Emacs Configuration

Modern Emacs 30 configuration with LSP, tree-sitter, and a clean modular layout. Tuned for performance in large dirs.

Requirements

Emacs

Install via emacs-plus:

brew tap d12frosted/emacs-plus
brew install emacs-plus@30 --with-native-comp --with-poll --with-dragon-icon
ln -s /opt/homebrew/opt/emacs-plus@30/Emacs.app /Applications

• --with-native-comp — compiles Elisp to native code (significantly faster)
• --with-poll — better file watching on macOS (avoids kqueue issues)
• --with-dragon-icon — optional, replace with any available icon you prefer

System tools

brew install ripgrep              # fast search (consult-ripgrep, C-c k / C-c j)
brew install the_silver_searcher  # ag search
brew install fd                   # fast file finder (consult-fd)
pip install grip                  # Markdown preview (uses pyenv Python)
brew install enchant              # jinx spell checking
brew install cmake libvterm       # vterm terminal emulator
brew install pgformatter          # SQL formatter

Credentials

• GitHub token (forge): add to ~/.authinfo: machine api.github.com login <username>^forge password <token>
• Anthropic API key (gptel): add to ~/.authinfo: machine api.anthropic.com password <api-key>

Language servers & formatters

Language	Tool	Install
Python	pyright	npm install -g pyright
Go	gopls	go install golang.org/x/tools/gopls@latest
Go (struct tags)	gomodifytags	go install github.com/fatih/gomodifytags@latest
JS/TS	typescript-language-server	npm install -g typescript typescript-language-server
JS/TS/CSS/JSON	prettier	npm install -g prettier
SQL	pgformatter	brew install pgformatter
Clojure	clojure-lsp	brew install clojure-lsp/brew/clojure-lsp-native
Clojure (Leiningen projects)	lein	brew install leiningen
Clojure (deps.edn projects)	Clojure CLI	brew install clojure/tools/clojure
Clojure (Babashka projects)	bb	brew install borkdude/brew/babashka

Tree-sitter grammars

Option 1 — automatic (try this first):

M-x treesit-auto-install-all

Option 2 — manual compile (fallback if option 1 fails):

Open *scratch* (C-x b *scratch*), paste the following, place cursor after the last ), and press C-x C-e:

(progn
  (setq treesit-language-source-alist
    '((json       "https://github.com/tree-sitter/tree-sitter-json")
      (javascript "https://github.com/tree-sitter/tree-sitter-javascript" "master" "src")
      (typescript "https://github.com/tree-sitter/tree-sitter-typescript" "master" "typescript/src")
      (tsx        "https://github.com/tree-sitter/tree-sitter-typescript" "master" "tsx/src")
      (go         "https://github.com/tree-sitter/tree-sitter-go")))
  (dolist (lang '(json javascript typescript tsx go))
    (treesit-install-language-grammar lang)))

Grammars are compiled into ~/.emacs.d/tree-sitter/ and only need to be installed once.

Installation

1. Install system tools listed above
2. git clone <repo-url> ~/.emacs.d
3. Launch Emacs — packages install automatically
4. Run M-x nerd-icons-install-fonts and M-x all-the-icons-install-fonts
5. Install tree-sitter grammars (see above)
6. Restart Emacs

Structure

~/.emacs.d/
├── init.el          # entry point: package setup, loads modules
├── config.el        # core: UI, completion, navigation, editing
├── lsp.el           # eglot (JS/TS) + lsp-mode (Go, Clojure)
├── ai.el            # gptel (Claude/AI chat)
├── lang/
│   ├── web.el       # treesit-auto, apheleia, web-mode, emmet, scss, json, yaml
│   ├── python.el    # lsp-pyright, virtualenvwrapper
│   ├── GO.el        # go-mode + lsp
│   ├── clojure.el   # clojure-mode, cider, paredit, clj-kondo
│   └── devops.el    # dockerfile-mode, terraform-mode, nginx-mode
├── tools/
│   └── rest.el      # restclient (.http files)
└── git/
    └── git.el       # magit, git-gutter, git-timemachine, forge

Key packages

Category	Package
Completion UI	vertico + orderless + marginalia
Search/navigation	consult + ripgrep
In-buffer completion	corfu + cape + nerd-icons-corfu
LSP (Go, Clojure)	lsp-mode + lsp-ui
LSP (JS/TS)	eglot (built-in, lighter weight)
JS/TS syntax	treesit-auto (tree-sitter grammars)
Formatting	apheleia (async prettier on save)
Theme	doom-one (doom-themes)
Modeline	doom-modeline + nerd-icons
File tree	neotree
Project management	projectile
Clojure	clojure-mode, CIDER, paredit, clj-kondo, clj-refactor
Git	magit, git-gutter, git-timemachine, forge
Snippets	yasnippet
Markdown preview	grip-mode (GitHub-accurate, via browser)
Markdown TOC	markdown-toc
Navigation	avy (char jump), embark (context actions), wgrep (edit grep results)
Help	helpful (richer describe-*)
Spell check	jinx (enchant-based, global)
Terminal	vterm
REST client	restclient (.http files)
AI	gptel (Claude/AI chat)
SQL	sql-indent, sqlformat (pgformatter)
DevOps	dockerfile-mode, terraform-mode, nginx-mode

Key bindings

Key	Command
C-s	Search in buffer (consult-line)
C-x b	Switch buffer (consult-buffer)
C-c k	Ripgrep search across project
C-c j	Git grep across project (consult-git-grep)
C-c p	Projectile commands
s-t	Find file in project (projectile-find-file)
s-p	Switch project
M-g f	Jump to definition (dumb-jump)
M-g b	Jump back
C-=	Expand region
C-> / C-<	Multiple cursors next/prev
F8	Toggle neotree
C-c C-p	Toggle Markdown live preview in Emacs (eww, side buffer)
C-c C-g	Toggle Markdown preview in browser (grip-mode, GitHub-accurate)
C-x g	Magit status
s-Z	Undo tree redo
M-s	Avy char timer jump
M-i	Highlight symbol at point (symbol-overlay)
M-n / M-p	Jump to next/prev symbol occurrence
C-,	Embark act (context actions)
C-;	Embark dwim
M-$	Jinx correct (spell check)
C-c t	Open vterm terminal
M-x gptel	Open AI chat buffer

Find and Replace (VSCode equivalent)

Emacs equivalent of VSCode's Ctrl+Shift+H project-wide find and replace:

1. C-c k — open consult-ripgrep, search for the term
2. C-c C-p in the results buffer — switch to wgrep (editable grep) mode
3. Edit any occurrence — changes propagate to all matched lines
4. C-c C-c — apply all edits and save affected files
5. C-c C-k — abort and discard changes

For a simple string replace across the project without grep: C-c p r (projectile-replace).

JS/TS — Eglot

JS/TS uses eglot (built into Emacs 30) instead of lsp-mode:

• One tsserver instance per project root — not per tsconfig.json
• Async connection (eglot-sync-connect nil) — file opens immediately, LSP connects in background
• documentHighlight and inlayHint disabled — both are expensive in large files

To switch back to lsp-mode, see the comments in lsp.el — both configs are preserved.

Performance (large dirs)

Several settings are tuned for working in large project trees:

• gc-cons-threshold 64MB — avoids constant GC pauses while typing
• so-long-mode — auto-disables font-lock, indent-bars, line numbers, git-gutter for files > 100KB
• jit-lock-defer-time 0.1 — buffer appears instantly; treesitter highlighting fills in after
• redisplay-skip-fontification-on-input t — no re-highlight while typing
• treesit-font-lock-level 2 — keywords/strings/functions/types only; skips fine-grained tokens
• projectile-indexing-method 'alien — uses git ls-files for file listing (respects .gitignore)
• git-gutter updates only on save (not on every keystroke or idle timer)
• cape-dabbrev-check-other-buffers nil — dabbrev only scans current buffer

Flycheck

Flycheck runs only in modes with useful checkers: Clojure, Python, shell scripts. JS/TS and Go diagnostics are handled by eglot/flymake natively.

Clojure

• M-x cider-jack-in — start REPL
• M-c — eval defun to comment
• C-c C-m rr — clj-refactor rename (prefix C-c C-m + refactoring shortcut)
• M-. — go to definition (via clojure-lsp)
• M-x lsp-rename — workspace rename (via clojure-lsp)
• Linting via clj-kondo (flycheck)

Python virtualenvs

Activate a virtualenv with M-x venv-workon. LSP restarts automatically to pick up the new interpreter.

SQL / PostgreSQL

• M-x sql-postgres — connect to a Postgres database interactively
• C-c C-r — send region to SQL REPL
• C-c C-b — send buffer to SQL REPL
• Auto-formats on save via pgformatter (requires brew install pgformatter)
• sql-indent provides smart indentation in .sql files