using ido
<SPC> f i	open your init.el file
<SPC> f s	save a file
<SPC> f S	save all files
<SPC> f y	show current file absolute path in the mini buffer

Bookmarks

Bookmarks can be set anywhere in a file. Bookmarks are persistent. They are very useful to jump to/open a known project.

Bookmarks commands (start with k):

Key Binding	Description
<SPC> k d	delete a bookmark
<SPC> k g	go to a bookmark using helm
<SPC> k r	rename a bookmark
<SPC> k s	save a bookmark

Window manipulation

Split windows are dynamically resized depending on whether they are selected or not. Resizing is performed by the golden-ratio mode.

Every window has a number displayed at the start of the mode-line and can be quickly accessed using <SPC> number.

Key Binding	Description
<SPC> 1	go to first window
<SPC> 2	go to window number 2
<SPC> 3	go to window number 3
<SPC> 4	go to window number 4
<SPC> 5	go to window number 5
<SPC> 6	go to window number 6
<SPC> 7	go to window number 7
<SPC> 8	go to window number 8
<SPC> 9	go to window number 9
<SPC> 0	go to window number 10

Windows manipulation commands (start with w):

Key Binding	Description
<SPC> w b	split a window horizontally
<SPC> w c	close a window
<SPC> w d	toggle window dedication (dedicated window cannot be used by a mode)
<SPC> w H	move window to the left
<SPC> w J	move window to the bottom
<SPC> w K	move window to the top
<SPC> w L	move window to the right
<SPC> w m	maximize/minimize a window
<SPC> w M	maximize/minimize a window, when maximized the buffer is centered
<SPC> w p	close the current sticky popup window
<SPC> w r	rotate windows clockwise
<SPC> w R	rotate windows counter-clockwise
<SPC> w u	undo window layout (used to effectively undo a close window)
<SPC> w U	redo window layout
<SPC> w v	split a window vertically
<SPC> w w	cycle and focus between windows

Text manipulation commands

Text related commands (start with x):

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- <SPC> x + | increase text font size <SPC> x - | decrease text font size <SPC> x = | reset text font size <SPC> x u | set the selected text to lower case <SPC> x U | set the selected text to upper case <SPC> x d w | delete trailing whitespaces <SPC> x g l | set languages used by translate commands <SPC> x g t | translate current word using Google Translate <SPC> x g T | reverse source and target languages <SPC> x m j | move down a line of text <SPC> x m k | move up a line of text <SPC> x t c | swap (transpose) the current character with the previous one <SPC> x t w | swap (transpose) the current word with the previous one <SPC> x t l | swap (transpose) the current line with the previous one <SPC> x w c | count the number of words in the selection region <SPC> x w C | count the number of occurrences per word in the select region

Spell checking

Spell checking commands start with s:

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- <SPC> s c | list of corrections in a helm buffer <SPC> s d | change dictionary language <SPC> s n | go to the next spell check error

Region selection

Vi Visual modes are all supported by evil, Spacemacs adds another Visual mode via the expand-region mode.

Key Binding	Description
<SPC> v	initiate expand-region mode then...
v	expand the region by one semantic unit
V	contract the region by one semantic unit
r	reset the region to initial selection
ESC	leave expand-region mode

Region narrowing

The displayed text of a buffer can be narrowed with the commands (start with n):

Key Binding	Description
<SPC> n f	narrow the buffer to the current function
<SPC> n p	narrow the buffer to the visible page
<SPC> n r	narrow the buffer to the selected text
<SPC> n w	widen, i.e show the whole buffer again

Auto highlight

Spacemacs supports auto highlighting of the current word (provided by the auto-highlight-symbol mode).

Key Binding	Description
<SPC> h e	edit all occurrences of the current word
<SPC> h n	go to next occurrence
<SPC> h p	go to previous occurrence
<SPC> t h	toggle the auto highlighting

Color theme

By default, Spacemacs uses the theme Solarized.

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- <SPC> c t | cycle between available themes <SPC> h t | select a theme using a helm buffer

Available themes (other than default Emacs themes):

• Solarized
• Monokai
• Zenburn

UI elements

Mode-line

The mode line is a powerline customized to show the window number and the colorized Evil current state.

The color codes for modes are:

Evil State	Color
Normal	Orange
Insert	Green
Visual	Grey
Emacs	Red
Motion	Purple

When Flycheck minor mode is enabled, the mode line color changes according to the current flycheck state:

Toggles

Some UI indicators can be toggled on and off (toggles start with t):

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- <SPC> t 8 | display a mark on the 80th column <SPC> t f | toggle display of the fringe <SPC> t n | show the line numbers (relative to current position) <SPC> t N | show the absolute line numbers

Minor Modes

Spacemacs uses diminish mode to reduce the size of minor mode indicators:

The minor mode area can be toggled on and off with (default is off):

<SPC> t m

Lighter	Mode
Ⓐ	auto-complete mode
Ⓗ	auto-highlight-symbol mode
Ⓒ	centered-cursor mode
eⓅ	e-project mode
Ⓟ	projectile mode
Ⓕ	flymake mode
Ⓢ	flyspell mode
(Ⓢ)	smartparens mode
(Ⓟ)	paredit mode
Ⓨ	yasnippet mode

Note: in terminal the regular indicators are used instead of the utf-8 ones.

Line formatting

Line formatting commands start with j:

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- <SPC> j j | auto-indent the line below the current line and jump to it <SPC> j j | split the current line at point and auto-indent <SPC> j k | join the current line with the next line <SPC> l CTRL+j | split a quoted string

<SPC> j k, <SPC> j j and <SPC> j i used together are very powerful to quickly reformat the code.

Errors handling

Spacemacs uses Flycheck to gives error feedback on the fly. The checks are only performed at save time by default.

Errors management commands (star with f for flycheck):

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- <SPC> f c | clear all errors <SPC> f l | display the flycheck list of errors/warnings <SPC> f n | go to the next flycheck error <SPC> f p | go to the previous flycheck error

Project management

Projects in Spacemacs are managed with projectile. So projects are defined implicitly, for instance the root of a project is found when a .git repository or .projectile file is encountered in the file tree.

Projects management commands (start with p):

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- <SPC> p b | switch to a buffer of the project <SPC> p C | invalidate the cache of projectile <SPC> p d | open a dired buffer at the root of the project <SPC> p f | open a file of the project using helm <SPC> p F | find a file if the project using ido <SPC> p k | kill all the buffers of the project <SPC> p g | grep search in the project <SPC> p r | replace a string in the files of the project

Modes

Spacemacs tries to add more natural Vi key bindings to some modes or simply add new leader key bindings.

Leader key bindings start with m because they are bindings related to the current major mode.

Helm

Spacemacs add hjkl navigation to helm buffers:

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- CTRL+h | go to previous page CTRL+j | go to previous item CTRL+k | go to next item CTRL+l | go to next page

Erlang

Spacemacs uses EDTS as an Erlang coding environment.

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- <SPC> m d | show man page documentation <SPC> m e | go to next issue <SPC> m g | go to definition <SPC> m G | find a module in the current project <SPC> m h | open the header file under point <SPC> m l | find a function in the current module <SPC> m m | go to the macro definition under point <SPC> m r | go to the record definition under point

Ledger

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- <SPC> m a | add a transaction <SPC> m d | delete current transaction

Lisp

TODO

Magit

Spacemacs add hjkl navigation support for the following magit modes:

• branch manager
• commit
• log
• process
• status

Note: in status mode only j and k are remapped (to go down and up). Press K instead of k to discard changes to an item.

Org

In org, evil-org-mode is activated.

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- gh | outline-up-heading gj | org-forward-heading-same-level gk | org-backward-heading-same-level gl | outline-next-visible-heading t | org-todo T | org-insert-todo-heading nil H | org-beginning-of-line L | org-end-of-line ;t | org-show-todo-tree o | always-insert-item O | org-insert-heading $ | org-end-of-line ^ | org-beginning-of-line < | org-metaleft > | org-metaright ;a | org-agenda`

Perforce

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- <SPC> p 4 a | add a file in depot <SPC> p 4 d | delete a file in depot <SPC> p 4 D | p4-describe <SPC> p 4 e | checkout a file <SPC> p 4 r | rename a file <SPC> p 4 R | revert a file <SPC> p 4 S | submit CL

Python

Inferior REPL process

Start an iPython inferior REPL process with <SPC> m i.

Send code to inferior process commands:

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- <SPC> m b | send buffer and keep code buffer focused <SPC> m B | send buffer and switch to REPL in insert mode <SPC> m f | send function and keep code buffer focused <SPC> m F | send function and switch to REPL in insert mode <SPC> m r | send region and keep code buffer focused <SPC> m R | send region and switch to REPL in insert mode CTRL+j | next item in REPL history CTRL+k | previous item in REPL history

Testing in Python

Spacemacs uses nose as a test runner. An improved version of nose.el is shipped with Spacemacs, this version adds:

• windows support
• test suite support

The root of the project is detected with a .git directory or a setup.cfg file.

Test commands (start with m t or m T):

No Debug      |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- m t a | launch all tests of the project m t f | launch the current test under point m t m | launch all tests of the current module m t s | launch all tests of the current suite

 Debug        |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- m T a | launch all tests of the project in debug mode m T f | launch the current test under point in debug mode m T m | launch all tests of the current module in debug mode m T s | launch all tests of the current suite in debug mode

Other Python commands

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- <SPC> m d | open documentation in firefox using pylookup <SPC> m g | go to definition using emacs-jedi <SPC> m p | add a breakpoint

R (ESS)

Important: In order to speed up the boot time of Spacemacs, ESS must be loaded manually via the key binding <SPC> l e.

Inferior REPL process

Start an R inferior REPL process with <SPC> m i.

Send code to inferior process commands:

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- <SPC> m b | send buffer and keep code buffer focused <SPC> m B | send buffer and switch to REPL in insert mode <SPC> m f | send function and keep code buffer focused <SPC> m F | send function and switch to REPL in insert mode <SPC> m l | send line and keep code buffer focused <SPC> m L | send line and switch to REPL in insert mode <SPC> m r | send region and keep code buffer focused <SPC> m R | send region and switch to REPL in insert mode <SPC> m s | send region or line and step (debug) <SPC> m S | send function or paragraph and step (debug) CTRL+j | next item in REPL history CTRL+k | previous item in REPL history

Other R commands

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- <SPC> m p | object introspection popup ess-R-object-popup <SPC> m v p | view data under point using ess-R-data-view <SPC> m v t | view table using ess-R-data-view

rcirc

Key Binding   |                              Description

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------- CTRL+j | next item in command history CTRL+k | previous item in command history

And more...

See my-keybindings.el to explore for more key bindings.

TODO list

• Add support for multiple-cursors mode.