Table of Contents

Spacemacs documentation

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1. Core Pillars

Four core pillars: Mnemonic, Discoverable, Consistent and "Crowd-Configured".

If any of these core pillars are violated, open an issue and we'll try our best to fix it.

1.1. Mnemonic

Key bindings are organized using mnemonic prefixes like b for buffer, p for project, s for search, h for help, etc…

1.2. Discoverable

Innovative real-time display of available key bindings. Simple query system to quickly find available layers, packages, and more.

1.3. Consistent

Similar functionalities have the same key binding everywhere, thanks to a clearly defined set of conventions. Documentation is mandatory for any layer that ships with Spacemacs.

1.4. Crowd-Configured

Community-driven configuration provides curated packages tuned by power users and bugs are fixed quickly.

2. Highlighted features

  • Bring the efficiency of modal editing to the powerful Emacs lisp platform. Modal UX is optional and Spacemacs can be used with only Emacs key bindings.
  • Integrate nicely with Evil states (Vim modes).
  • Keep your fingers on the home row for quicker editing with support for QWERTY and BEPO layouts.
  • Minimalistic and nice graphical UI keeps your available screen space for what matters: your text files.
  • Fast boot time: packages and configuration are lazy-loaded as much as possible. For even faster boot time, Spacemacs now provides full support for the new portable dumper available in Emacs 27 and later.
  • Lower the risk of RSI by heavily using the space bar instead of modifiers. If you have issues with your thumbs you can still use Spacemacs using modifiers.
  • Contribute easily with your improvements and new configuration layers.
  • Very active and helpful community on Gitter and IRC (via Gitter IRC bridge)

3. Screenshots

spacemacs-python.png Python

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

4. Who can benefit from this?

  • Spacemacs was initially intended to be used by Vim users who want to go to the next level by using Emacs (see guide for Vimmers). But it is now perfectly usable by non Vim users by choosing the emacs editing style.
  • It is also a good fit for people wanting to lower the risk of RSI induced by the default Emacs key bindings. (This is an assumption, there are no official studies to prove this!) If you have issues using your thumbs you can still use the emacs editing style which puts the leader key on a modifier combination.
  • Emacs users wanting to learn a different way to edit files or wanting to learn Vim key bindings or even wanting to mix both editing styles by setting their style to hybrid.
  • Emacs users wanting a simple but deep configuration system that greatly lowers the risk of .emacs bankruptcy.
  • Pair-programming users thanks to out of the box support for dynamic switching of editing style. A Vim user and an Emacs user can use the same Spacemacs comfortably.

5. Update and Rollback

5.1. Update Spacemacs repository

There are several methods of updating the core files and layer information for Spacemacs. However afterwards you should always update all your packages; see the next section.

Spacemacs supports two different update schemes, the default is a rolling update scheme based on the latest version of packages available. This version can be found on the develop branch and is updated by a simple git pull.

The second depreciated one is a fixed version scheme which is based on a stable set of packages. This version can be found on the master branch and will show a notification when a new version is available. Be warned this has not been updated in a long time now so packages will be very old.

5.1.1. Updating Manually with git (for develop)

To update manually close Emacs and update the git repository: 

$ git pull --rebase

5.1.2. Automatic Updates (for master)

Spacemacs will automatically check for a new version periodically. When it detects that a new version is available an arrow will appear in the modeline. Click it to update Spacemacs. You must restart Emacs after updating. powerline-update.png Update Button

5.1.3. Updating from the Spacemacs Buffer (for master)

Use the button labeled "Update Spacemacs" in the Spacemacs buffer. You will be prompted for the version you would like to use.

Note: The master branch is considered to be immutable in the sense that you must not modify it by adding your own commit. If you do so you will break the automatic update of Spacemacs on the master branch. To fork Spacemacs code you have to use a custom branch that you manage manually.

5.2. Update packages

To update the Emacs packages used by Spacemacs press RET (enter) or click on the link [Update Packages] in the startup page under the banner then restart Emacs. If you prefer, you can use the command configuration-layer/update-packages instead of the button.

If anything goes wrong you should be able to rollback the update by pressing RET or clicking on the [Rollback Package Update] link in the startup page and choosing a rollback slot (sorted by date). This button uses the command configuration-layer/rollback.

6. Configuration layers

This section is an overview of layers. A more extensive introduction to writing configuration layers can be found here (recommended reading!).

6.1. Purpose

Layers help collect related packages together to provide features. For example, the python layer provides auto-completion, syntax checking, and REPL support for python files. This approach helps keep configuration organized and reduces overhead for the user by keeping them from having to think about what packages to install. To install all the python features the user has just to add the python layer to their dotfile.

6.2. Structure

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

[layer_name]
  |__ [local]
  | |__ [package 1]
  | |     ...
  | |__ [package n]
  |-- layers.el
  |__ packages.el
  |__ funcs.el
  |__ config.el
  |__ keybindings.el

[] = directory

Where:

File Usage
layers.el The place to declare additional layers
packages.el The list of packages and their configuration functions (init, post-init, etc…)
funcs.el All functions defined in the layer (used in package configuration for instance)
config.el Layer configuration (defines the layer variables default values and setup some config variables)
keybindings.el General key bindings not tied to a specific package configuration

Packages can be:

  • ELPA packages installed from an ELPA compliant repository
  • local packages in a layer's local folder
  • installed from an online source using quelpa.

6.3. Configure packages

6.3.1. With a layer

6.3.1.1. Declaration

Packages are declared in a variable called <layer>-packages where <layer> is the name of the layer.

Example: 

(setq <layer>-packages '(package1 package2 ...)

All packages from all layers are processed in alphabetical order so sometimes you'll have to use some with-eval-after-load black magic to configure them properly. For instance, if package A depends on B then you can configure A with: 

(with-eval-after-load 'B ...)

For details on installing packages using quelpa or local packages see LAYERS.

6.3.1.2. Initialization

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

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

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

6.3.1.3. Exclusion

It is possible to exclude some packages from Spacemacs on 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: 

(setq <layer>-excluded-packages '(package1 package2 ...)
6.3.1.4. Overriding a layer package

See this answer in the FAQ's.

6.3.2. Without a layer

Sometimes a layer can be an unnecessary overhead, this is the case if you just want to install a package with very few configurations associated to it. A good example is some niche language where you are only interested in syntax highlighting.

You can install such packages by adding them to the variable dotspacemacs-additional-packages under the dotspacemacs/layers function in your dotfile.

For example, to install llvm-mode and dts-mode: 

(defun dotspacemacs/layers ()
  "Configuration Layers declaration..."
  (setq-default
   ;; ...
   dotspacemacs-additional-packages '(llvm-mode dts-mode)
   ;; ...
   ))

If you want to add some configuration for them, do so in the dotspacemacs/user-config function, or consider creating a layer.

6.4. Packages synchronization

Spacemacs will only install the packages that are explicitly used by the user. A package is considered to be used if its layer is used (i.e. listed in dotspacemacs-configuration-layers). Any package that is not used will be considered an orphan and will be deleted at the next startup of Emacs.

6.5. Types of configuration layers

There are two types of configuration layers:

  • distributed layers (in the layers directory, those layers are contributions shared by the community and merged upstream)
  • private (in the private directory, they are ignored by Git)

6.6. Submitting a configuration layer upstream

If you decide to provide a configuration layer, please check the contribution guidelines first in CONTRIBUTING.

6.7. Example: Themes Megapack example

This is a simple configuration layer listing a bunch of themes which you can find here.

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

(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(themes-megapack))

Adding this layer will install around 100 themes; to uninstall them remove the layer from the dotspacemacs-configuration-layers and press SPC f e R.

6.8. Managing private configuration layers

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

6.8.1. 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.

6.8.2. 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 in an external Git repository. For example, if you have a dotfiles repository it is a good practice to store these layers in there, along with your ~/.spacemacs file.

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

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

6.8.3. 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.

6.9. Tips for writing layers

Please refer to this introduction for some tips on writing layers, and how to best make them fit with the Spacemacs philosophy and loading strategy.

7. Dotfile Configuration

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

7.1. Dotfile Installation

The very first time Spacemacs starts up, it will ask you several questions and then install the .spacemacs file in your HOME directory.

7.2. Alternative dotdirectory

A dotdirectory ~/.spacemacs.d/ can be used instead of a dotfile. If you want to use this option, move ~/.spacemacs to ~/.spacemacs.d/init.el.

It is also possible to override the location of ~/.spacemacs.d/ using the environment variable SPACEMACSDIR. Of course, you can also use symlinks to change the location of this directory.

Note: ~/.spacemacs will always take priority over ~/.spacemacs.d/init.el, so ~/.spacemacs must not exist for ~/.spacemacs.d/init.el to be used by Spacemacs.

7.3. Synchronization of dotfile changes

To apply the modifications made in ~/.spacemacs press SPC f e R. It will re-execute the Spacemacs initialization process.

Note: A synchronization re-executes the functions dotspacemacs/init, dotspacemacs/user-init and dotspacemacs/user-config. Depending on the contents of these functions, you may encounter some unwanted side effects. For instance, if you use a toggle in dotspacemac/user-config to enable some behavior, this behavior will be turned off whenever the dotfile is re-synchronized. To avoid these side-effects, it is recommended to either use setq expressions instead of toggle functions, or to use the on or off versions instead (i.e. instead of spacemacs/toggle-<thing>, use spacemacs/toggle-<thing>-on or spacemacs/toggle-<thing>-off).

It is possible to skip the execution of dotspacemacs/user-config with the universal argument (SPC u SPC f e R).

7.4. Testing the dotfile

You can use the command SPC SPC dotspacemacs/test-dotfile to check if your ~/.spacemacs looks correct. This will check, among other things, whether the declared layers can be found and that the variables have sensible values. These tests are also run automatically when you synchronize with SPC f e R.

7.5. Dotfile Contents

7.5.1. Configuration functions

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

  • dotspacemacs/init is called at the very startup of Spacemacs initialization before layers configuration. You should not put any user code in there besides modifying the Spacemacs variable values prefixed with dotspacemacs-.
  • dotspacemacs/user-init is called immediately after dotspacemacs/init, before layer configuration. This function is mostly useful for variables that need to be set before packages are loaded.
  • dotspacemacs/user-env is called before the layers and packages configuration and it is responsible to setup environment variables.
  • dotspacemacs/layers is called at the startup of Spacemacs initialization, this is where you set the Spacemacs distribution and declare layers to be used in your configuration. You can also add or exclude packages of your choice and tweak some behaviors of Spacemacs loading.
  • dotspacemacs/user-config is called at the very end of Spacemacs initialization after layers configuration. This is the place where most of your configurations should be done. Unless it is explicitly specified that a variable should be set before a package is loaded, you should place your code here.
  • dotspacemacs/emacs-custom-settings is a generated function where all Emacs custom settings are written. You should not edit this function. See Custom variables section for more information.

7.5.2. Custom variables

By default custom variables from M-x customize-group are automatically saved at the end of your ~/.spacemacs file in the function dotspacemacs/emacs-custom-settings unless you declare a custom custom-file in the dotspacemacs/user-init function, in this case custom variables will be written to the user defined custom-file and the function dotspacemacs/emacs-custom-settings will remain empty.

Note: If you set a custom custom-file value then it is your responsibility to load this file at the appropriate time. Often the best time to load it is just after setting the value for custom-file in the dotspacemacs/user-init function.

7.6. Declaring Configuration layers

To use a configuration layer, declare it in your dotfile by adding it to the dotspacemacs-configuration-layers variable of your ~/.spacemacs.

Note: In this documentation a used layer is equivalent to a declared layer.

For instance, RMS can add his private configuration layer like this: 

(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers
              '(
                ;; other layers
                ;; rms layer added at the end of the list
                rms
                ))

Official layers shipped with Spacemacs are stored in ~/.emacs.d/layers. The directory ~/.emacs.d/private is a drop-in location for your private layers. It is possible to put layers at the location of your choice provided you tell Spacemacs where to look for them. This is done by setting the list dotspacemacs-configuration-layer-path in your ~/.spacemacs. For instance to add some layers in ~/.myconfig, set the variable like this: 

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

7.6.1. Setting configuration layers variables

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

(defun dotspacemacs/layers ()
  ;; List of configuration layers to load.
  (setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers
    '(auto-completion
      (git :variables
           git-magit-status-fullscreen t
           git-variable-example nil)
      smex)))

The :variables keyword is a convenience to keep layer configuration close to their declaration. Setting layer variables in the dotspacemacs/user-init function of your dotfile is also a perfectly valid way to configure a layer.

7.6.2. Disabling layer services in other layers

Often layers enable services that other layers can use. For instance if you use the layer auto-completion then all other layers supporting auto-completion will have this feature enabled.

Sometimes you may want to disable a service added by a layer in some specific layers. Say you want to disable auto-completion in org and git layers, you can do it with the following layer declaration. 

(defun dotspacemacs/layers ()
  ;; List of configuration layers to load.
  (setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers
    '(org git
      (auto-completion :disabled-for org git))))

You can also use the :enabled-for construct to disable it for all layers except those explicitly identified. 

(defun dotspacemacs/layers ()
  ;; List of configuration layers to load.
  (setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers
    '(java python c-c++
      (auto-completion :enabled-for java python))))

Note that :enabled-for may be an empty list. 

(defun dotspacemacs/layers ()
  ;; List of configuration layers to load.
  (setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers
    '(java python c-c++
      (auto-completion :enabled-for))))

:enabled-for takes precedence over :disabled-for if both are present.

7.6.3. Selecting/Ignoring packages of a layer

By default a declared layer installs/configures all its associated packages. You may want to select only some of them or ignoring some of them. This is possible with the :packages keyword.

For instance to ignore the treemacs and fancy-battery packages from spacemacs-ui-visual layer: 

(defun dotspacemacs/layers ()
  ;; List of configuration layers to load.
  (setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers
    '(auto-completion
      (spacemacs-ui-visual :packages (not treemacs fancy-battery))))

The opposite would be to ignore all packages except treemacs and fancy-battery: 

(defun dotspacemacs/layers ()
  ;; List of configuration layers to load.
  (setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers
    '(auto-completion
      (spacemacs-ui-visual :packages treemacs fancy-battery)))

Note: Ignoring a package from a layer is different than excluding a package. An excluded packages is completely removed from your configuration whereas an ignored package is ignored only for a given layer but it can remain on your system. It happens that if the given layer is the owner of the package then ignoring this package is the same as excluding it (because the package becomes orphan so it is considered unused by Spacemacs).

7.6.4. Excluding packages

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

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 or at the next dotfile synchronization. All the orphan dependencies are also deleted automatically. Excluding a package effectively remove all references to it in Spacemacs without breaking the rest of the configuration, this is a powerful feature which allows you to quickly remove any feature from Spacemacs.

Note: A few packages are essential for Spacemacs to correctly operate, those packages are protected and cannot be excluded or uninstalled even if they become orphans or are excluded. use-package is an example of a protected package that cannot be removed from Spacemacs.

8. Concepts

8.1. Editing Styles

Spacemacs comes with several editing styles which can be switched dynamically providing an easier way to do pair programming, for instance between a Vim user and an Emacs user.

Three styles are available:

  • Vim,
  • Emacs,
  • Hybrid (a mix between Vim and Emacs).

To set the editing style set the variable dotspacemacs-editing-style to either vim, hybrid, or emacs. It possible to pass a list of variables as well with the keyword :variables, just like for layer variables.

8.1.1. Vim

Spacemacs behaves like in Vim using the Evil mode package to emulate Vim key bindings. This is the default style of Spacemacs; it can be set explicitly by setting the dotspacemacs-editing-style variable to vim in the dotfile.

To bind keys in Vim editing style (insert state): 

(define-key evil-insert-state-map (kbd "C-]") 'forward-char)

When setting the Vim style you can pass any variable supported by evil-mode with the keyword :variables. Spacemacs also supports the following editing style variables for Vim:

Variables Description
vim-style-visual-feedback If non-nil then objects are briefly highlighted
vim-style-remap-Y-to-y$ If non-nil Y is remapped to y$ in Evil states
vim-style-retain-visual-state-on-shift If non-nil, the shift mappings < and > retain visual state
vim-style-visual-line-move-text If non-nil, J and K move lines up and down when in visual mode
vim-style-ex-substitute-global If non-nil, inverse the meaning of g in :substitute Evil ex-command

Default configuration is: 

(setq-default dotspacemacs-editing-style '(vim :variables
                                               vim-style-visual-feedback nil
                                               vim-style-remap-Y-to-y$ nil
                                               vim-style-retain-visual-state-on-shift t
                                               vim-style-visual-line-move-text nil
                                               vim-style-ex-substitute-global nil)

8.1.2. Emacs

Spacemacs behaves like in raw Emacs using the Holy mode which configures Evil to make the emacs state the default state everywhere. Set the dotspacemacs-editing-style variable to emacs in the dotfile.

In Emacs style the leader is available on M-m. It is possible to toggle it on and off with SPC t E e and M-m t E e. When off the vim style is enabled.

To bind keys in Emacs editing style (emacs state): 

(define-key evil-emacs-state-map (kbd "C-]") 'forward-char)

8.1.3. Hybrid

The hybrid editing style is like the Vim style except that insert state is replaced by a new state called hybrid state. In hybrid state all the Emacs key bindings are available; this is like replacing the insert state with the emacs state but provides an isolated key map evil-hybrid-state-map.

To bind keys in Hybrid editing style (hybrid state): 

(define-key evil-hybrid-state-map (kbd "C-]") 'forward-char)

This style can be tweaked to be more like Emacs or more like Vim depending on the user preferences. The following variables are available to change the style configuration:

Variables Description
hybrid-style-visual-feedback If non-nil then objects are briefly highlighted
hybrid-style-default-state The default state when opening a new buffer. Set it to emacs for a more emacsy style
hybrid-style-enable-hjkl-bindings If non-nil then packages will configure h j k l key bindings for navigation
hybrid-style-enable-evilified-state If non-nil buffer are evilified when supported, if nil then emacs state is enabled
hybrid-style-use-evil-search-module If non-nil then use evil own search module which is closer to Vim search behavior

Default configuration is: 

(setq-default dotspacemacs-editing-style '(hybrid :variables
                                                  hybrid-style-visual-feedback nil
                                                  hybrid-style-enable-evilified-state t
                                                  hybrid-style-enable-hjkl-bindings nil
                                                  hybrid-style-use-evil-search-module nil
                                                  hybrid-style-default-state 'normal)

To toggle the hybrid style on and off use SPC t E h and M-m t E h. When off the vim style is enabled.

8.2. States

Spacemacs has 10 states:

State Default Color Description
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
replace chocolate like replace mode of Vim, overwrites the character under point instead of inserting a new one
hybrid blue exclusive to Spacemacs, this is like the insert state except that all the emacs key bindings are available
evilified light brown exclusive to Spacemacs, this is an emacs state modified to bring Vim navigation, selection and search.
lisp pink exclusive to Spacemacs, used to navigate Lisp code and modify it (more info)
iedit red exclusive to Spacemacs, used to navigate between multiple regions of text using iedit (more info)
iedit-insert red exclusive to Spacemacs, used to replace multiple regions of text using iedit (more info)

Note: Technically speaking there is also the operator evil state.

8.3. Special mode (and its derived modes) buffers

Special-mode is a basic major mode that sets buffers to read-only. Evil defines an evil-specific (i.e. no vim equivalent) motion-state for read-only buffers, and Spacemacs opens special-mode buffers, or buffer with major modes derived from special-mode, in motion-state by default.

8.4. Evilified modes

Some buffers are not for editing text and provide their own key bindings for certain operations. These often conflict with Vim bindings. To make such buffers behave more like Vim in a consistent manner, they use a special state called evilified state. In evilified state, a handful of keys work as in Evil, namely /, :, h, j, k, l, n, N, v, V, gg, G, C-f, C-b, C-d, C-e, C-o, C-i, C-u, C-y and C-z. All other keys work as intended by the underlying mode.

Shadowed keys are moved according to the pattern: a → A → C-a → C-A. Some other keys are also moved: SPC -> ', / -> \, and : -> |.

For example, if the mode binds a function to n, that is found under C-n in evilified state, since both n and N are reserved, but C-n is not. On the other hand, anything originally bound to k will be found on K, since k is reserved but K is not. If there is a binding on K, that will be moved to C-k.

In addition to this, C-g, being an important escape key in Emacs, is skipped. So anything bound to g originally will be found on C-G, since g, G and C-g are all reserved.

8.5. Evil leader

Spacemacs uses a leader key to bind almost all its key bindings.

This leader key is commonly set to ~​,​~ by Vim users. In Spacemacs the leader key is set on SPC (the space bar, hence 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. It can be customized to any other key using the variable dotspacemacs-leader-key and dotspacemacs-emacs-leader-key.

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: SPC b b

8.6. 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 changes the universal argument binding to SPC u.

8.7. Transient-states

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

When a transient state is active, documentation is displayed in the minibuffer. Additional information may also be displayed in the minibuffer.

Auto-highlight-symbol transient state: spacemacs-ahs-transient-state.png Text scale transient state:

spacemacs-scale-transient-state.png

8.8. Toggles

Spacemacs tries to unify the interface to handle toggles using a custom macro called spacemacs|add-toggle.

There exists two type of toggles:

  • globally available toggles under the key prefixes SPC t and SPC T
  • major mode specific toggles under the key prefix SPC m T

When a toggle is turned on a unicode symbol is displayed in the mode-line, this symbol is a circled letter for globally available toggles and a plain squared letter for major mode specific toggles. The letter corresponds to the key binding for this toggle.

For instance the globally available toggle for which-key is under SPC t K and its corresponding symbol in the mode-line is Ⓚ. Also the major mode specific toggle for nameless available only in emacs-lisp mode is under SPC m T n and its corresponding symbol in the mode-line is 🅽.

All toggles can be browsed via the Spacemacs help system under SPC h t.

8.8.1. Configuring toggles in the dotfile

To set the toggle states to your preference you can use a set of functions that should be called in your dotspacemacs/user-config function of your dotfile.

Globally available toggles can be turned on and off using the functions spacemacs/toggle-NAME-on and spacemacs/toggle-NAME-off respectively. NAME corresponds to the name of the toggle, for instance which-key for the toggle to turn on and off the which-key minor mode. 

(spacemacs/toggle-which-key-on)

Major mode specific toggles can be turned on by registering a hook on them to call the "toggle on" function automatically whenever a buffer using this major mode is opened. It can be done conveniently using the function spacemacs/toggle-NAME-on-register-hooks. It also exists variants of this function for each supported major mode like spacemacs/toggle-NAME-on-register-hook-MODE. 

(spacemacs/toggle-nameless-on-register-hooks)
;; or to enable it for emacs-lips buffers only
(spacemacs/toggle-nameless-on-register-hook-emacs-lisp-mode)

9. Differences between Vim, Evil and Spacemacs

  • The ~​,​~ key does repeat last f, t, F, or T command in opposite direction in Vim, but in Spacemacs it is the major mode specific leader key by default (which can be set on another key binding in the dotfile).

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

9.1. The vim-surround case

There is one obvious visible difference though. It is not between Evil and Vim but between Spacemacs and vim-surround: in visual mode 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 here are some motivations behind this change:

  • 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 (note that 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 than 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/user-config): 

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

10. Evil plugins

Spacemacs ships with the following evil plugins:

Mode Description
evil-args motions and text objects for arguments
evil-exchange port of vim-exchange
evil-indent-textobject add text object based on indentation level
evil-matchit port of matchit.vim
evil-nerd-commenter port of nerdcommenter
evil-numbers like C-a and C-x in vim
evil-search-highlight-persist emulation of hlsearch behavior
evil-surround port of vim-surround
evil-visualstar search for current selection with *
Treemacs a file explorer like NERD Tree

11. Environment variables and PATH

Environment variables are handled by the function dotspacemacs/user-env of your dotfile.

11.1. Default behavior

By default, the function dotspacemacs/user-env only calls the function spacemacs/load-spacemacs-env which loads the environment variables from the file ~/.spacemacs.env. This file is automatically created for you by Spacemacs and it is initialized with the environment variables of your system as well as the environment variables of your default shell.

To open this file use SPC f e e. You can edit it to change or add/remove environment variables. Use SPC f e E to reload it.

Some dynamic environment variables are ignored by Spacemacs when it first creates the ~/.spacemacs.env file. These ignored variables are listed in the variable spacemacs-ignored-environment-variables.

It is possible to force a new import of system and shell environment variables with SPC f e C-e. Note that this action will overwrite ~/.spacemacs.env.

11.2. Managing environment variables by yourself

For full flexibility you can bypass the default behavior simply by removing the call to spacemacs/load-spacemacs-env from your dotspacemacs/user-env function.

From there you can choose to use the popular package exec-path-from-shell or just call built-in functions like setenv or (add-to-list 'exec-path ...).

If you choose to handle the environment variables by yourself then SPC f e e will go to the function dotspacemacs/user-env instead of opening the file ~/.spacemacs.env. In all cases SPC f e E calls the function dotspacemacs/user-env so you can update your variables in place.

11.3. Note about the function dotspacemacs/user-env

It's possible that you don't have this function defined if you have an older dotfile. It is recommended to update your dotfile by adding this function, see the file ~/.emacs.d/core/template/.spacemacs.template to copy it. If you don't create such function then Spacemacs assumes you are using the default behavior described above.

12. Binding keys

To be compatible with all Spacemacs bindings, please refer to Conventions. In brief, SPC o is reserved for user custom bindings in global-map, and SPC m o in major modes.

Key sequences are bound to commands in Emacs in various keymaps. The most basic map is the global-map. Setting a key binding in the global-map is achieved with the function global-set-key. Example to bind a key to the command forward-char: 

(global-set-key (kbd "C-]") 'forward-char)

The kbd macro accepts a string describing a key sequence. The global-map is often shadowed by other maps. For example, evil-mode defines keymaps that target states (or modes in vim terminology). Here is an example that creates the same binding as above but only in insert state (define-key is a built-in function. Evil-mode has its own functions for defining keys). 

(define-key evil-insert-state-map (kbd "C-]") 'forward-char)

Perhaps most importantly for Spacemacs is the use of the bind-map package to bind keys behind a leader key. This is where most of the Spacemacs bindings live. Binding keys behind the leader key is achieved with the functions spacemacs/set-leader-keys and spacemacs/set-leader-keys-for-major-mode, example: 

(spacemacs/set-leader-keys "C-]" 'forward-char)
(spacemacs/set-leader-keys-for-major-mode 'emacs-lisp-mode "C-]" 'forward-char)

These functions use a macro like kbd to translate the key sequences for you. The second function, spacemacs/set-leader-keys-for-major-mode, binds the key only in the specified mode. The second key binding is active only when the major mode is emacs-lisp.

Finally, one should be aware of prefix keys. Essentially, all keymaps can be nested. Nested keymaps are used extensively in spacemacs, and in vanilla Emacs for that matter. For example, SPC a points to key bindings for "applications", like SPC a c for calc-dispatch. Nesting bindings is easy. 

(spacemacs/declare-prefix "o" "custom")
(spacemacs/set-leader-keys "oc" 'my-custom-command)

The first line declares SPC o to be a prefix and the second binds the key sequence SPC oc to the corresponding command. The first line is actually unnecessary to create the prefix, but it will give your new prefix a name that key-discovery tools can use (e.g., which-key).

Example to create binding in major mode: 

(spacemacs/declare-prefix-for-mode 'org-mode "mo" "custom")
(spacemacs/set-leader-keys-for-major-mode 'org-mode "oi" 'org-id-get-create)

This would add binding as , oi and SPC moi (note that the "m" in the prefix declaration must be include).

There is much more to say about bindings keys, but these are the basics. Keys can be bound in your ~/.spacemacs file or in individual layers.

13. GUI Elements

Spacemacs has a minimalistic and distraction free graphical UI:

13.1. Color themes

13.1.1. Default theme

The official Spacemacs theme is spacemacs-dark and it is the default theme installed when you first started Spacemacs. There are two variants of the theme, a dark one and a light one. Some aspects of these themes can be customized in the function dotspacemacs/user-init of your ~/.spacemacs:

  • the comment background with the boolean spacemacs-theme-comment-bg
  • the height of org section titles with spacemacs-theme-org-height

13.1.2. Choosing themes

It is possible to define your default themes in your ~/.spacemacs with the variable dotspacemacs-themes. For instance, to specify spacemacs-light, leuven and zenburn: 

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

dotspacemacs-themes entries accept the same properties as packages listed in layers package lists or in dotspacemacs-additional-packages. So it is possible to fetch a package from a specific location. For example, you could fetch zenburn theme directly from the GitHub repository with the following declaration: 

(setq-default dotspacemacs-themes
              '(spacemacs-light
                leuven
                (zenburn :location (recipe :fetcher github
                                           :repo "bbatsov/zenburn-emacs"))
                ))

Important note: If you use :location local then you have to put your theme in the directory private/local/<theme-package-name>/ with theme-package-name being the name of your package suffixed with -theme as mentioned in the Emacs conventions. For instance if your theme is foo then you have to put our theme files in the directory private/local/foo-theme.

You can cycle between the themes declared in dotspacemacs-themes with SPC T n and select an installed theme with SPC T s.

13.1.2.1. Themes Transient State
Key binding Description
n or <right> change to the next theme
p or <left> change to the previous theme
t or <up> open helm-themes to select an installed theme

13.1.3. Browsing themes

You can see samples of all themes included in the themes-megapack layer in this theme gallery from Rob Merrell.

13.1.4. Notes

  • You don't need to explicitly list in a layer the theme packages you are defining in dotspacemacs-themes, Spacemacs is smart enough to remove those packages from the list of orphans.
  • 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.
  • In the terminal version of Emacs, color themes will not render correctly as colors are rendered by the terminal and not by emacs. You will probably have to change your terminal color palette. More explanations can be found on emacs-color-theme-solarized webpage.

13.2. Font

The default font used by Spacemacs is Source Code Pro by Adobe. It is recommended to install it on your system if you wish to use it.

To change the default font set the variable dotspacemacs-default-font in your .spacemacs file, this setting will be used for the default and fixed-pitch faces. By default its value is: 

(setq-default dotspacemacs-default-font '("Source Code Pro"
                                          :size 10.0
                                          :weight normal
                                          :width normal))

If the specified font is not found, the fallback one will be used (depends on your system). Also note that changing this value has no effect if you are running Emacs in terminal.

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

  • :family Font family or fontset (a string).
  • :width Relative character width. This should be one of the symbols:
    • ultra-condensed
    • extra-condensed
    • condensed
    • semi-condensed
    • normal
    • semi-expanded
    • expanded
    • extra-expanded
    • ultra-expanded
  • :height The height of the font. In the simplest case, this is an integer in units of 1/10 point.
  • :weight Font weight- one of the symbols (from densest to faintest):
    • ultra-bold
    • extra-bold
    • bold
    • semi-bold
    • normal
    • semi-light
    • light
    • extra-light
    • ultra-light
  • :slant Font slant- one of the symbols:
    • italic
    • oblique
    • normal
    • reverse-italic
    • reverse-oblique
  • :size The font size- either a non-negative integer that specifies the pixel size, or a floating-point number that specifies the point size.
  • :adstyle Additional typographic style information for the font, such as 'sans'. The value should be a string or a symbol.
  • :registry The charset registry and encoding of the font, such as 'iso8859-1'. The value should be a string or a symbol.
  • :script The script that the font must support (a symbol).

13.3. GUI Toggles

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

Key binding Description
SPC t 8 highlight any character past the 80th column
SPC t f display the fill column (by default the fill column is set to 80)
SPC t h h toggle highlight of the current line
SPC t h i toggle highlight indentation levels
SPC t h c toggle highlight indentation current column
SPC t h s toggle syntax highlighting
SPC t i toggle indentation guide at point
SPC t l toggle truncate lines
SPC t L toggle visual lines
SPC t n toggle line numbers
SPC t n n toggle line numbers as configured in .spacemacs
SPC t n a toggle absolute line numbers
SPC t n r toggle relative line numbers
SPC t n v toggle smooth scrolling
SPC t V toggle visual line numbers
SPC t z toggle 0/1 based column indexing
Key binding Description
SPC T ~ display ~ in the fringe on empty lines
SPC T F toggle frame fullscreen
SPC T f toggle display of the fringe
SPC T m toggle menu bar
SPC T M toggle frame maximize
SPC T t toggle tool bar
SPC T T toggle frame transparency and enter transparency transient state

Note: These toggles are all available via the spacemacs-help interfaces (press SPC h SPC to display the spacemacs-help buffer).

13.3.1. Global line numbers

Line numbers can be toggled on in all prog-mode and text-mode buffers by setting the dotspacemacs-line-numbers variable in your ~/.spacemacs to t. 

(setq-default dotspacemacs-line-numbers t)

If it is set to relative, line numbers are show in a relative way: 

(setq-default dotspacemacs-line-numbers 'relative)

If it is set to visual, line numbers are shown in a relative way, but wrapped lines will be treated as multiple lines: 

(setq-default dotspacemacs-line-numbers 'visual)

dotspacemacs-line-numbers can also be set to a property list for finer control over line numbers activation.

Available properties:

Property Description
:disabled-for-modes list of major modes where line numbering is inhibited
:enabled-for-modes disable for all major modes except those listed. Takes precedence over :disabled-for-modes
:relative if non-nil, line numbers are relative to the position of the cursor
:visual if non-nil, line numbers are relative to the position of the cursor, but lines are separated by visual state - a wrapped line, for example, will be treated as more than one line. When set to t, this option takes precedence over :relative
:size-limit-kb size limit in kilobytes after which line numbers are not activated

Note that if :enabled-for-modes is nil or not specified, then the default is to enable line numbers in any prog-mode and text-mode that wasn't explicitly disabled via :disabled-for-modes. To enable line numbers in a major mode that doesn't derive from prog-mode or text-mode, you must specify it directly in :enabled-for-modes. To enable line numbers even in non-prog-mode and non-text-mode buffers, set :enabled-for-modes to all.

Examples:

Disable line numbers in dired-mode, doc-view-mode, markdown-mode, org-mode, pdf-view-mode, text-mode as well as buffers over 1Mb: 

(setq-default dotspacemacs-line-numbers '(:relative nil
                                           :disabled-for-modes dired-mode
                                                               doc-view-mode
                                                               markdown-mode
                                                               org-mode
                                                               pdf-view-mode
                                                               text-mode
                                           :size-limit-kb 1000))

Enable relative line numbers only in c-mode and c++ mode with a size limit of dotspacemacs-large-file-size: 

(setq-default dotspacemacs-line-numbers '(:relative t
                                           :enabled-for-modes c-mode
                                                              c++-mode
                                           :size-limit-kb (* dotspacemacs-large-file-size 1000))

Enable line numbers everywhere, except for buffers over 1Mb: 

(setq-default dotspacemacs-line-numbers '(:relative nil
                                           :size-limit-kb 1000))

Enable line numbers only in programming modes, except for c-mode and c++ mode: 

(setq-default dotspacemacs-line-numbers '(:relative nil
                                           :enabled-for-modes prog-mode
                                           :disabled-for-modes c-mode c++-mode
                                           :size-limit-kb (* dotspacemacs-large-file-size 1000))

Enable line numbers everywhere, even in non-prog-mode and non-text-mode buffers: 

(setq-default dotspacemacs-line-numbers '(:enabled-for-modes 'all))

13.4. Mode-line

13.4.1. Mode-line themes

Spacemacs supports different mode-line themes. The mode-line theme is set in the dotfile with the variable dotspacemacs-mode-line-theme.

Currently supported themes are:

  • spaceline themes: spacemacs, all-the-icons, custom
  • a powerline theme: vim-powerline
  • no theme at all: vanilla

The default theme is spacemacs and this theme is described in more detailed in the next section.

all-the-icons is the theme defined in the package spaceline-all-the-icons.

custom is a user custom spaceline theme, see the guide in the following section.

vim-powerline is for the Vim users who are nostalgic of the good old Vim powerline.

vanilla is the stock mode-line that comes with Emacs.

13.4.2. Separators

For spacemacs, all-the-icons and custom themes you can specify the type of separator you want with the property :separator. 

(setq dotspacemacs-mode-line-theme '(all-the-icons :separator slant))

Supported separators and preview:

Separator Spacemacs All-the-icons Screenshot
alternate X   powerline-alternate.png
arrow X X powerline-arrow.png
arrow-fade X   powerline-arrow-fade.png
bar X   powerline-bar.png
box X   powerline-box.png
brace X   powerline-brace.png
butt X   powerline-butt.png
chamfer X   powerline-chamfer.png
contour X   powerline-contour.png
cup   X  
curve X   powerline-curve.png
rounded X   powerline-rounded.png
roundstub X   powerline-roundstub.png
slant X X powerline-slant.png
wave X X powerline-wave.png
zigzag X   powerline-zigzag.png
nil X   powerline-nil.png
none   X  

A last special separator is supported, it is utf-8 which uses actual font glyphs so it can be rendered in a terminal. You'll need a font patched for the Vim powerline to be able to use it. The default font used by Spacemacs Source Code Pro already contains the glyphs.

13.4.3. Separator scale

For spacemacs, all-the-icons and custom themes you can specify the size of the separator with the property :separator-scale. It allows to avoid crappy rendering of the separators like on the following screenshot.

crappy-powerline-separators.png Ugly separators

Example: 

(setq dotspacemacs-mode-line-theme '(all-the-icons :separator-scale 1.5))

Note that this setting won't work correctly when the separator is utf-8, if you use this separator then it is recommended to set :separator-scale to 1.0.

13.4.4. Spacemacs mode-line theme

This theme is a heavily customized powerline using spaceline. It has the following capabilities among others:

  • 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
Replace Chocolate
Lisp Pink
Iedit/Iedit-Insert Red

Some elements can be dynamically toggled:

Key binding Description
SPC t m b toggle the battery status
SPC t m c toggle the org task clock (available in org layer)
SPC t m m toggle the minor mode lighters
SPC t m M toggle the major mode
SPC t m n toggle the cat! (if colors layer is declared in your dotfile)
SPC t m p toggle the point character position
SPC t m r toggle responsivness of the mode-line
SPC t m s toggle system monitor (displayed in the minibuffer)
SPC t m t toggle the time
SPC t m T toggle the mode line itself
SPC t m v toggle the version control info
SPC t m V toggle the new version lighter
13.4.4.1. Flycheck integration

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

powerline-wave.png Flycheck integration in mode-line

13.4.4.2. Anzu integration

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

powerline-anzu.png Anzu integration in mode-line

13.4.4.3. 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: These colors may vary depending on your theme.

13.4.5. All-the-Icons theme

If you want to use this theme you need to make sure to install the required fonts from the package repository, see all-the-icons fonts directory.

13.4.6. Custom spaceline theme

You can create your own Spaceline theme by setting the variable dotspacemacs-mode-line-theme to custom and define a function called spaceline-custom-theme in your dotspacemacs/user-init function of your dotfile. This function must accept a variadic number of arguments which are additional segments added by Spacemacs (like a segment to notify about available updates etc…).

Example: 

(defun spaceline-custom-theme (&rest additional-segments)
    "My custom spaceline theme."
    (spaceline-compile
      `(major-mode (minor-modes :when active) buffer-id)
      `((line-column :separator " | " :priority 3)
        ,@additional-segments))
    (setq-default mode-line-format '("%e" (:eval (spaceline-ml-main)))))

Restart Emacs and enjoy your very own mode-line!

13.4.7. 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 if you cannot set an appropriate font).

The letters displayed in the mode-line correspond to the key bindings used to toggle them.

Some toggles have two flavors: local and global. The global version of the toggle can be reached using the control key.

Additionally all globally available toggles have a circled unicode symbols like ⓟ. Toggles specific to a major mode under the SPC m T prefix have plain squared symbols like 🅿.

Key binding Unicode ASCII Mode
SPC t - ⊝ - centered-cursor mode
SPC t 8 ⑧ 8 toggle highlight of characters for long lines
SPC t C-8 ⑧ 8 global toggle highlight of characters for long lines
SPC t C-- ⊝ - global centered cursor
SPC t a ⓐ a auto-completion
SPC t c ⓒ c camel case motion with subword mode
none ⓔ e evil-org mode
SPC t E e Ⓔe Ee emacs editing style (holy mode)
SPC t E h Ⓔh Eh hybrid editing style (hybrid mode)
SPC t f ⓕ f fill-column-indicator mode
SPC t F Ⓕ F auto-fill mode
SPC t G Ⓖ G ggtags mode
SPC t g ⓖ g golden-ratio mode
SPC t h i ⓗi hi toggle highlight indentation levels
SPC t h c ⓗc hc toggle highlight indentation current column
SPC t i ⓘ i indentation guide
SPC t C-i ⓘ i global indentation guide
SPC t I Ⓘ I aggressive indent mode
SPC t K Ⓚ K which-key mode
SPC t L Ⓛ L visual line navigation
SPC t C-S-l Ⓛ L visual line navigation globally
SPC t p ⓟ p smartparens mode
SPC t C-p ⓟ p global smartparens
SPC t s ⓢ s syntax checking (flycheck)
SPC t S Ⓢ S enabled in spell checking layer (flyspell)
SPC t w ⓦ w whitespace mode
SPC t C-w ⓦ w global whitespace
SPC t W Ⓦ W automatic whitespace cleanup (see dotspacemacs-whitespace-cleanup)
SPC t C-W Ⓦ W automatic whitespace cleanup globally
SPC t y ⓨ y yasnippet mode

13.5. Frame

13.5.1. Title

Default frame title displays name of current process and hostname of system. You can include more information (like name of current file, name of current project etc) by setting dotspacemacs-frame-title-format variable.

Following format short codes are available:

Code Description
%a the abbreviated-file-name, or buffer-name
%t projectile-project-name
%I invocation-name
%S system-name
%U contents of $USER
%b buffer name
%f visited file name
%F frame name
%s process status
%p percent of buffer above top of window, or Top, Bot or All
%P percent of buffer above bottom of window, perhaps plus Top, or Bottom or All
%m mode name
%n Narrow if appropriate
%z mnemonics of buffer, terminal, and keyboard coding systems
%Z like %z, but including the end-of-line format"
13.5.1.1. Iconified (tabified) title

If you are using tiling window manager with tab support you may want to display different title for inactive tabs with dotspacemacs-icon-title-format variable. Short codes are same as for frame title.

If this variable is set to nil (default) its value will be same as dotspacemacs-frame-title-format.

13.5.2. Transparency

The Frame transparency can be toggled with: SPC T T

This also opens the Frame Transparency Transient State.

In the transient state:

Key binding Description
+, =, k increase transparency
-, _, j decrease transparency
T toggle transparency on and off
q quit transient state

13.5.3. Background transparency

The Frame background transparency can be toggled with: SPC T B

This also opens the Frame Background Transparency Transient State.

In the transient state:

Key binding Description
+, =, k increase background transparency
-, _, j decrease background transparency
T toggle background transparency on and off
q quit transient state

14. Layouts and workspaces

Layouts are window configurations with buffer isolation. Each layout can define several workspaces (think of them as sub-layouts), sharing the same list of buffers as their parent layout.

14.1. Layouts

A layout is a window configuration associated with a list of buffers. The list of buffers can be an arbitrarily chosen set of buffers. Spacemacs provides some facilities to create meaningful sets of buffers, for instance the buffers related to a projectile project.

The name of the current layout appears in the mode-line at the far left (first element of the mode-line).

To create a new layout, type a layout number that does not exist yet. For instance if you have two layouts currently then type SPC l 3 to create a third layout.

14.1.1. The default layout

The default layout (the layout created at the startup of Emacs) is not displayed in the mode-line but it is possible to display it by setting the variable dotspacemacs-display-default-layout to t.

Its name is "default" by default but it can be changed by setting the variable dotspacemacs-default-layout-name.

The default layout is special because it has a global scope which means that all the opened buffers belong to it. So using only the default layout feels like not using layouts at all.

14.1.2. Project layouts

A project layout is bound to a projectile project. To create a project layout use SPC p l.

The name of the layout is the name of the project root directory.

14.1.3. Custom Layouts

Custom layouts can be defined using the macro spacemacs|define-custom-layout, they are accessible via SPC l o.

By convention the name of a custom layout should start with @.

Example of custom layout definition for ERC buffers: 

(spacemacs|define-custom-layout "@ERC"
  :binding "E"
  :body
  (progn
    ;; hook to add all ERC buffers to the layout
    (defun spacemacs-layouts/add-erc-buffer-to-persp ()
      (persp-add-buffer (current-buffer)
                        (persp-get-by-name
                         erc-spacemacs-layout-name)))
    (add-hook 'erc-mode-hook #'spacemacs-layouts/add-erc-buffer-to-persp)
    ;; Start ERC
    (call-interactively 'erc)))

Then use SPC l o E to start ERC inside its own layout. Any new ERC buffer will be part of the custom layout.

Some custom layouts that ship with Spacemacs:

Name Key binding Description
@Spacemacs e Custom perspective containing all buffers of ~/.emacs.d
@Mu4e m Custom perspective containing all mu4e buffers (needs the mu4e layer enabled)
@ERC E Custom perspective containing all ERC buffers (needs the erc layer enabled)
@RCIRC i Custom perspective containing all RCIRC buffers (needs the rcirc layer enabled)
@Slack s Custom perspective containing all Slack buffers (needs the slack layer enabled)
@Org o Custom perspective containing all the org-agenda buffers

14.1.4. Save/Load layouts into a file

With SPC l s and SPC l L you can save and load layouts to/from a file.

Note: By default, Spacemacs will automatically save the layouts under the name persp-auto-save.

Setting the variable dotspacemacs-auto-resume-layouts to t will automatically resume the last saved layouts.

14.1.5. Layout key bindings

The key bindings are registered in a transient state. The docstring of the transient state displays the existing layouts and the currently active layout has square brackets. Pressing a layout number will activate it (or create a new one) and exit the transient state. It is possible to just preview a layout with Ctrl-<number>. Pressing TAB will activate the previously selected layout.

Press ? to toggle the full help.

Key binding Description
SPC l initiate transient state
? toggle the documentation
[0..9] switch to nth layout
[C-0..C-9] switch to nth layout and keep the transient state active
<tab> switch to the latest layout
a add a buffer to the current layout
A add all the buffers from another layout in the current one
b select a buffer in the current layout
d delete the current layout and keep its buffers
D delete the other layouts and keep their buffers
h go to default layout
l select/create a layout
L load layouts from file
n or C-l next layout in list
N or p or C-h previous layout in list
o open a custom layout
r remove current buffer from layout
R rename current layout
s save layouts
t display a buffer without adding it to the current layout
w workspaces transient state (needs eyebrowse layer enabled)
x kill current layout with its buffers
X kill other layouts with their buffers

14.1.6. Behavior of SPC TAB with layouts

By default SPC TAB which switches to last opened buffer is restricted to the current layout. If there is only one opened buffer for a given layout then SPC TAB won't do anything and the following message is displayed in the minibuffer:

Last buffer not found.

To allow SPC TAB to switch to the last opened buffer from another layout set this variable spacemacs-layouts-restrict-spc-tab to nil. For instance in your used layer list with layer variables: 

(spacemacs-layouts :variables spacemacs-layouts-restrict-spc-tab t)

14.1.7. Restrict a given function to the current layout

You can make any function "layout aware" by adding it to the list spacemacs-layouts-restricted-functions. This needs to be done by redefining the complete list either as a layer variable or using setopt or customize-set-variable.

The default value for this variable is: 

'(switch-to-next-buffer
  switch-to-prev-buffer
  spacemacs/window-split-double-columns
  spacemacs/window-split-triple-columns
  spacemacs/window-split-grid)

If you want to add the function my-func to this list you need to redefine the complete list, for example using layer variables: 

(spacemacs-layouts :variables
                   spacemacs-layouts-restricted-functions
                   '(switch-to-next-buffer
                     switch-to-prev-buffer
                     spacemacs/window-split-double-columns
                     spacemacs/window-split-triple-columns
                     spacemacs/window-split-grid
                     my-func))

The changes apply after reloading your configuration with SPC f e R or after restarting Spacemacs.

14.2. Workspaces

Workspaces are sub-layouts, they allow to define multiple layouts into a given layout, those layouts share the same buffers as the parent layout.

The currently active workspace number is displayed before the window number, for instance "➊|➍" or "1|4" means the fourth window of the first workspace.

Any new layout comes with a default workspace which is the workspace 1.

Switching to a workspace that does not exist in the current layout will create a new one. For instance at startup you can press SPC l w 2 to create the workspace 2 in the default layout.

When created a workspace is anonymous, you can give them a name with SPC l w R.

14.2.1. Workspace key bindings

The key bindings are registered in a transient state. The docstring of the transient state displays the existing workspaces and the currently active workspace has square brackets. Pressing a workspace number will activate it (or create a new one) and exit the transient state. It is possible to just preview a workspace with Ctrl-<number>. Pressing TAB will activate the previously selected workspace.

Press ? to toggle the full help.

Key binding Description
SPC l w initiate transient state
? toggle the documentation
[0..9] switch to nth workspace
[C-0..C-9] switch to nth workspace and keep the transient state active
TAB switch to last active workspace
d close current workspace
n or l switch to next workspace
N or p or h switch to previous workspace
R set a tag to the current workspace
w switched to tagged workspace

There are also some handy globally available key bindings related to workspaces:

Key binding Description
gt go to next workspace
gT go to previous workspace
SPC b W go to workspace and window by buffer

15. Commands

15.1. Vim key bindings

Spacemacs is based on the Vim modal user interface to navigate and edit text. If you are not familiar with the Vim way of editing text, then you can try the evil-tutor lessons by pressing SPC h T v at any time.

15.1.1. 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 stock evil states to normal state
  • escape from evil-lisp-state to normal state
  • escape from evil-iedit-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
  • quit helm-ag-edit
  • hide neotree buffer

If you find yourself in a buffer where the Spacemacs (SPC) or Vim keybindings don't work you can use this to get back to normal state (for example in SPC SPC customize press fd to make SPC b b work again).

This sequence can be customized in your ~/.spacemacs. Example to set it to jj: 

(defun dotspacemacs/user-config ()
  (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.

15.1.2. Executing Vim and Emacs ex/M-x commands

Command Key binding
Vim (ex-command) :
Emacs (M-x) SPC SPC

The emacs command key SPC (executed after the leader key) can be changed with the variable dotspacemacs-emacs-command-key of your ~/.spacemacs.

15.1.3. Leader key

On top of Vim modes (modes are called states in Spacemacs) there is a special key called the leader key which once pressed gives a whole new keyboard layer. The leader key is by default SPC (space). It is possible to change this key with the variable dotspacemacs-leader-key.

15.1.4. 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>")

15.1.5. Additional text objects

Additional text objects are defined in Spacemacs:

Object Description
a an argument
g the entire buffer
l a line
$ text between $
* text between *
8 text between /* and */
% text between %
\vert text between \vert

15.2. Reserved prefix command for user

SPC o and SPC m o are reserved for the user. Setting key bindings behind these is guaranteed to never conflict with Spacemacs default key bindings.

Example: Put (spacemacs/set-leader-keys "oc" 'org-capture) inside dotspacemacs/user-config in your ~/.spacemacs file, to be able to use SPC o c to run org mode capture.

15.3. Completion

Spacemacs is powered by one of two incremental completion and selection narrowing frameworks: Helm (default) or Ivy. To use Ivy, add the ivy layer to your list of enabled layers. If the ivy layer is not enabled, Helm will be enabled automatically. (Please note that, as Helm is the more mature of the two, some functions may be unavailable if you choose Ivy.)

These completion systems are the central control towers of Spacemacs, they are used to manage buffers, projects, search results, configuration layers, toggles and more…

Mastering your choice of completion system will make you a Spacemacs power user.

For more information go to the layers documentation for Helm and Ivy.

Note: To open the Spacemacs documentation for Helm of Ivy in Emacs, open the spacemacs-help menu with SPC h SPC and type helm or ivy then return.

15.4. Discovering

15.4.1. Key bindings

15.4.1.1. Which-key

A help buffer is displayed each time the SPC key is pressed in normal mode. It lists the available key bindings and their associated commands.

By default the which-key buffer will be displayed quickly after the key has been pressed. You can change the delay by setting the variable dotspacemacs-which-key-delay to your liking (the value is in seconds).

15.4.1.2. Which-key persistent

Sometimes it can be handy to show some keymap persistently with which-key, especially in buffers with merely evilified key bindings or using Emacs state, e.g. Info buffers, gnus, eww etc. The persistent which-key state can be toggled with SPC t k k. For some specific keymaps, dedicated key bindings are also available behind the SPC t k prefix:

Key binding Description
SPC t k k toggle which-key persistent state
SPC t k m show persistent major-mode keymap. Toggle off with SPC t k k
SPC t k M show persistent full-major-mode keymap. Toggle off with SPC t k k
SPC t k t show persistent top-level keymap. Toggle off with SPC t k k

The key bindings just set the which-key-persistent-popup to t, hence the which-key buffer will keep updating. Therefore the latter 3 key bindings (SPC t k m/M/t) can be used to return focus to their respective keymaps, while only the first key binding SPC t k k can be used for toggling off the persistent state.

15.4.1.3. Describe key bindings

It is possible to search for specific key bindings by pressing SPC ?.

To narrow the list to some key bindings, use the leader key to type a pattern like this regular expression: SPC\ b which would list all buffer related bindings.

15.4.2. Getting help

Describe functions are powerful Emacs introspection commands to get information about functions, variables, modes etc. These commands are bound thusly:

Key binding Description
SPC h d a describe current expression under point
SPC h d b describe bindings
SPC h d c describe current character under point
SPC h d f describe a function
SPC h d F describe a face
SPC h d k describe a key
SPC h d K describe a keymap
SPC h d l copy last pressed keys that you can paste in gitter chat
SPC h d m describe current modes
SPC h d p describe a package (Emacs built-in function)
SPC h d P describe a package (Spacemacs layer information)
SPC h d s copy system information that you can paste in gitter chat
SPC h d t describe text properties
SPC h d T describe a theme
SPC h d v describe a variable
SPC h d x describe an evil ex-command

Other help key bindings:

Key binding Description
SPC h SPC discover Spacemacs documentation, layers and packages
SPC h . search dotfile variables
SPC h f discover the FAQ
SPC h i search in info pages with the symbol at point
SPC h k show top-level bindings with which-key
SPC h l search layers
SPC h m search available man pages
SPC h n browse emacs news
SPC h p search packages
SPC h r search documentation files
SPC h t search toggles

The Profiler is a tool that helps you identify why your editor is running slowly or consumes a lot of memory. Here are key bindings relate to it:

Key binding Description
SPC h P k stop the profiler
SPC h P r display the profiler report
SPC h P s start the profiler
SPC h P w write the report to file

Navigation key bindings in help-mode:

Key binding Description
J scroll up (or next node)
K scroll down (or next node)
g b or [ go back (same as clicking on [back] button)
g f or ] go forward (same as clicking on [forward] button)
g h go to help for symbol under point

Reporting an issue:

Key binding Description
SPC h I Open Spacemacs GitHub issue page with pre-filled information
SPC u SPC h I Open Spacemacs GitHub issue page with pre-filled information - include last pressed keys

Note: To be able to report an issue you need to be logged into GitHub

Note: If these two bindings are used with the *Backtrace* buffer open, the backtrace is automatically included

15.4.3. Available layers

All layers can be easily discovered via spacemacs-help accessible with SPC h SPC.

The following actions on the selected candidate are available:

  • default: open the layer README.org
  • 2nd: open the layer packages.el
15.4.3.1. Available packages in Spacemacs

spacemacs-help also lists all the packages available in Spacemacs. The entry format is (layer) packages. If you type flycheck you'll be able to see all the layers where flycheck is used.

The following actions are available on selected package:

  • default: go the package init function
15.4.3.2. New packages from ELPA repositories

package-list-packages is where you can browse for all available packages in the different Elpa repositories. It is possible to upgrade packages from there but it is not recommended, use the [Update Packages] link on the Spacemacs startup page instead.

Spacemacs uses Paradox instead of package-list-packages to list available ELPA packages. 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 1: Installing a new package from Paradox won't make it persistent. To install a package persistently you have to add it explicitly to a configuration layer.

Important Note 2: Don't update your packages from Paradox or package-list-packages because they don't support the rollback feature of Spacemacs.

Key binding Description
SPC a k launch paradox
/ 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)

15.4.4. Toggles

spacemacs-help is also a central place to discover the available toggles. To display only the toggles source press C-l.

The following actions are available on selected toggle:

  • default: toggle on/off

15.5.1. 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 cursor to the top of the screen
L move cursor to the bottom of the screen
SPC j 0 go to the beginning of line (and set a mark at the previous location in the line)
SPC j $ go to the end of line (and set a mark at the previous location in the line)
SPC t - lock the cursor at the center of the screen
15.5.1.1. 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 nil)

You can also toggle smooth scrolling with SPC t v.

15.5.2. Vim motions with avy

Spacemacs uses the evil integration of avy which enables the invocation of avy during motions.

For instance, it is useful for deleting a set of visual lines from the current line. Try the following sequence in a buffer containing some text: d SPC j l, followed by selecting an avy candidate.

Key binding Description
SPC j b go back to the previous location (before the jump)
SPC j j initiate avy jump char
SPC j w initiate avy jump word
SPC j l initiate avy jump line

15.5.3. Unimpaired bindings

Spacemacs comes with a built-in port of tpope's vim-unimpaired.

This plugin provides several pairs of bracket maps using [ to denote previous, and ] as next.

Key bindings Description
[ SPC Insert space above
] SPC Insert space below
[ b Go to previous buffer
] b Go to next buffer
[ f Go to previous file in directory
] f Go to next file in directory
[ l Go to the previous error
] l Go to the next error
[ h Go to the previous vcs hunk
] h Go to the next vcs hunk
[ q Go to the previous error
] q Go to the next error
[ t Go to the previous frame
] t Go to the next frame
[ w Go to the previous window
] w Go to the next window
[ e Move line up
] e Move line down
[ p Paste above current line
] p Paste below current line
g p Select pasted text

15.5.4. Jumping, Joining and Splitting

The SPC j prefix is for jumping, joining and splitting.

15.5.4.1. Jumping
Key binding Description
SPC j 0 go to the beginning of line (and set a mark at the previous location in the line)
SPC j ( jump to first unbalanced parentheses
SPC j $ go to the end of line (and set a mark at the previous location in the line)
SPC j b undo a jump (go back to previous location)
SPC j c go to last change
SPC j d jump to a listing of the current directory
SPC j D jump to a listing of the current directory (other window)
SPC j f jump to the definition of an Emacs Lisp function
SPC j i jump to a definition in buffer (imenu)
SPC j I jump to a definition in any buffer (imenu)
SPC j j jump to one or more characters in the buffer (works as an evil motion)
SPC j k jump to next line and indent it using auto-indent rules
SPC j l jump to a line with avy (works as an evil motion)
SPC j u jump to a URL in the current buffer
SPC j U select a URL in the current buffer and follow it
SPC j v jump to the definition/declaration of an Emacs Lisp variable
SPC j w jump to a word in the current buffer (works as an evil motion)
15.5.4.2. Joining and splitting
Key binding Description
J join the current line with the next line
SPC j k go to next line and indent it using auto-indent rules
SPC j n split the current line at point, insert a new line and auto-indent
SPC j o split the current line at point but let point on current line
SPC j s split a quoted string or s-expression in place
SPC j S split a quoted string or s-expression, insert a new line and auto-indent
SPC j = format the marked region or entire buffer
SPC j + format the marked region or entire buffer also cleanup whitespace

15.5.5. Window manipulation

15.5.5.1. Window manipulation key bindings

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 window number 1
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

Window number 0 is a special case and selects sidebar windows, like treemacs. If there is no window number 0, SPC 0 attempts to select window number 10.

Windows manipulation commands (start with w):

Key binding Description
SPC w TAB switch to alternate window in the current frame (switch back and forth)
SPC w = balance split windows
SPC w _ maximize window horizontally
SPC w \vert maximize window vertically
SPC w b force the focus back to the minibuffer
SPC w c c toggle visual centering of the current buffer
SPC w c C toggle visual distraction free mode
SPC w c . center buffer and enable centering transient state
SPC w d delete a window
SPC u SPC w d delete a window and its current buffer (does not delete the file)
SPC w D delete another window using ace-window
SPC u SPC w D delete another window and its current buffer using ace-window
SPC w t toggle window dedication (dedicated window cannot be reused by a mode)
SPC w f toggle follow mode
SPC w F create new frame
SPC w h move to window on the left
SPC w H move window to the left
SPC w j move to window below
SPC w J move window to the bottom
SPC w k move to window above
SPC w K move window to the top
SPC w l move to window on the right
SPC w L move window to the right
SPC w m maximize/minimize a window (maximize is similar to delete-other-windows)
SPC w M swap windows using ace-window
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 rotate windows forward
SPC w R rotate windows backward
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 v or SPC w / vertical split
SPC w V vertical split and focus new window
SPC w w cycle and focus between windows
SPC w W select window using ace-window
SPC w x delete a window and its current buffer (does not delete the file)
SPC w [ shrink window horizontally (enter transient state)
SPC w ] enlarge window horizontally (enter transient state)
SPC w { shrink window vertically (enter transient state)
SPC w } enlarge window vertically (enter transient state)

Note that by default, SPC w m will not delete side windows such as those created by treemacs or neotree. If you would like side windows to get minimized too, you can set the variable dotspacemacs-maximize-window-keep-side-windows to nil.

Split the current window into multiple ones, deleting all others using the following commands:

Key binding Description
SPC w 1 make 1 window layout
SPC w 2 make 2 windows layout (split vertically)
SPC w 3 make 3 windows layout (split vertically)
SPC w 4 make 4 windows layout (split in 2x2 grid)

By default, the commands above ignore some windows, like the filetrees (treemacs and neotree) but you can use a prefix argument to force delete them.

Key binding Description
SPC u SPC w 1 make 1 window layout with force delete
SPC u SPC w 2 make 2 windows layout (split vertically) with force delete
SPC u SPC w 3 make 3 windows layout (split vertically) with force delete
SPC u SPC w 4 make 4 windows layout (split in 2x2 grid) with force delete

You can also configure which windows get ignored when executing the above commands by adding a prefix to the spacemacs-window-split-ignore-prefixes list: 

(add-to-list 'spacemacs-window-split-ignore-prefixes "My Favourite Window")

Or if you want a certain ignored window to always be deleted you can remote it from the list: 

(setq spacemacs-window-split-ignore-prefixes
  (remove treemacs--buffer-name-prefix spacemacs-window-split-ignore-prefixes))

And if you want even more control over the way windows are removed you can define your own deletion function: 

(defun my-delete-other-windows () (delete-other-windows))
(setq spacemacs-window-split-delete-function 'my-delete-other-windows)
15.5.5.2. Window transient state

A convenient window transient state allows for performing most of the actions listed above. For example window resizing.

Key binding Description
SPC w . initiate transient state
? display the full documentation in minibuffer
0 go to window number 0
1 go to window number 1
2 go to window number 2
3 go to window number 3
4 go to window number 4
5 go to window number 5
6 go to window number 6
7 go to window number 7
8 go to window number 8
9 go to window number 9
/ vertical split
- horizontal split
\vert maximize window vertically
_ maximize window horizontally
[ shrink window horizontally
] enlarge window horizontally
{ shrink window vertically
} enlarge window vertically
d delete window
D delete other windows
g toggle golden-ratio on and off
h <left> go to window on the left
j <down> go to window below
k <up> go to window above
l <right> go to window on the right
H <S-left> move window to the left
J <S-down> move window to the bottom
K <S-up> move bottom to the top
L <S-right> move window to the right
m toggle maximization of current window
o focus other frame
a call ace window mode
r rotate windows forward
R rotate windows backward
s horizontal split
S horizontal split and focus new window
u undo window layout (used to effectively undo a closed window)
U redo window layout
v vertical split
V vertical split and focus new window
w focus other window
x delete window and kill buffer
15.5.5.3. 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.

15.5.6. Buffers and Files

15.5.6.1. Buffers manipulation key bindings

With few exceptions, buffer manipulation commands (start with b):

Key binding Description
SPC TAB switch to alternate buffer in the current window (switch back and forth)
C-TAB/C-S tab cycle backward/forward through previous visited buffers (i.e. scroll helm buffer list)
SPC b b switch to a buffer
SPC b d kill the current buffer (does not delete the visited file)
SPC u SPC b d kill the current buffer and window (does not delete the visited file)
SPC b D kill a visible buffer using ace-window
SPC u SPC b D kill a visible buffer and its window using ace-window
SPC b C-d kill other buffers
SPC b C-D kill buffers using a regular expression
SPC b e erase the content of the buffer (ask for confirmation)
SPC b h open *spacemacs* home buffer
SPC b H open or select the *Help* buffer
SPC b n switch to next buffer avoiding buffers matching spacemacs-useless-buffers-regexp
SPC b m open *Messages* buffer
SPC u SPC b m kill all buffers and windows except the current one
SPC b M kill all buffers matching the regexp
SPC b p switch to previous buffer avoiding buffers matching spacemacs-useless-buffers-regexp
SPC b P copy clipboard and replace buffer (useful when pasting from a browser)
SPC b R revert the current buffer (reload from disk)
SPC b s switch to the *scratch* buffer (create it if needed)
SPC b u reopen the most recently killed file buffer
SPC b w toggle read-only (writable state)
SPC b x kill the current buffer and window (does not delete the visited file)
SPC b Y copy whole buffer to clipboard (useful when copying to a browser)
z f Make current function or comments visible in buffer as much as possible
15.5.6.2. Create a new empty buffer
Key binding Description
SPC b N h create new empty buffer in a new window on the left
SPC b N C-i create an indirect buffer from an existing opened buffer
SPC b N i create an indirect buffer that is clone of currently opened buffer
SPC b N I create an indirect buffer that is clone of currently opened buffer, and open it in other window
SPC b N j create new empty buffer in a new window at the bottom
SPC b N k create new empty buffer in a new window above
SPC b N l create new empty buffer in a new window below
SPC b N n create new empty buffer in current window
15.5.6.3. Buffers transient state

A convenient buffer transient state allows for quickly cycling through the open buffers and closing them.

Key binding Description
? toggle displaying the full documentation in minibuffer
SPC b . initiate transient state
[1..9] move current buffer to nth window
[C-1..C-9] switch focus to nth window
[M-1..M-9] swap current buffer with nth window
b list all buffers with helm/ivy (avoid buffers matching spacemacs-useless-buffers-regexp)
d kill current buffer
C-d bury current buffer
n or <right> go to next buffer (avoid buffers matching spacemacs-useless-buffers-regexp)
N or p or <left> go to previous buffer (avoid buffers matching spacemacs-useless-buffers-regexp)
o switch focus to other window
x kill buffer and window
z recenter buffer in window
q quit transient state

Unlike vim, emacs creates many buffers that most people do not need to see. Some examples are the *Messages* and *Compile-Log* buffers. Spacemacs tries to automatically ignore buffers that are not useful. However, you may want to change the way Spacemacs marks buffers as useful. For instructions, see the special buffer howto.

15.5.6.4. File manipulation key bindings

File manipulation commands (start with f):

Key binding Description
SPC f A open a file and replace the current buffer with the new file
SPC f b go to file bookmarks
SPC f c copy current file to a different location
SPC f C d convert file from unix to dos encoding
SPC f C u convert file from dos to unix encoding
SPC f d delete a file and the associated buffer (ask for confirmation)
SPC f D delete a file and the associated buffer without confirmation
SPC f E open a file with elevated privileges (sudo edit)
SPC f f open file
SPC f F try to open the file under point
SPC f h open binary file with hexl (a hex editor)
SPC f j jump to the current buffer file in dired
SPC f J open a junk file, in mode determined by the file extension provided (defaulting to fundamental mode)
SPC f l open file literally in fundamental mode
SPC f L Locate a file (using locate)
SPC f o open a file using the default external program
SPC f R rename the current file
SPC f s save a file
SPC f S save all files
SPC f r open a recent file
SPC f t toggle file tree side bar using Treemacs
SPC f v d add a directory variable
SPC f v f add a local variable to the current file
SPC f v p add a local variable to the first line of the current file
SPC f y c show and copy current file absolute path with line and column number in the minibuffer
SPC f y d show and copy current directory absolute path in the minibuffer
SPC f y l show and copy current file absolute path with line number in the minibuffer
SPC f y n show and copy current file name with extension in the minibuffer
SPC f y N show and copy current file name without extension in the minibuffer
SPC f y y show and copy current file absolute path in the minibuffer
15.5.6.5. Frame manipulation key bindings

Frame manipulation commands (start with F):

Key binding Description
SPC F f open a file in another frame
SPC F d delete the current frame (unless it's the only one)
SPC F D delete all other frames
SPC F b open a buffer in another frame
SPC F B open a buffer in another frame (but don't switch)
SPC F o cycle focus between frames
SPC F O open a dired buffer in another frame
SPC F n create a new frame
15.5.6.6. 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 d open the spacemacs dotfile (~/.spacemacs)
SPC f e D open ediff buffer of ~/.spacemacs and .spacemacs.template
SPC f e e open the ~/.spacemacs.env file where environment variables are set or goes to dotspacemacs/user-env
SPC f e E reload the environment variables by executing the function dotspacemacs/user-env
SPC f e C-e reinitialize the ~/.spacemacs.env file by importing system and shell environment variables
SPC f e i open the all mighty init.el
SPC f e I open the early-init.el
SPC f e l locate an Emacs library
SPC f e R resync the dotfile with spacemacs
SPC f e U update packages
SPC f e v display and copy the spacemacs version
SPC f e c recompile all elpa packages
15.5.6.7. Browsing files in completion buffer

In vim style and hybrid style with the variable hybrid-mode-enable-hjkl-bindings set to t, you can navigate with hjkl.

Key binding Description
C-h go up one level (parent directory
C-H describe key (replace C-h)
C-j go to previous candidate
C-k go to next candidate
C-l enter current directory
C-o go to next source

popwin is used to manage buffers such as *Help*, *Completions*, *compilation*, and etc. Use C-g to close them or most of the time you can close them with q also. Use SPC-r-w to view the last closed popup buffer.

15.5.7. 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-RET open a dired buffer
M-RET select the buffer or file named by the prompt
C-d delete selected file (ask for confirmation)
C-h go to parent directory
C-j select next file or directory
C-k select previous file or directory
C-l open the selected file
C-n select next file or directory
C-o open selected file in other window
C-p select previous file or directory
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
C-S-h go to previous directory
C-S-j or C-S-n next history element
C-S-k or C-S-p previous history element
C-S-l go to next directory

15.5.8. Ido transient state

Spacemacs defines a transient state for ido.

Initiate the transient state with M-SPC or s-M-SPC while in an ido buffer.

Key binding Description
M-SPC or s-M-SPC initiate or leave the transient state
? display help
e open dired
h delete backward or parent directory
j next match
J sub directory
k previous match
K parent directory
l select match
n next directory in history
o open in other window
p previous directory in history
q quit transient state
s open in a new horizontal split
t open in other frame
v open in a new vertical split

15.5.9. Bookmarks

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

Open the bookmark completion window by pressing= SPC f b

Key binding Description
C-d delete the selected bookmark
C-e edit the selected bookmark
C-f toggle filename location
C-o open the selected bookmark in another window

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

15.5.10. 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
gt go to page number
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

15.6. Auto-saving

15.6.1. Frequency of auto-saving

By default auto-saving of files is performed every 300 characters and every 30 seconds of idle time which can be changed by setting to a new value the variables auto-save-interval and auto-save-timeout respectively.

15.6.2. Location of auto-saved files

Auto-save of modified files can be performed in-place on the original file itself or in the cache directory (in this case the original file will remain unsaved). By default Spacemacs auto-save the file in the cache directory.

To modify the location set the variable dotspacemacs-auto-save-file-location to original or cache.

Local files are auto-saved in a sub-directory called site in the cache directory whereas remote files (i.e. files edited over TRAMP) are auto-saved in a sub-directory called dist.

15.6.3. Disable auto-save

To disable auto-saving set the variable dotspacemacs-auto-save-file-location to nil.

You can toggle auto-save in a buffer by calling the command auto-save-mode.

15.7. Searching

15.7.1. With an external tool

Spacemacs can be interfaced with different search utilities like:

The search commands in Spacemacs are organized under the SPC s prefix with the next key is the tool to use and the last key is the scope. For instance SPC s a b will search in all opened buffers using ag.

If the last key (determining the scope) is uppercase then the current region or symbol under point is used as default input for the search. For instance SPC s a B will search with symbol under point (if there is no active region).

If the tool key is omitted then a default tool will be automatically selected for the search. This tool corresponds to the first tool found on the system of the list dotspacemacs-search-tools, the default order is rg, ag, pt, ack then grep. For instance SPC s b will search in the opened buffers using pt if rg and ag have not been found on the system.

The tool keys are:

Tool Key
ag a
grep g
ack k
rg r
pt t

The available scopes and corresponding keys are:

Scope Key
opened buffers b
files in a given directory f
current project p

It is possible to search in the current file by double tapping the second key of the sequence, for instance SPC s a a will search in the current file with ag.

Notes:

  • rg, ag and pt are optimized to be used in a source control repository but they can be used in an arbitrary directory as well.
  • It is also possible to search in several directories at once by marking them in the Helm buffer (not available in Ivy).

Beware if you use pt, TCL parser tools also install a command line tool called pt.

15.7.1.1. Useful key bindings
Key binding Description
F3 in a completion buffer, save results to a regular buffer
SPC r l resume the last completion buffer
SPC r s or SPC s l resume search buffer (completion or converted search buffer)
SPC s ` go back to the previous place before jump
Prefix argument will ask for file extensions

When results have been saved in a regular buffer with F3, that buffer supports browsing through the matches with Spacemacs' next-error and previous-error bindings (SPC e n and SPC e p) as well as the error transient state (SPC e .).

15.7.1.2. Searching in current file
Key binding Description
SPC s s search with the first found tool
SPC s S search with the first found tool with default input
SPC s a a ag
SPC s a A ag with default input
SPC s g g grep
SPC s g G grep with default input
SPC s r r rg
SPC s r R rg with default input
15.7.1.3. Searching in all open buffers visiting files
Key binding Description
SPC s b search with the first found tool
SPC s B search with the first found tool with default input
SPC s a b ag
SPC s a B ag with default text
SPC s g b grep
SPC s g B grep with default text
SPC s k b ack
SPC s k B ack with default text
SPC s r b rg
SPC s r B rg with default text
SPC s t b pt
SPC s t B pt with default text
15.7.1.4. Searching in files in an arbitrary directory
Key binding Description
SPC s f search with the first found tool
SPC s F search with the first found tool with default input
SPC s a f ag
SPC s a F ag with default text
SPC s g f grep
SPC s g F grep with default text
SPC s k f ack
SPC s k F ack with default text
SPC s r f rg
SPC s r F rg with default text
SPC s t f pt
SPC s t F pt with default text
15.7.1.5. Searching in current directory
Key binding Description
SPC / or SPC s d search with the first found tool
SPC * or SPC s D search with the first found tool with default input
SPC s a d ag
SPC s a D ag with default text
SPC s g d grep with default text
SPC s k d ack
SPC s k D ack with default text
SPC s t d pt
SPC s t D pt with default text
SPC s r d rg
SPC s r D rg with default text
15.7.1.6. Searching in a project
Key binding Description
SPC / or SPC s p search with the first found tool
SPC * or SPC s P search with the first found tool with default input
SPC s a p ag
SPC s a P ag with default text
SPC s g p grep with default text
SPC s k p ack
SPC s k P ack with default text
SPC s t p pt
SPC s t P pt with default text
SPC s r p rg
SPC s r P rg with default text

Hint: It is also possible to search in a project without needing to open a file beforehand. To do so use SPC p p and then C-s on a given project to directly search into it like with SPC s p.

15.7.1.7. Searching the web
Key binding Description
SPC s w g Get Google suggestions in emacs. Opens Google results in Browser.

15.7.2. 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.

15.7.3. Highlight current symbol

Spacemacs supports highlighting of the current symbol on demand (provided by auto-highlight-symbol mode) and adds a transient 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 transient state on current symbol and jump forwards
# initiate navigation transient state on current symbol and jump backwards
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 H go to the last searched occurrence of the last highlighted symbol
SPC t h a toggle automatic highlight of symbol under point after ahs-idle-interval seconds

During the symbol highlight transient state, the following bindings are active:

Key binding Description
e edit occurrences (*)
n go to next occurrence
N or p 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)
s search current buffer for symbol using ivy / helm
b search all open buffers for symbol using ivy / helm
f search files for symbol
/ search current project for symbol
z recenter buffer in window

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

The minibuffer displays the following information during the transient state: 

Buffer [6/11]*

Where M [x/y]* indicates:

  • M: the current search scope, which is one of the following:
    • Buffer: whole buffer range
    • Display: current display range
    • Function: current function range (dependent on the programming language major mode)
  • 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.

15.7.4. 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 transient state.

15.7.5. Listing symbols by semantic

To list all the symbols of a buffer press SPC s j

15.8. Editing

15.8.1. Paste text

15.8.1.1. Paste transient state

The paste transient state can be enabled by setting the variable dotspacemacs-enable-paste-transient-state to t. By default it is disabled.

When the transient state is enabled, after you paste something, pressing C-j or C-k will replace the pasted text with the previous or next yanked (copied) text on the kill ring.

For example if you copy foo and bar then press p the text bar will be pasted, pressing C-j will replace bar with foo.

Key binding Description
p or P paste the text before or after point and initiate the paste transient state
C-j in transient state: replace paste text with the previously copied one
C-k in transient state: replace paste text with the next copied one
15.8.1.2. Auto-indent pasted text

By default any pasted text will be auto-indented. To paste text un-indented use the universal argument.

It is possible to disable the auto-indentation for specific major-modes by adding a major-mode to the variable spacemacs-indent-sensitive-modes in your dotspacemacs/user-config function.

15.8.2. Text manipulation commands

Text related commands (start with x):

Key binding Description
SPC x . enter the drag stuff transient state
SPC x TAB indent or dedent a region rigidly
SPC x a & align region at &
SPC x a ( align region at (
SPC x a ) align region at )
SPC x a [ align region at [
SPC x a ] align region at ]
SPC x a { align region at {
SPC x a } align region at }
~SPC x a ​,​~ align region at ,
SPC x a . align region at . (for numeric tables)
SPC x a : align region at :
SPC x a ; align region at ;
SPC x a = align region at =
SPC x a a align region (or guessed section) using default rules
SPC x a c align current indentation region using default rules
SPC x a l left-align with evil-lion
SPC x a L right-align with evil-lion
SPC x a r align region using user-specified regexp
SPC x a m align region at arithmetic operators (+-*/)
SPC x a ¦ align region at ¦
SPC x A Open all visible links
SPC x c count the number of chars/words/lines in the selection region
SPC x d l delete blank lines but one or the single blank line
SPC x d w delete trailing whitespaces
SPC x d SPC Delete all spaces and tabs around point, leaving one space
SPC x e Edit strings in place
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 i c change symbol style to lowerCamelCase
SPC x i C change symbol style to UpperCamelCase
SPC x i i cycle symbol naming styles (i to keep cycling)
SPC x i - change symbol style to kebab-case
SPC x i k change symbol style to kebab-case
SPC x i _ change symbol style to under_score
SPC x i u change symbol style to under_score
SPC x i U change symbol style to UP_CASE
SPC x j c set the justification to center
SPC x j f set the justification to full
SPC x j l set the justification to left
SPC x j n set the justification to none
SPC x j r set the justification to right
SPC x J drag down a line of text (enter drag stuff transient state)
SPC x K drag up a line of text (enter drag stuff transient state)
SPC x l d duplicate line or region
SPC x l r randomize lines in region
SPC x l s sort lines
SPC x l u uniquify lines
SPC x o use avy to select a link in the frame and open it
SPC x O use avy to select multiple links in the frame and open them
SPC x t c swap (transpose) the current character with the previous one
SPC x t e swap (transpose) the current sexp with the previous one
SPC x t l swap (transpose) the current line with the previous one
SPC x t p swap (transpose) the current paragraph with the previous one
SPC x t s swap (transpose) the current sentence with the previous one
SPC x t w swap (transpose) the current word with the previous one
SPC x u set the selected text to lower case
SPC x U set the selected text to upper case
SPC x w c count the number of occurrences per word in the select region
SPC x w d show dictionary entry of word from wordnik.com
SPC x w r randomize words in region
SPC x y use avy to copy a link in the frame
SPC x Y use avy to copy multiple links in the frame
15.8.2.1. Drag stuff transient state

The drag stuff transient state is opened with SPC x .:

Key binding Description
k, K, Up drag up
j, J, Down drag down
h, H, Left drag left (word or region)
l, L, Right drag right (word or region)
q quit transient state

15.8.3. Text insertion commands

Text insertion commands (start with i):

Key binding Description
SPC i l l insert lorem-ipsum list
SPC i l p insert lorem-ipsum paragraph
SPC i l s insert lorem-ipsum sentence
SPC i p 1 insert simple password
SPC i p 2 insert stronger password
SPC i p 3 insert password for paranoids
SPC i p p insert a phonetically easy password
SPC i p n insert a numerical password
SPC i u Search for Unicode characters and insert them into the active buffer.
SPC i U 1 insert UUIDv1 (use universal argument to insert with CID format)
SPC i U 4 insert UUIDv4 (use universal argument to insert with CID format)
SPC i U U insert UUIDv4 (use universal argument to insert with CID format)

Hint: You can change the length of the inserted password with a numerical prefix argument, for instance 24 SPC i p p will insert a password with 24 characters.

15.8.4. 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)

15.8.5. Zooming

15.8.5.1. Text

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

Key binding Description
SPC z x +, SPC z x =, SPC z x k scale up the font and initiate the font scaling transient state
SPC z x -, SPC z x _, SPC z x j scale down the font and initiate the font scaling transient state
SPC z x 0 reset the font size (no scaling) and initiate the font scaling transient state

In the transient state:

Key binding Description
+, =, k increase the font size
-, _, j decrease the font size
0 reset the font size
q quit transient 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).

15.8.5.2. Frame

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

Key binding Description
SPC z f +, SPC z f =, SPC z f k zoom in the frame content and initiate the frame scaling transient state
SPC z f -, SPC z f _, SPC z f j zoom out the frame content and initiate the frame scaling transient state
SPC z f 0 reset the frame content size and initiate the frame scaling transient state

In the transient state:

Key binding Description
+, =, k zoom frame in
-, _, j zoom frame out
0 reset frame zoom
q quit transient state

15.8.6. Increase/Decrease numbers

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

Key binding Description
SPC n +, SPC n = increase the number under point by one and initiate transient state
SPC n -, SPC n _ decrease the number under point by one and initiate transient state

In the transient state:

Key binding Description
+, =, k increase the number under point by one
-, _, j decrease the number under point by one
0..9 add a number prefix argument
q quit transient state

Tips: You can increase or decrease a number by more than one at a time, by using a prefix argument (i.e. 10 SPC n + will add 10 to the number under point).

15.8.7. Spell checking

Spell checking is enabled by including the spell checking layer in your dotfile.

Key bindings are listed in the layer documentation.

15.8.8. Region selection

Vi Visual modes are all supported by evil.

15.8.8.1. 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
15.8.8.2. Indent text object

With evil-indent-plus the following text objects are available:

  • ii - Inner Indentation: the surrounding textblock with the same indentation
  • iI - Above and Indentation: ii + the line above with a different indentation
  • iJ - Above, Below and Indentation+: iI + the line below with a different indentation

  • There are also a variants that include whitespace. Example (| indicates 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
  • viI will select the whole while loop
  • viJ will select the whole fragment

15.8.9. 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
SPC n F narrow to the current function in an indirect buffer
SPC n P narrow to the visible page in an indirect buffer
SPC n R narrow to the selected text in an indirect buffer

Narrowing in an indirect buffer overcomes the problem that a buffer can only be narrowed in one place at a given time.

15.8.10. 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 editing of the currently selected text by pressing e.

15.8.10.1. iedit states key bindings
  1. 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.

  2. 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 editing scope by one line below
    K increase the editing 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.

  3. In iedit-insert state
    Key binding Description
    ESC go back to iedit state
    C-g go back to normal state
15.8.10.2. 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

15.8.11. Replacing text in several files

15.8.11.1. Helm

If you have rg, ag, pt or ack installed, replacing an occurrence of text in several files can be performed via helm-ag.

Say you want to replace all foo occurrences by bar in your current project:

  • initiate a search with SPC /
  • enter in edit mode with C-c C-e
  • go to the occurrence and enter in iedit state with SPC s e
  • edit the occurrences then leave the iedit state
  • press C-c C-c

Note: In Spacemacs, helm-ag despite its name works with rg, pt and ack as well (but not with grep).

15.8.11.2. Compleseus

The same above steps as with the helm layer work with the compleseus layer. Spacemacs provides functions to be able to keep the same workflow as with helm-ag.

For reference here are the steps to do it with plain consult and embark:

  • initiate a search with SPC s f
  • open embark-act with M-o e
  • go in edit mode with SPC m w
  • do the changes you want (pro tip: use iedit state with SPC s e)
  • save changes in all affected files with C-x C-s
  • or cancel all changes with C-c C-k

15.8.12. Renaming files in a directory

It is possible to batch rename files in a directory using wdired from an helm session:

  • browse for a directory using SPC f f
  • enter wdired with C-c C-e
  • edit the file names and use C-c C-c to confirm the changes
  • use C-c C-k to abort any changes

15.8.13. Commenting

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

Key binding Description
SPC ; comment operator
SPC c h hide/show comments
SPC c l comment lines
SPC c L invert comment lines
SPC c p comment paragraphs
SPC c P invert comment paragraphs
SPC c t comment to line
SPC c T invert comment to line
SPC c y comment and yank
SPC c Y invert comment and yank

Tips: To comment efficiently a block of line use the combo SPC ; SPC j l

15.8.14. Regular expressions

Spacemacs uses the packages pcre2el to manipulate regular expressions. It is useful when working with Emacs Lisp buffers since it allows to easily converts PCRE (Perl Compatible RegExp) to Emacs RegExp or rx. It can also be used to "explain" a PCRE RegExp around point in rx form.

The key bindings start with SPC x r and have the following mnemonic structure:

  • SPC x r <source> <target> convert from source to target
  • SPC x r do what I mean
Key binding Description
SPC x r / Explain the regexp around point with rx
~SPC x r '​~ Generate strings given by a regexp given this list is finite
SPC x r t Replace regexp around point by the rx form or vice versa
SPC x r x Convert regexp around point in rx form and display the result in the minibuffer
SPC x r c Convert regexp around point to the other form and display the result in the minibuffer
SPC x r e / Explain Emacs Lisp regexp
~SPC x r e '​~ Generate strings from Emacs Lisp regexp
SPC x r e p Convert Emacs Lisp regexp to PCRE
SPC x r e t Replace Emacs Lisp regexp by rx form or vice versa
SPC x r e x Convert Emacs Lisp regexp to rx form
SPC x r p / Explain PCRE regexp
~SPC x r p '​~ Generate strings from PCRE regexp
SPC x r p e Convert PCRE regexp to Emacs Lisp
SPC x r p x Convert PCRE to rx form

15.8.15. Deleting files

Deletion is configured to send deleted files to system trash.

On macOS 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.

15.8.16. Editing Lisp code

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

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

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

Examples:

  • to slurp three times while in normal state: SPC k 3 s
  • to wrap a symbol in parentheses then slurp two times: SPC k w 2 s

Note: The lisp state commands are available in any modes! Try it out.

15.8.16.1. Lisp Key bindings
  1. Lisp state key bindings

    These commands automatically switch to lisp state.

    Navigation:

    Key binding Description
      Forward + Backward pairs
    SPC k j go forward to next closing parenthesis
    SPC k k go backward to previous opening parenthesis
    SPC k l go forward to next symbol
    SPC k h go backward to previous symbol
    SPC k L go forward to next sexp
    SPC k H go backward to previous sexp
    SPC k $ go forward to the end of current sexp
    SPC k 0 go backward to the beginning of current sexp
      Other
    SPC k U go "up": to parent sexp backward
    SPC k % go to other paren of the same pair
    SPC k I go back to beginning of current expression and switch to insert state

    Manipulation:

    Key binding Description
    SPC k s slurp forward: a (bs) c -> a (bs c)
    SPC k S slurp backward: a (bs) c -> (a bs) c
    SPC k b barf forward: (a bs c) -> (a bs) c
    SPC k B barf backward: (a bs c) -> a (bs c)
    SPC k a absorb: (a (bs <point> ..)) -> ((bs a <point> ..))
    SPC k c convolute: (as (bs <point> ..)) -> (bs (as <point> ..))
    SPC k t transpose: (as <point> bs) -> (bs <point> as)
    SPC k J join: (as) <point> (bs) -> (as <point> bs)
      Hybrid (= better for non-Lisp languages) commands
    SPC k ` s hybrid slurp forward
    SPC k ` p hybrid push: <point>as bs -> <point>bs as
    SPC k ` t hybrid transpose: as <point> bs -> bs <point> as
    Note 1: xs is one or multiple sexp, x is a single sexp
    Note 2: point is at <point> when presented, or in the list otherwise

    Insertion:

    Key binding Description
    SPC k ( insert sexp before current one
    SPC k ) insert sexp after current one
    SPC k w wrap a symbol with parenthesis

    Deletion:

    Key binding Description
    SPC k ds delete symbol
    SPC k Ds delete symbol backward
    SPC k dw delete word
    SPC k Dw delete word backward
    SPC k dx delete sexp: (as <point> a ..) -> (as <point> ..)
    SPC k Dx delete sexp backward: (as a <point> ..) -> (as <point> ..)
    SPC k e splice, killing forward: (as (bs <point> cs) ds) -> (as bs ds)
    SPC k E splice, killing backward: (as (bs <point> cs) ds) -> (as cs ds)
    SPC k r raise: (as <point> b ..) -> <point>b
    SPC k W unwrap sexp: (as) -> as
      Hybrid (= better for non-Lisp languages) commands
    SPC k ` k hybrid delete sexp
    Note 1: xs is one or multiple sexp, x is a single sexp
    Note 2: point is at <point> when presented, or in the list otherwise

    Bindings from normal state:

    For convenience, a number of normal state evil binding are available in lisp state as well:

    Key binding Description
    SPC k : ex command
    SPC k i switch to insert state
    SPC k I switch to insert state at beginning of current line
    SPC k v switch to visual state and begin character-wise selection
    SPC k V switch to visual state and begin line-wise selection
    SPC k C-v switch to visual state and begin block-wise selection
    SPC k u undo
    SPC k C-r redo
    SPC k y copy expression
    SPC k p paste after
    SPC k P paste before
  2. Emacs lisp specific key bindings
    Key binding Description
    SPC m e $ go to end of line and evaluate last sexp
    SPC m e b evaluate buffer
    SPC m e c evaluate current form (a def or a set)
    SPC m e e evaluate last sexp
    SPC m e f evaluate current defun
    SPC m e l go to end of line and evaluate last sexp
    SPC m e r evaluate region
    SPC m g g go to definition
    SPC m g G go to definition in another window
    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

15.8.17. Keyboard macros

Keyboard macros are a powerful feature of Emacs. A keyboard macro is a record of keystrokes that can be replayed at any time.

Important note: When creating a macro, do not use the evil-escape key sequence (by default press fd quickly), instead press the ESC key explicitly. Currently evil-escape does not support being replayed in macros.

15.8.17.1. Vim keyboard macros

Spacemacs supports the VIM interface for creating macros in normal state using q to start a macro and @ to play a macro.

To record a keyboard macro:

  • Press q (there's no visual indicator, but it's waiting for a letter key to be pressed).
  • Press a letter key to start recording to that letter register. (the minibuffer shows: Defining kbd macro…)
  • Perform the actions that will be recorded.
  • Press q to stop recording the macro. (the minibuffer shows: Keyboard macro defined).

To execute a recorded macro: (A macro can be played back multiple times, by typing a number before starting the macro)

  • Press @ (the minibuffer shows: @-, and it waits for a letter register key to be pressed).
  • Press a letter key for a register where a previous macro has been recorded.
  • The macro can be repeated by pressing the repeat last editing command key: . (period).
15.8.17.2. Emacs keyboard macros

The Emacs way to define macros is available behind the prefix: SPC K

To start recording a keyboard macro:

  • Press SPC K k (uppercase then lowercase) to start recording a macro.
  • Perform the actions that should be recorded.
  • Press SPC K K (uppercase twice) to stop recording the macro.

To execute the last recorded macro press: SPC K K The macro can be executed again by pressing K one or more times. The single character replay works until another key than K is pressed.

  1. Macro counter

    Emacs has an interesting concept: The macro counter.

    When starting to record a macro, the counter starts at 0 (you can also set it to a specific value), then each time the counter is inserted, it is incremented by 1 afterwards.

    When recording a macro it's possible to insert the current value by pressing: SPC K k

  2. Key bindings
    Key binding Description
    SPC K c a increment macro counter
    SPC K c c insert the current value of the macro counter
    SPC K c C set the macro counter
    SPC K c f set the display format for the macro counter
    SPC K e b assign a key binding to the last macro
    SPC K e e edit last macro in a buffer
    SPC K e l edit a macro from lossage information (last 300 executed commands)
    SPC K e n give a name to the last macro
    SPC K e r write the last macro to a register (use SPC r r to call it)
    SPC K e s step by step edit of the last macro
    SPC K k start recording macro, if already recording then insert the macro counter
    SPC K K stop recording macro, if no macro is recording then run last macro
    SPC K r L view head macro in ring
    SPC K r d delete head macro in ring
    SPC K r l run second macro in ring
    SPC K r n cycle to next macro in ring
    SPC K r p cycle to previous macro in ring
    SPC K r s swap the first two macros in ring
    SPC K v view last macro string in minibuffer

15.8.18. Scratch buffer

Some features which could improve editing experience in *scratch* buffer.

15.8.18.1. Persistent scratch

Make your *scratch* buffer persistent. Everything you write down in *scratch* buffer will be automatically saved and restored. You can set variable dotspacemacs-scratch-buffer-persistent with a non-nil value in your .spacemacs file to enable this feature.

15.8.18.2. Unkillable scratch

Make your *scratch* buffer not killable (bury instead). You can set variable dotspacemacs-scratch-buffer-unkillable with a non-nil value in your .spacemacs file to enable this feature.

15.8.19. Mouse usage

There are some added mouse features set for the line number margin (if shown):

  • single click in line number margin visually selects the entire line
  • drag across line number margin visually selects the region
  • double click in line number margin visually select the current code block

15.9. Comparing (diff)

To compare buffers, files, directories or even windows use the prefix SPC D. Spacemacs uses the powerful embedded ediff to do comparisons, help for ediff can be opened using SPC D h.

All ediff commands starts with D:

Key binding Description
SPC D b 3 ask for 3 opened buffers and start an ediff session with them
SPC D b b ask for 2 opened buffers and start an ediff session with them
SPC D b p ask for a buffer or file that contains a patch to apply to a buffer and start an ediff session with the result
SPC D B ask for a file and run ediff with its backup file
SPC D d 3 ask for 3 directories and run ediff on them comparing files that have the same name in all of them
SPC D d d ask for 2 directories and run ediff on them comparing files that have the same name in both
SPC D d r run ediff on a directory comparing its files with their revisions if under version control
SPC D f . start an ediff session between your .spacemacs and its default template in Spacemacs core
SPC D f 3 ask for 3 files and start an ediff session with them
SPC D f f ask for 2 files and start an ediff session with them
SPC D f p ask for a buffer or file that contains a patch to apply to a file and start an ediff session with the result
SPC D f v start ediff between versions of a file
SPC D h open ediff documentation within Emacs
SPC D m b 3 start an ediff merge session between 2 buffers and their ancestor
SPC D m b b start an ediff merge session between 2 buffers
SPC D m d 3 start an ediff merge session between files with the same name in 2 directories and with a 3rd directory containing their ancestor
SPC D m d d start an ediff merge session between files with the same name in 2 directories
SPC D m f 3 start an ediff merge session between 2 files and their ancestor
SPC D m f f start an ediff merge session between 2 files
SPC D m r 3 start an ediff merge session between two revisions of a file with a common ancestor
SPC D m r r start an ediff merge session between two revisions of a file
SPC D r l start an ediff session between two regions to perform a linewise diff (use this for large regions)
SPC D r w start an ediff session between two regions to perform a wordwise diff (use this for small regions)
SPC D s display ediff registries
SPC D w l compare linewise the portions of visible text of 2 windows which are selected by clicking
SPC D w w compare wordwise the portions of visible text of 2 windows which are selected by clicking

15.10. Managing projects

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.

To search in a project see project searching.

projectile commands start with p:

Key binding Description
~SPC p '​~ open a shell in project's root (with the shell layer)
SPC p ! run shell command in project's root
SPC p & run async shell command in project's root
SPC p % replace a regexp
SPC p a toggle between implementation and test
SPC p b switch to project buffer
SPC p c compile project using projectile
SPC p u run project using projectile
SPC p d find directory
SPC p D open project root in dired
SPC p e edit dir-locals.el
SPC p f find file
SPC p F find file based on path around point
SPC p E find references
SPC p g find tags
SPC p G regenerate the project's etags / gtags
SPC p h find file
SPC p i install the project
SPC p I invalidate the projectile cache
SPC p k kill all project buffers
SPC p o run multi-occur
SPC p p switch project
SPC p r open a recent file
SPC p R replace a string
SPC p t open Treemacs and add current projectile root to its list of projects
SPC p T test project
SPC p v open project root in vc-dir or magit
SPC / search in project with the best search tool available
SPC s p see searching in a project
SPC s a p run ag
SPC s g p run grep
SPC s k p run ack
SPC s t p run pt
SPC s r p run rg
SPC f y C show and copy current file path relative to the project root with line and column number
SPC f y D show and copy current directory path relative to the project root
SPC f y L show and copy current file path relative to the project root with line number
SPC f y Y show and copy current file path relative to the project root

Note for Windows Users: To enable fast indexing the GNU find or Cygwin find must be in your PATH.

15.11. 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

15.12. 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 (start with e):

Key binding Description
SPC t s toggle flycheck
SPC e c clear all errors
SPC e h describe a flycheck checker
SPC e l toggle the display of the flycheck list of errors/warnings
SPC e n go to the next error
SPC e p go to the previous error
SPC e y copy each error at cursor position into kill ring
SPC e v verify flycheck setup (useful to debug 3rd party tools configuration)
SPC e . error transient state

The next/previous error bindings and the error transient state can be used to browse errors from flycheck as well as errors from compilation buffers, and indeed anything that supports Emacs' next-error API. This includes for example search results that have been saved to a separate buffer.

15.12.1. Error transient state

The following key bindings are active in the error transient state:

Key binding Description
n jump to next error
N or p jump to previous error
z recenter buffer in window

15.12.2. Custom fringe bitmaps

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

15.13. 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 d close compilation window
SPC c k kill compilation
SPC c m helm-make
SPC c r recompile

15.14. Quickrun

Spacemacs can execute current buffer or region.

Key binding Description
SPC x x smart quickrun or quickrun-region
C-g to dismiss a quickrun buffer without selecting it

16. EditorConfig

Spacemacs has support for EditorConfig, a configuration file to "define and maintain consistent coding styles between different editors and IDEs."

To enable this feature, install the editorconfig command.

To customize your editorconfig experience, read the editorconfig-emacs package's documentation.

17. Emacs Server

Spacemacs provides the ability to start a server at launch, and to kill that server whenever you close your Emacs windows. This can be enabled by setting the variable dotspacemacs-enable-server to t in your ~./spacemacs. 

(setq-default dotspacemacs-enable-server t)

17.1. Connecting to the Emacs server

You can open a file in Emacs from the terminal using emacsclient. Use emacsclient -c to open the file in Emacs GUI. Use emacsclient -t to open the file in Emacs within the terminal. If you set Emacs server socket by setting dotspacemacs-server-socket-dir, then pass its location as -s ~/.emacs.d/server/server additionally.

If you want your Linux or macOS system to use Emacs by default for any prompt, you need to set it in your shell configuration, e.g. ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc: 

export EDITOR="emacsclient -c"

Note that if you're using macOS, you may have to refer to the emacsclient that comes with your GUI Emacs, e.g.: 

export EDITOR="/Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/MacOS/bin/emacsclient -c"

Tip: Remember to use :wq or C-x # after you are done editing the file in Emacs.

You can set the location of the Emacs server socket by setting dotspacemacs-server-socket-dir in your ~./spacemacs: 

(setq-default dotspacemacs-server-socket-dir "~/.emacs/server")

See Emacs as a Server in the official Emacs manual for more details.

17.2. 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, prompt for changed buffers to save
SPC q Q Quit Emacs and kill the server, lose all unsaved changes.
SPC q r Restart both Emacs and the server, prompting to save any changed buffers
SPC q s Save the buffers, quit Emacs and kill the server
SPC q f Kill the current frame
SPC q t Restart Emacs and debug with –with-timed-requires
SPC q T Restart Emacs and debug with –adv-timers

18. Troubleshoot

18.1. Loading fails

If any errors happen during the loading the mode-line will turn red and the errors should appear inline in the startup buffer. Spacemacs should still be usable; if it is not then restart Emacs with emacs --debug-init and open a GitHub issue with the backtrace.

18.2. Upgrading/Downgrading Emacs version

To ensure that packages are correctly compiled for the new Emacs version you installed, be sure to run the interactive command spacemacs/recompile-elpa with SPC u SPC SPC spacemacs/recompile-elpa.

18.3. General layer errors

It happens from time to time that some of the layers go stale and stop working properly for some commands. If this happens stay calm and try to produce a minimal bug report on the GitHub issue page.

18.3.1. Step by step instructions for minimal layer bug reports

  • Load the standard dotfile. You can get it with SPC f e D.
  • Add the malfunctioning layer.
  • Use SPC t D to enable debug on error, this will produce a backtrace when encountering a lisp error.
  • Reproduce the error. Note down the steps and backtrace.
  • Press SPC h I and fill in the place holders enclosed in << and >> signs. Don't forget the reproduction guide and backtrace.
  • Press C-c C-c or , , to transfer your buffers content to the github issue creation page.
  • Enter a meaningfull title for your issue, stating in short words what the issue is.
  • When everything has been filled in submit the bug report.
  • When someone answers to your issue or ask questions it goes without saying that you should answer him politely and assist in testing a possible fix.

18.4. General emacs package errors

It can also happen that your issue is not related to any layer but rather to a specific package in the emacs universe. In this case you should provide a minimalistic emacs only reproduction guide for the respective package and open an issue upstream. If there is already a spacemacs issue for your problem your upstream bug report should mention its ticket number so it is clear when this issue can be retested.

18.4.1. Step by step instructions for minimal emacs package bug reports

  • Start emacs with emacs -q, this will load a vanilla emacs without any non-system packages loaded.
  • There open a scratch buffer with C-x b *scratch* RET

  • Add initialization code for your package there 

    ;; Load the package
(require 'package)

;; Mention all packages you wish to have loaded
(setq package-load-list
      '((package1 t)
        (package2 t)
        (package3 t)))

;; Do package specific configuration if required
;; (package-local-init)

;; Intialize your package list
(package-initialize)
  • Now press M-x eval-buffer to evaluate the code.
  • Reproduce your issue. Note down step by step instructions.
  • With this information open an upstream issue following their issue templates. If they have non its a good idea to start with the infos required in the spacemacs issue template and add missing information when required from the package maintainers.

19. Achievements

19.3. Stars, forks and watchers

Achievements Account
100th watcher adouzzy
100th fork balajisivaraman
200th fork alcol80
300th fork mlopes
2000th fork Gameguykiler
100th star Jackneill
200th star jb55
400th star dbohdan
600th star laat
700th star kendall
800th star urso
900th star luisgerhorst
1000th star! rashly
2000th star!! stshine
3000th star!!! TheBB
4000th star!!!! nixmaniack
5000th star!!!!! StreakyCobra
6000th star!!!!!! NJBS
7000th star!!!!!!! mukhali
8000th star!!!!!!!! shsteven
9000th star!!!!!!!!! deb0ch
10000th star :star: colt365
15000th star :star: :star: missingfaktor
20000th star! :screamcat: davehorner

19.4. Gitter chat

Achievements Account
First joiner on the Gitter Chat trishume
1000th joiner gabrielpoca

19.6. Special Mentions

Reason Account
Autumnal Cleanup 2015 (wiki) StreakyCobra
Test and debug tools justbur
Integration of Ivy justbur
Transient States justbur
Integration of Persp-mode CestDiego
Cleanest PR (PR #5545) JAremko
Documentation tools and GitHub support JAremko
Code navigation improvement (jump handlers, generalized next error) TheBB
Better support for GUI using an Emacs daemon (after-display macro) travisbhartwell

19.7. Special Titles

Achievements Account
The Gunner (18 PRs in a row) ralesi
The Saint (unlocked the holy-mode) trishume
The Artist (logo and theme) nashamri
The Meme Master (doge banner) chrisbarrett
The Helm captain (helm guide) tuhdo
The Master of the Keys (which-key and bind-map) justbur
The PR Patrol Officer robbyoconnor
The Expert in Latin Language (PR) vijaykiran
The Tiler (eyebrowse integration) bmag
The Geometer (spaceline) TheBB
The Librarian (doc-fmt tool and space-doc mode) JAremko
The Orgonaut (fixed most of the Org READMEs) smile13241324
The Ticketmaster StreakyCobra
The ASCII Scribe JAremko

20. Thank you

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!

Author: root

Created: 2024-11-15 Fri 04:05

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