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Spacemacs Documentation

Table of Contents

Philosophy

Three core pillars: Easy, Consistency, "Crowd-Configured".

Easy

Spacemacs organizes key bindings by mnemonic namespaces. If you are looking for commands to operate on your buffer, they are right under SPC b, if you want to operate on your project, then it is SPC p, etc...

Spacemacs comes with a dedicated major mode spacemacs-mode. Its goal is to give useful feedbacks and perform maintenance tasks easily.

Consistency

Similar functionalities should have the same key binding. For instance if you are looking for the definition of a function, the binding is SPC m g, m for major mode and g for go to. And no matter what is the major mode it should be the same binding.

Crowd-Configured

This term does not really exist but I'm sure you know what it means.

This is the most powerful feature of Spacemacs. Anybody can submit upstream his or her configuration layer and anybody can use it in a second by adding it in a dotfile and by optionally filtering it (ie. removing unwanted packages).

So by cloning this repository you have a centralized place of configured packages tuned by expert in their domain. And most importantly it should be consistent with the whole experience provided by Spacemacs.

If some packages are missing from core Spacemacs but they are present in several contribution layers, chances are that they should be in core and we can easily move them there.

If any of this core pillars are violated open an issue and we'll try to fix this.

Goals

  • Bring the power of modal editing to the powerful Emacs editing platform.

  • Integrate nicely with Evil states (Vim modes): Spacemacs tries to keep your fingers on the home row as much as possible, no matter the mode you are in.

  • Crowed-configured: Contribute your own personal layer upstream and everybody can use it.

  • Minimalistic and nice UI, keep your available screen space for what matters: your text files.

  • Mnemonic and consistent key bindings which should be easier to learn and remember.

  • Fast boot time.

  • Lower the risk of RSI.

  • Hopefully, if it's not already the case:

Ɛ>Ɛ>Ɛ> make you love modal editing! <3<3<3

Screenshots

Startup spacemacs_startup

Python spacemacs_python

Terminal (urxvt) spacemacs_urxvt

Note: Even though screenshots are updated frequently, Spacemacs is evolving quickly and the screenshots may not reflect exactly the current state of the project.

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.

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

As a side note, 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.

Configuration layers

This part of Spacemacs is still in beta, the structure can change over time. Refer to commit messages for more information in case of big changes.

Structure

Configuration is organized in layers. Each layer has the following structure:

[layer_name]
  |__ [extensions]
  | |__ [mode 1]
  | |     ...
  | |__ [mode n]
  |__ config.el
  |__ extensions.el
  |__ funcs.el
  |__ keybindings.el
  |__ packages.el

[] = directory

Where:

  File        |                          Usage

------------------|----------------------------------------------------------- config.el | Emacs built-in configuration or mandatory configuration extensions.el | The list of extensions to load and the functions to initialize them funcs.el | Various functions and macros (often used in keybindings.el) keybindings.el | Emacs built-in key bindings or mandatory key bindings packages.el | The list of packages to install and the functions to initialize them

Packages are ELPA packages which can be installed from an ELPA compliant repository, and Extensions are generally elisp code from git submodules.

Extensions and Packages

Declaration

Extensions and Packages are declared in variables <layer>-pre-extensions, <layer>-post-extensions and <layer>-packages where <layer> is the layer name. Pre-Extensions are loaded before Packages and Post-Extensions are loaded after Packages.

They are processed in alphabetical order so sometimes you'll have to use some eval-after-load black magic.

Example:

(defvar <layer>-packages
  '(
    package1
    package2
    )

Initialization

To initialize an extension or a package xxx, define a function with this format in extensions.el or packages.el:

(defun <layer>/init-xxx ()
   ...body
)

It is common to define the body with the use-package macro.

Exclusion

It is possible to exclude some packages from Spacemacs in a per layer basis. This is useful when a configuration layer aims to replace a stock package declared in the Spacemacs layer.

To do so add the package names to exclude to the variable <layer>-excluded-packages.

Example:

(defvar <layer>-excluded-packages
  '(
    package1
    )

Packages synchronization (Vundle like feature)

Spacemacs features a synchronization engine for the ELPA packages. It means that Spacemacs will auto-install the new packages in <layer>-packages lists and auto-delete orphan packages in your elpa directory.

It effectively makes Spacemacs behave like Vundle.

Types of configuration layers

There are three types of configuration layers:

  • core (this is the Spacemacs layer)
  • private (in the private directory, they are ignored by Git)
  • contrib (in the contrib directory, those layers are contributions shared by the community and merged upstream).

Submitting a configuration layer upstream

If you decide to provide a contrib configuration layer, please check the contribution guidelines in CONTRIBUTE.md.

Example: Themes Megapack example

This is a simple contrib configuration layer listing a bunch of themes, you can find it here.

To install it, just add themes-megapack to your ~/.spacemacs like so:

dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(themes-megapack)

You have now installed around 100 themes you are free to try with SPC T h (helm-themes).

Managing private configuration layers

Spacemacs configuration system is flexible enough to let you manage your private layers in different ways.

Using the private directory

Everything in the private directory is ignored by Git so it is a good place to store private layers. There is a huge drawback to this approach though: your layers are not source controlled.

Using an external Git repository

This is the recommended way to manage your private layers.

The best approach is to store all your private layers into an external Git repository. It is especially a good practice to store them in your dotfiles repository if you have one. Put also your ~/.spacemacs file in it.

Then you are free to symlink your layers into ~/emacs.d/private or let them anywhere you want and reference the parent directory in the variable dotspacemacs-configuration-layer-path of your ~/.spacemacs.

Note that you could also have a dedicated repository for all your private layers and then directly clone this repository in ~/.emacs.d/private.

Using a personal branch

The final main way to manage your private layers is to push them in a personal branch that you keep up to date with upstream master or develop.

Dotfile Configuration

User configuration can be stored in your ~/.spacemacs file.

Installation

~/.spacemacs is an optional file. If you want to use it you have to copy it manually from the template file ~/.emacs.d/core/templates/.spacemacs.template

$ cp ~/.emacs.d/core/templates/.spacemacs.template ~/.spacemacs

Content

Using configuration layers

To use a configuration layer, add it to the dotspacemacs-configuration-layers variable of your ~/.spacemacs.

For instance to add the configuration layer of RMS:

(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(rms))

If this layer does not exist you can still try another one in the contrib directory.

Configuration layers are expected to be stored in ~/.emacs.d/private or ~/.emacs.d/contrib. But you are free to keep them somewhere else by declaring additional paths where Spacemacs can look for configuration layers. This is done by setting the list dotspacemacs-configuration-layer-path in your ~/.spacemacs:

(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layer-path '("~/.myconfig/"))

Setting configuration layers variables

Some configuration layers have configuration variables to enable specific support. For instance the git layer has several configuration variables, they can be set directly in the dotspacemacs-configuration-layers like this:

;; List of configuration layers to load.
dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(company-mode
                                    (git :variables
                                         git-magit-status-fullscreen t
                                         git-enable-github-support t
                                         git-gutter-use-fringe t)
                                    smex)

Excluding packages

You can exclude packages you don't want to install with the variable dotspacemacs-excluded-packages, this variable can exclude both packages and extensions (see Configuration layers for more info on packages and extensions).

For instance to disable the rainbow-delimiters package:

(setq-default dotspacemacs-excluded-packages '(rainbow-delimiters))

When you exclude a package, Spacemacs will automatically delete it for you the next time you launch Emacs. All the orphan dependencies are as well delete automatically.

Hooks

Two special functions of the ~/.spacemacs file can be used to perform configuration at the beginning and end of Spacemacs loading process.

  • dotspacemacs/init is triggered at the very beginning of Spacemacs loading.
  • dotspacemacs/config is triggered at the very end of Spacemacs loading.

Custom variables

Custom variables configuration from M-x customize-group which are automatically saved by Emacs are stored at the end of your ~/.spacemacs file.

Using the package list buffer

The package list buffer is where you can selectively update one or all packages installed in your configuration as well as browse for all available packages in the different Elpa repositories.

Spacemacs replaces the default package list buffer with Paradox. Paradox enhances the package list buffer with better feedbacks, new filters and Github information like the number of stars. Optionally you can also star packages directly in the buffer.

Important Note Don't install new packages from the package list buffer. If those packages are not referenced in a configuration layer then Spacemacs will treat them as orphans during the next start of Emacs and they will be deleted.

Key Binding      |                 Description

---------------------|------------------------------------------------------------ / | evil-search f k | filter by keywords f r | filter by regexp f u | display only installed package with updates available h | go left H | show help (not accurate) j | go down k | go up l | go right L | show last commits n | next search occurrence N | previous search occurrence o | open package homepage r | refresh S P | sort by package name S S | sort by status (installed, available, etc...) S * | sort by Github stars v | visual state V | visual-line state x | execute (action flags)

Update all the packages

To update all the buffers:

  • open paradox: SPC a P
  • filter packages (optional): f u
  • update all: U x y

When asked for old packages deletion hit y.

Main principles

Evil

Spacemacs uses the evil mode to emulate Vim key bindings. It is a very complete emulation, maybe the most advanced. In fact, Evil is much more than just a Vim emulation. It has more states than Vim for instance.

States

Spacemacs has 8 states:

  • Normal (orange) - like the normal mode of Vim, used to execute and combine commands
  • Insert (green) - like the insert mode of Vim, used to actually insert text
  • Visual (gray) - like the visual mode of Vim, used to make text selection
  • Motion (purple) - exclusive to Evil, used to navigate read only buffers
  • Emacs (blue) - exclusive to Evil, using this state is like using a regular Emacs without Vim
  • Lisp (pink) - exclusive to Spacemacs, used to navigate Lisp code and modify it (see Editing Lisp code)
  • Iedit (red) - exclusive to Spacemacs, used to navigate between multiple regions of text using iedit (see Replacing text with iedit)
  • Iedit Insert (red) - exclusive to Spacemacs, used to replace multiple regions of text using iedit (see Replacing text with iedit)

Note: Technically speaking there are also the operator and replace evil states.

Evil leader

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

Universal argument

The universal argument C-u is an important command in Emacs but it is also a very handy Vim key binding to scroll up.

Spacemacs binds C-u to scroll-up and change the universal argument binding to SPC u.

Micro-states

Spacemacs defines a wide variety of micro-states (temporary overlay maps) where it makes sense. This prevents one from doing repetitive and tedious presses on the SPC key.

When a micro-state is active, a documentation is displayed in the minibuffer. Additional information may as well be displayed in the minibuffer.

Auto-highlight-symbol micro-state: spacemacs_ahs_micro_state

Text scale micro-state: spacemacs_scale_micro_state

Differences between Vim, Evil and Spacemacs

No doubt that Evil is one of the most advanced Vim emulation and you should not see big difference between Vim and Emacs. I did not find any command I used in Vim that I missed in Emacs with Evil.

Send a PR to add the differences you found in this section.

The vim-surround case

There is one obvious visible difference though. It is not between Evil and Vim but between Spacemacs and vim-surround: the surround command is on S in vim-surround whereas it is on s in Spacemacs.

This is something that can surprise some Vim users so let me explain why this is the case:

  • s and c do the same thing in visual state,
  • s is only useful to delete one character and add more than one character which is a very narrow use case,
  • c accept motions and can do everything s can do in normal state,
  • this is also true for r but r is more useful because it stays in normal state.
  • surround command is just a more powerful command that s

If you are not convinced, then here is the snippet to revert back to the default Vim + vim-surround setup (add it to your dotspacemacs/config function or your ~/.spacemacs):

(evil-define-key 'visual evil-surround-mode-map "s" 'evil-substitute)
(evil-define-key 'visual evil-surround-mode-map "S" 'evil-surround-region)

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-indent-textobject | add text object based on indentation level evil-visualstar | search for current selection with * evil-exchange | port of vim-exchange evil-surround | port of vim-surround evil-matchit | port of matchit.vim evil-nerd-commenter | port of nerdcommenter [evil-search-highlight-persist][] | emulation of hlsearch behavior evil-numbers | like C-a/C-x in vim evil-args | motions and text objects for arguments evil-jumper | jump list emulation NeoTree | mimic NERD Tree

Color themes

By default, Spacemacs uses the theme solarized-light.

It is possible to define your default themes in your ~/.spacemacs with the variable dotspacemacs-themes. For instance, to specify leuven and zenburn (high contract theme and low contrast theme):

(setq-default dotspacemacs-themes '(leuven zenburn))

Key Binding      |                 Description

---------------------|------------------------------------------------------------ SPC T n | switch to next theme listed in dotspacemacs-themes. SPC T h | select a theme using a helm buffer.

Note: Due to the inner working of themes in Emacs, switching theme during the same session may have some weird side effects. Although these side effects should be pretty rare.

Hint If you are an Org user, leuven-theme is amazing ;-)

UI elements

Spacemacs has a minimalistic and distraction free UI with a lot of subtle customization which make it unique compared to other kits:

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 frame fullscreen SPC t f | toggle display of the fringe SPC t h | toggle highlight of the current line SPC t i | toggle aggressive indent SPC t l | toggle truncate lines SPC t L | toggle visual lines SPC t M | toggle frame maximize SPC t n | show the absolute line numbers SPC t t | toggle frame transparency SPC t T | toggle tool bar SPC t U | toggle menu bar

Mode-line

The mode line is an heavily customized powerline with the following capabilities:

  • show the window number
  • color code for current state
  • show the number of search occurrences via anzu
  • toggle flycheck info
  • toggle battery info
  • toggle minor mode lighters

Reminder of the color codes for the states:

Evil State Color
Normal Orange
Insert Green
Visual Grey
Emacs Blue
Motion Purple
Lisp Pink
Iedit/Iedit-Insert Red

Some elements can be dynamically toggled:

Key Binding        |                 Description

-----------------------|------------------------------------------------------------ SPC t m m | toggle the minor mode lighters SPC t m b | toggle the battery status SPC t m f | toggle the flycheck info SPC t m v | toggle the new version lighter

Flycheck integration

When Flycheck minor mode is enabled, a new element appears showing the number of errors, warnings and info.

powerline-wave

Anzu integration

Anzu shows the number of occurrence when performing a search. Spacemacs integrates nicely the Anzu status by displaying it temporarily when n or N are being pressed. See the 5/6 segment on the screenshot below.

powerline-anzu

Battery status integration

fancy-battery displays the percentage of total charge of the battery as well as the time remaining to charge or discharge completely the battery.

A color code is used for the battery status:

Battery State Color
Charging Green
Discharging Orange
Critical Red

Note the these colors may vary depending on your theme.

Powerline separators

It is possible to easily customize the powerline separator by setting the powerline-default-separator variable in your ~./spacemacs. For instance if you want to set back the separator to the well-known arrow separator add the following snippet to your configuration file:

(defun dotspacemacs/config ()
  "This is were you can ultimately override default Spacemacs configuration.
This function is called at the very end of Spacemacs initialization."
  (setq powerline-default-separator 'arrow)
)

To save you the time to try all the possible separators provided by the powerline, here is an exhaustive set of screenshots:

Separator     |                 Screenshot

------------------|------------------------------------------------------------ alternate | powerline-alternate arrow | powerline-arrow arrow-fade | powerline-arrow-fade bar | powerline-bar box | powerline-box brace | powerline-brace butt | powerline-butt chamfer | powerline-chamfer contour | powerline-contour curve | powerline-curve rounded | powerline-rounded roundstub | powerline-roundstub slant | powerline-slant wave | powerline-wave zigzag | powerline-zigzag nil | powerline-nil

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:

<SPC> t m m

Unicode symbols are displayed by default. Setting the variable dotspacemacs-mode-line-unicode-symbols to nil in your ~/.spacemacs will display ASCII characters instead (may be useful in terminal).

Unicode ASCII Mode
⊞ G golden-ratio mode
Ⓐ A auto-complete mode
Ⓒ C centered-cursor mode
Ⓔ E evil-org mode
Ⓕ F flycheck mode
Ⓚ K guide-key mode
Ⓘ I aggressive indent mode
(Ⓟ) (P) paredit mode
Ⓢ S flyspell mode
(Ⓢ) (S) smartparens mode
Ⓦ W whitespace mode
Ⓨ Y yasnippet mode

Font

The default font used by Spacemacs is source code pro by Adobe. It is recommended to install it on your system.

To change the default font set the variable dotspacemacs-default-font in your .spacemacs file.

By default its value is:

(setq-default dotspacemacs-default-font '("Source Code Pro"
                                          :size 13
                                          :weight normal
                                          :width normal
                                          :powerline-offset 2))

The properties should be pretty straightforward, it is possible to set any valid property of a font-spec.

The special property :powerline-offset is for quick tweaking of the mode-line height in order to avoid crappy rendering of the separators like on the following screenshot (in this extreme case bump the offset to +8 or more but most of the time 2 or 4 is alright).

Ugly separators

ugly-separators

Commands

Every sequences must be performed in normal mode.

Reserved prefix command for user

SPC o is reserved for the user. Setting key bindings behind <SPC> o is guaranteed to never conflict with Spacemacs defaults key bindings.

Escaping

Spacemacs uses evil-escape to easily switch between insert state and normal state by quickly pressing the fd keys.

The choice of fd was made to be able to use the same sequence to escape from "everything" in Emacs:

  • escape from all evil states to normal state
  • escape from evil-lisp-state to normal state
  • abort evil ex command
  • quit minibuffer
  • abort isearch
  • quit magit buffers
  • quit help buffers
  • quit apropos buffers
  • quit ert buffers
  • quit undo-tree buffer
  • quit paradox
  • quit gist-list menu
  • hide neotree buffer

This sequence can be customized in your ~/.spacemacs. Example to set it to jj (it is important set the variable in dotspacemacs/init):

(defun dotspacemacs/init ()
  (setq-default evil-escape-key-sequence "jj"))

Note: Although jj or jk are popular choices of vim users, these key sequences are not optimal for Spacemacs. Indeed it is very easy in visual state to press quickly jj and inadvertently escape to normal state.

Executing Vim, Emacs and shell commands

Command      |                 Key Binding

:---------------:|------------------------------------------------------------------ Vim (ex-command) | : Emacs (M-x) | SPC : Shell | SPC ! or just !

The command key : can be easily changed with the variable dotspacemacs-command-key of your ~/.spacemacs. Note that is will change both : and SPC : bindings to keep the symmetry between Vim and Emacs. A good key can be , for example.

Navigating

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

Smooth scrolling

smooth-scrolling prevent the point to jump when it reaches the top or bottom of the screen. It is enabled by default.

On Windows, you may want to disable it. To disable the smooth scrolling set the dotspacemacs-smooth-scrolling variable in your ~/.spacemacs to nil:

(setq-default dotspacemacs-smooth-scrolling t)

Vim motions with ace-jump mode

Spacemacs uses the evil integration of ace-jump mode which enables the invocation of ace-jump-mode during motions.

It is useful for deleting visually a set of lines, try the following sequence in a buffer containing some text:

d <SPC> l
Key Binding Description
SPC SPC initiate ace jump word mode
SPC l initiate ace jump line mode
SPC ` go back to the previous location (before the jump)

Hint: you may change to char mode by C-c C-c in word mode.

Window manipulation

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 c close a window
SPC w d toggle window dedication (dedicated window cannot be reused 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 o cycle and focus between frames
SPC w p m open messages buffer in a popup window
SPC w p p close the current sticky popup window
SPC w r initiate window size micro-state
SPC w R rotate windows clockwise
SPC w s or SPC w / horizontal split
SPC w S horizontal split and focus new window
SPC w u undo window layout (used to effectively undo a closed window)
SPC w U redo window layout
SPC w v or SPC w - vertical split
SPC w V vertical split and focus new window
SPC w w cycle and focus between windows

Resizing windows

Spacemacs defines a micro-state to resize windows.

Key Binding Description
SPC w S initiate micro-state
H shrink window horizontally
J shrink window vertically
K enlarge window vertically
L enlarge window horizontally
Any other key leave the micro-state

The micro-state text in minibuffer display the following information:

[WidthxHeight] Resize window: (H/L) shrink/enlarge horizontally, (J/K) shrink/enlarge vertically

Reposition window

Key Binding Description
z f Make current function or comments visible

z f tries to accommodate current function or comments into window as much as possible.

Golden ratio

If you resize windows like crazy you may want to give a try to golden-ratio.

golden-ratio resizes windows dynamically depending on whether they are selected or not. By default golden-ratio is off.

The mode can be toggled on and off with:

<SPC> t g

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 0 move to the beginning of buffer (useful in emacs state buffers)
SPC b $ move to the end of buffer (useful in emacs state buffers)
SPC b b or SPC TAB switch to alternate buffer (switch back and forth)
SPC b e erase the content of the buffer (ask for confirmation)
SPC b k kill the current buffer
SPC b K kill all buffers except the current one
SPC b C-K kill all buffers matching the regexp
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 R revert the current buffer (reload from disk)
SPC b s switch to a buffer using helm
SPC b w toggle read-only (writable state)

Files manipulation commands (start with f):

Key Binding Description
SPC f d delete a file and the associated buffer (ask for confirmation)
SPC f f open a file using ido
SPC f j jump to the current buffer file in dired
SPC f o open a file using the default external program
SPC f s save a file
SPC f S save all files
SPC f r open a recent file with helm
SPC f t toggle file tree side bar using NeoTree
SPC f y show current file absolute path in the minibuffer

Emacs and Spacemacs files

Convenient key bindings are located under the prefix SPC f e to quickly navigate between Emacs and Spacemacs specific files.

Key Binding Description
SPC f e c open ido in the contrib folder
SPC f e d open the spacemacs dotfile (~/.spacemacs)
SPC f e h discover Spacemacs layers and packages using helm
SPC f e i open the all mighty init.el
SPC f e s open ido in the spacemacs layer folder

Ido

Spacemacs displays the ido minibuffer vertically thanks to the ido-vertical-mode.

Basic ido operations can be done with Ctrl key:

Key Binding Description
C-<return> open a dired buffer
M-<return> open a dired buffer in terminal
C-d delete selected file (ask for confirmation)
C-h go to parent directory
C-j select next file or directory
C-S-j go to next directory
C-k select previous file or directory
C-S-k go to previous directory
C-l open the selected file
C-n next history element
C-o open selected file in other window
C-p previous history element
C-s open selected file in a vertically split window
C-t open selected file in a new frame
C-v open selected file in a horizontally split window

NeoTree file tree

Spacemacs provides a quick and simple way to navigate in an unknown project file tree with NeoTree.

To toggle the NeoTree buffer press:

<SPC> f t

The NeoTree window always has the number 0 so it does not shift the current number of the other windows. To select the NeoTree window you then use SPC 0.

NeoTree navigation

Navigation is centered on the hjkl with the hope to provide a fast navigation experience like in [ranger][]:

Key Binding Description
h collapse expanded directory or go to parent node
H previous sibling
j next file or directory
J next expanded directory on level down
k previous file or directory
K parent directory, when reaching the root change it to parent directory
l or RET expand directory
L next sibling

Note: The point is automatically set to the first letter of a node for a smoother experience.

Opening files with NeoTree

By default a file is opened in the last active window. It is possible to choose window number where to open a file by using a numeric argument, for instance 2 l or 2 RET will open the current file in the windows 2. It is also possible to open the file in a split window with | and -:

Key Binding Description
l or RET open file in last active window
# l or 2 RET open file in window number #
| open file in an vertically split window
- open file in an horizontally split window

Other NeoTree key bindings

Key Binding Description
TAB toggle stretching of the buffer
c create a node
d delete a node
g refresh
s toggle showing of hidden files
q or fd hide NeoTree buffer
r rename a node

NeoTree mode-line

The mode-line has the following format [x/y] d (D:a, F:b) where:

  • x is the index of the current selected file or directory
  • y the total number of items (file and directory) in the current directory
  • d the name of the current directory
  • a the number of directories in the current directory
  • b the number of files in the current directory

Shells

Key bindings

Key Binding Description
C-j next item in history
C-k previous item in history
SPC m h browse history with helm (works in eshell and shell)

Staying in insert state

Navigating in shell buffers can be tricky because it is not possible to use the leader in insert state. Switching back and forth between normal and insert states can be tedious. The solution to this is to use C-o then use the leader key. C-o set the next key to be evaluated in normal state.

Bookmarks

Bookmarks can be set anywhere in a file. Bookmarks are persistent. They are very useful to jump to/open a known project. Spacemacs used helm-bookmarks to manage them.

Open an helm window with the current bookmarks by pressing:

<SPC> h b

Then in the helm-bookmarks buffer:

Key Binding Description
CTRL+d delete the selected bookmark
CTRL+e edit the selected bookmark
CTRL+f toggle filename location
CTRL+o open the selected bookmark in another window

To save a new bookmark, just type the name of the bookmark and press RET.

DocView mode

doc-view-mode is a built-in major mode to view DVI, PostScript (PS), PDF, OpenDocument, and Microsoft Office documents.

Key Binding Description
/ search forward
? search backward
+ enlarge
- shrink
gg go to first page
G go to last page
h previous page
H adjust to height
j next line
k previous line
K kill proc and buffer
l next page
n go to next search occurrence
N go to previous search occurrence
P fit page to window
r revert
W adjust to width
C-d scroll down
C-k kill proc
C-u scroll up
C-c C-c toggle display text and image display
C-c C-t open new buffer with doc's text contents

Searching

Project Searching

Key Binding Description
SPC / or SPC a with The Silver Searcher
SPC A with ack
SPC g with grep
SPC h l show last helm popup

Persistent highlighting

Spacemacs uses evil-search-highlight-persist to keep the searched expression highlighted until the next search. It is also possible to clear the highlighting by pressing SPC s c or executing the ex command :noh.

Stacking highlights

With [hl-anything][] it is possible to highlight all occurrences of the word under point. The highlights can be stacked.

Key Binding Description
SPC h c clear the highlightings
SPC h g c clear the highlightings globally (all opened buffers)
SPC h h highlight all occurrence of the word at point
SPC h g h highlight all occurrence of the word at point globally (all opened buffers)
SPC h n next highlighted occurrence
SPC h N previous highlighted occurrence
SPC h p toggle auto-highlight of the enclosing parenthesis
SPC h r restore saved highlights in the current buffer
SPC h s save current highlights

Highlight current symbol

Spacemacs supports highlighting of the current symbol on demand (provided by the auto-highlight-symbol mode) and adding a micro-state to easily navigate and rename this symbol.

It is also possible to change the range of the navigation on the fly to:

  • buffer
  • function
  • visible area

To initiate the highlighting of the current symbol under point press SPC s h.

Navigation between the highlighted symbols can be done with the commands:

Key Binding Description
* initiate navigation micro-state
SPC s b go to the last searched occurrence of the last highlighted symbol
SPC s e edit all occurrences of the current symbol(*)
SPC s h highlight the current symbol and all its occurrence within the current range
SPC s R change range to default (whole buffer)

In 'Spacemacs' highlight symbol micro-state:

Key Binding Description
e edit occurrences (*)
n go to next occurrence
N go to previous occurrence
d go to next definition occurrence
D go to previous definition occurrence
r change range (function, display area, whole buffer)
R go to home occurrence (reset position to starting occurrence)
Any other key leave the navigation micro-state

(*) using iedit or the default implementation of auto-highlight-symbol

The micro-state text in minibuffer display the following information:

<M> [6/11]* press (n/N) to navigate, (e) to edit, (r) to change range or (R) for reset

Where <M> [x/y]* is:

  • M: the current range mode
    • <B>: whole buffer range
    • <D>: current display range
    • <F>: current function range
  • x: the index of the current highlighted occurrence
  • y: the total number of occurrences
  • *: appears if there is at least one occurrence which is not currently visible.

Visual Star

With evil-visualstar you can search for the next occurrence of the current selection.

It is pretty useful combined with the expand-region bindings.

Note: If the current state is not the visual state then pressing * uses auto-highlight-symbol and its micro-state.

Listing symbols by semantic

Use helm-semantic-or-imenu command from Helm to quickly navigate between the symbols in a buffer.

To list all the symbols of a buffer press:

<SPC> s l

Helm-swoop

This is very similar to moccur, it displays a helm buffer with all the occurrences of the word under point. You can then change the search query in real-time and navigate between them easily.

You can even edit the occurrences directly in the helm buffer and apply the modifications to the buffer.

Key Binding Description
SPC s s execute helm-swoop
SPC s S execute helm-multi-swoop
SPC s C-s execute helm-multi-swoop-all

Editing

Text manipulation commands

Text related commands (start with x):

Key Binding        |                 Description

-----------------------|------------------------------------------------------------ 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

Smartparens Strict mode

Smartparens comes with a strict mode which prevents deletion of parenthesis if the result is unbalanced.

This mode can be frustrating for novices, this is why it is not enabled by default.

It is possible to enable it easily for all programming modes with the variable dotspacemacs-smartparens-strict-mode of you ~/.spacemacs.

(setq-default dotspacemacs-smartparens-strict-mode t)

Zooming

Text

The font size of the current buffer can be adjusted with the commands:

Key Binding Description
SPC z x + scale up the font and initiate the font scaling micro-state
SPC z x - scale down the font and initiate the font scaling micro-state
SPC z x = reset the font size (no scaling) and initiate the font scaling micro-state
+ increase the font size
- decrease the font size
= reset the font size
Any other key leave the font scaling micro-state

Note that only the text of the current buffer is scaled, the other buffers, the mode-line and the minibuffer are not affected. To zoom the whole content of a frame use the zoom frame bindings (see next section).

Frame

You can zoom in and out the whole content of the frame with the commands:

Key Binding Description
SPC z f + zoom in the frame content
SPC z f - zoom out the frame content
SPC z f = reset the frame content size
+ zoom in
- zoom out
= reset zoom
Any other key leave the zoom frame micro-state

Increase/Decrease numbers

Spacemacs uses evil-numbers to easily increase or increase numbers.

Key Binding Description
SPC n + increase the number under point by one and initiate micro-state
SPC n - decrease the number under point by one and initiate micro-state

In micro-state:

Key Binding Description
+ increase the number under point by one
- decrease the number under point by one
Any other key leave the micro-state

Tips: you can increase or decrease a value by more that once by using a prefix argument (ie. 10 SPC n + will add 10 to the number under point).

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.

Expand-region

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

Indent text object

With evil-indent-textobject the following action can be performed in normal state:

  • ii - Inner Indentation: the surrounding textblock with the same indentation
  • ai - Above and Indentation: ii + the line above with a different indentation
  • aI - Above and Indentation+: ai + the line below with a different indentation

Example (| is the point):

(while (not done)
  (messa|ge "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."))
(1+ 41)
  • vii will select the line with message
  • vai will select the whole while loop
  • vaI will select the whole fragment

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

Line formatting

Spacemacs performs go to the line below point and indent it with SPC j k. You may repeat this operation with evil-repeat if you need to indent many lines.

Line formatting commands start with j:

Key Binding            |                 Description

---------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------ J | join the current line with the next line SPC j j | same as SPC j k but will split the current line at point SPC J | split a quoted string or s-expression in place SPC j J | split a quoted string or s-expression and auto-indent SPC j k | go to next line and indent it using auto-indent rules

Used together these key bindings are very powerful to quickly reformat the code.

Auto-completion

Spacemacs uses auto-complete auto-completion engine.

Key Binding    |                 Description

-------------------|------------------------------------------------------------ C-j | select next candidate C-k | select previous candidate TAB | expand selection or select next candidate S-TAB | select previous candidate return | complete word, if word is already completed insert a carriage return

Replacing text with iedit

Spacemacs uses the powerful iedit mode through evil-iedit-state to quickly edit multiple occurrences of a symbol or selection.

evil-iedit-state defines two new evil states:

  • iedit state
  • iedit-insert state

The color code for these states is red.

evil-iedit-state has also a nice integration with expand-region for quick edition of the current selected text by pressing e.

iedit states key bindings

State transitions
Key Binding    |       From         |          To

-------------------|:------------------:|:-------------------------: SPC s e | normal or visual | iedit e | expand-region | iedit ESC | iedit | normal C-g | iedit | normal fd | iedit | normal ESC | iedit-insert | iedit C-g | iedit-insert | normal fd | iedit-insert | normal

To sum-up, in iedit-insert state you have to press ESC twice to go back to the normal state. You can also at any time press C-g or fd to return to normal state.

Note: evil commands which switch to insert state will switch in iedit-insert state.

In iedit state

iedit state inherits from normal state, the following key bindings are specific to iedit state.

Key Binding   |                 Description

------------------|------------------------------------------------------------ ESC | go back to normal state TAB | toggle current occurrence 0 | go to the beginning of the current occurrence $ | go to the end of the current occurrence # | prefix all occurrences with an increasing number (SPC u to choose the starting number). A | go to the end of the current occurrence and switch to iedit-insert state D | delete the occurrences F | restrict the scope to the function gg | go to first occurrence G | go to last occurrence I | go to the beginning of the current occurrence and switch to iedit-insert state J | increase the edition scope by one line below K | increase the edition scope by one line above L | restrict the scope to the current line n | go to next occurrence N | go to previous occurrence p | replace occurrences with last yanked (copied) text S | (substitute) delete the occurrences and switch to iedit-insert state V | toggle visibility of lines with no occurrence U | Up-case the occurrences C-U | down-case the occurrences

Note: 0, $, A and I have the default Vim behavior when used outside of an occurrence.

In iedit-insert state
Key Binding            |                 Description

---------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------ ESC | go back to iedit state C-g | go back to normal state

Examples

  • manual selection of several words then replace: v w w SPC s e S "toto" ESC ESC
  • append text to a word on two lines: v i w SPC s e J i "toto" ESC ESC
  • substitute symbol with expand-region: SPC v v e S "toto" ESC ESC
  • replace symbol with yanked (copied) text with expand region: SPC v e p ESC ESC

Commenting

Comments are handled by evil-nerd-commenter, it's bound to the following keys.

Key Binding      |                 Description

---------------------|------------------------------------------------------------ SPC ; | comment operator SPC c i | comment invert SPC c l | comment lines SPC c p | comment paragraphs SPC c r | comment region SPC c t | comment to line SPC c y | comment and yank

Tips: To comment efficiently a block of line use the combo:

<SPC> ; <SPC> l

Deleting files

Deletion is configured to send deleted files to system trash.

On OS X the trash program is required. It can be installed with [homebrew][] with the following command:

$ brew install trash

To disable the trash you can set the variable delete-by-moving-to-trash to nil in your ~/.spacemacs.

Editing Lisp code

Edition of lisp code is provided by evil-lisp-state.

Some commands will set the current state to lisp state where different commands combo can be repeated without pressing on SPC m.

When in lisp state the color of the mode-line changes to pink.

Examples:

  • to slurp three times while in normal state: SPC m 3 n
  • to wrap a symbol in parenthesis then slurping two times: SPC m w 2 n

Lisp state Key Bindings

Lisp state Auto-switch commands

These commands switch to lisp state.

Key Binding Function
SPC evil leader
SPC m % evil jump item
SPC m : ex command
SPC m ( insert expression before (same level as current one)
SPC m ) insert expression after (same level as current one)
SPC m $ go to the end of current sexp
SPC m 0 go to the beginning of current sexp
SPC m a absorb expression
SPC m A transpose expression
SPC m b forward barf expression
SPC m B backward barf expression
SPC m c convolute expression
SPC m h backward char
SPC m H previous symbol
SPC m i switch to insert state
SPC m I go to beginning of current expression and switch to insert state
SPC m j next visual line
SPC m J next closing parenthesis
SPC m k previous visual line
SPC m K previous opening parenthesis
SPC m l forward char
SPC m L next symbol
SPC m m merge (join) expression
SPC m n forwared slurp expression
SPC m N backward slurp expression
SPC m p paste after
SPC m P paste before
SPC m q unwrap current expression and kill all symbols after point
SPC m Q unwrap current expression and kill all symbols before point
SPC m r raise expression (replace parent expression by current one)
SPC m u undo
SPC m C-r redo
SPC m v switch to visual state
SPC m V switch to visual line state
SPC m C-v switch to visual block state
SPC m w wrap expression with parenthesis
SPC m W unwrap expression
SPC m xs delete symbol
SPC m xw delete word
SPC m xx delete expression
SPC m y copy expression
Lisp state commands

These commands can be executed in `lisp state'.

Key Binding Function
h backward char
j next visual line
k previous visual line
l forward char
Lisp state Other commands

These commands can be executed in any state.

Key Binding Function
SPC m e $ go to end of line and evaluate last sexp
SPC m e e evaluate last sexp
SPC m e f evaluate current defun
SPC m g g go to definition
SPC m h h describe elisp thing at point (show documentation)
SPC m t b execute buffer tests
SPC m t q ask for test function to execute

Project management

Projects in Spacemacs are managed with projectile. In projectile 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.

Helm is used whenever it is possible.

To search in a project see project searching.

projectile commands start with p:

Key Binding     |                 Description

--------------------|------------------------------------------------------------ SPC p / | run ag SPC p a | run ag SPC p A | run ack SPC p b | switch to project buffer SPC p d | find directory SPC p D | open project root in dired SPC p f | find file SPC p g | run grep SPC p h | find file using helm SPC p I | invalidate the projectile cache SPC p j | find a tag SPC p k | kill all project buffers SPC p o | run multi-occur SPC p R | regenerate the project's [e|g]tags SPC p r | replace a string SPC p s | switch project SPC p t | find tags SPC p T | find test files SPC p v | open project root in vc-dir or magit

Registers

Access commands to the various registers start with r:

Key Binding      |                 Description

---------------------|------------------------------------------------------------ SPC r e | show evil yank and named registers SPC r m | show marks register SPC r r | show helm register SPC r y | show kill ring

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 e):

Key Binding      |                 Description

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

Custom fringe bitmaps:

Symbol Description
dot-error Error
dot-warning warning
dot-info Info

Compiling

Spacemacs binds a few commands to support compiling a project.

Key Binding      |                 Description

---------------------|------------------------------------------------------------ SPC c c | use helm-make via projectile SPC c C | compile SPC c r | recompile

Modes

Major Mode leader key

Key bindings specific to the current major mode start with SPC m. For convenience a shortcut key called the major mode leader key is set by default on , which saves one precious keystroke.

It is possible to change the major mode leader key by defining the variable dotspacemacs-major-mode-leader-key in your ~/.spacemacs. For example to setup the key on tabulation:

(setq-default dotspacemacs-major-mode-leader-key "<tab>")

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

Ledger

Key Binding    |                 Description

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

Org

In org, evil-org-mode is activated.

Key Binding       |                 Description

----------------------|------------------------------------------------------------ SPC m a | org-agenda SPC m A | org-archive-subtree SPC m c | org-capture SPC m C | evil-org-recompute-clocks SPC m d | org-deadline SPC m e | org-export-dispatch SPC m i | org-clock-in SPC m l | evil-org-open-links SPC m m | org-ctrl-c-ctrl-c SPC m o | org-clock-out SPC m r | org-refile SPC m s | org-schedule SPC m t | org-show-todo-tree 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 o | always-insert-item O | org-insert-heading $ | org-end-of-line ^ | org-beginning-of-line < | org-metaleft > | org-metaright TAB | org-cycle M-l | org-metaright M-h | org-metaleft M-k | org-metaup M-j | org-metadown M-L | org-shiftmetaright M-H | org-shiftmetaleft M-K | org-shiftmetaup M-J | org-shiftmetadown M-o | org-insert-heading+org-metaright M-t | org-insert-todo-heading nil+ org-metaright

Python

Writing python code with spacemacs is supported by python contribution. Please see python contribution documentation for detail.

JavaScript

More featured JavaScript support is provided by the javascript contribution. Please see javascript contribution documentation for detail.

rcirc

Key Binding   |                 Description

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

HTML and CSS

HTML contribution provides support for editing HTML, CSS, Scss and Less files. Please see html contribution documentation for detail.

Emacs Server

Spacemacs starts a server at launch. This server is killed whenever you close your Emacs windows.

Connecting to the Emacs server

TODO

Keeping the server alive

It is possible to keep the server alive when you close Emacs by setting the variable dotspacemacs-persistent-server to t in your ~./spacemacs.

(setq-default dotspacemacs-persistent-server t)

When this variable is set to t, the only way to quit Emacs and kill the server is to use the following bindings:

Key Binding    |                 Description

-------------------|------------------------------------------------------------ SPC q q | Quit Emacs and kill the server SPC q s | Save the buffers, quit Emacs and kill the server

Troubleshoot

Loading fails

If during the first boot of Emacs nothing seems to happen or if the installation seems to abort prematurely, you can check for an error message by opening the *Warning* buffer:

C-x b warning RET

('C-x b' means 'Ctrl + x then b' and 'RET' means 'return')

Then you can copy/paste the error in a Github issue, thank you.

I have no file ~/.spacemacs

You have to manually copy the ~/.emacs.d/core/templates/.spacemacs.template file to ~/.spacemacs

Tips

evil-lisp-state as default state

To Make lisp state the default state in Emacs Lisp buffers, insert in your ~/.spacemacs the following snippet:

(defun dotspacemacs/config ()
  (add-hook 'emacs-lisp-mode-hook 'evil-lisp-state))

Achievements

Achievements Account
First contribution trishume
First contribution layer trishume
First blog article on Spacemacs Wolfy87
First contributed banner chrisbarrett
100th issue (PR) danielwuz
200th issue (question) justrajdeep
300th issue (PR) danielwuz
400th issue (PR) CestDiego
100th pull request bru
200th pull request smt
PR gunner (8 PRs in a row) ralesi
100th star Jackneill
200th star jb55
400th star dbohdan
600th star laat

Thank you

Jokes aside, thank you Richard for this great piece of software.

Thank you to all the contributors and the whole Emacs community from core developers to elisp hackers!