ramblurr/emacs

Emacs Skill

Use Emacs as an interactive editor via tmux. This skill assumes Doom Emacs or a similar evil-mode configuration with vim keybindings.

Prerequisites

Invoke the tmux skill (mandatory!) for session setup and key sending.

Start emacsclient in terminal mode with emacsclient -c -nw.

All key sequences below are shown as typed in Emacs. Send them via tmux send-keys:

• Use C-m for Enter
• Use Escape for Escape key
• Control keys: C-c, C-g, etc.
• Meta keys: M-x, etc.

Example - M-x magit C-m means:

tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$TARGET" M-x 'magit' C-m

CRITICAL: After every key sequence, capture the pane output to verify state before proceeding.

General Buffer Navigation (Evil/Vim Bindings)

Basic movement: Standard vim line movement (h, j, k, l, gg, G)

Search:

• /pattern C-m - search forward (cursor jumps to first match)
• n / N - next/previous match
• Always verify cursor position via status bar line number after search

Visual mode:

• v - enter visual mode (character selection)
• V - enter visual line mode (line selection)
• After selecting, use operator keys (e.g., s in magit to stage selection)

Cancel/Quit:

• C-g - cancel current operation (emacs universal cancel)
• Escape - exit insert/visual mode back to normal mode
• q - quit current buffer/window (context dependent)

Execute commands:

• M-x command-name C-m - run any emacs command

Reading the Status Bar:

• Format: line:column (e.g., 346:2 = line 346, column 2)
• Helps verify search worked and cursor is positioned correctly

Toggling Line Numbers:

• M-x doom/toggle-line-numbers C-m - cycle through three states: no line numbers, relative line numbers, absolute line numbers
• By default: magit buffers don't show line numbers, normal file buffers do
• Useful for reconciling cursor position when line numbers aren't visible

Projectile (Project Navigation)

Switch to a project:

• M-x projectile-switch-project C-m
• Type project path/name, then C-m to select

Magit (Git Interface)

Opening Magit

• M-x magit C-m
• May show a repo picker if not in a git repo. Use search or type to filter, then C-m to select.
• If already in a project it'll open the magit screen directly.

Magit Status Buffer

The magit status buffer shows sections:

• Untracked files
• Unstaged changes
• Staged changes
• Stashes
• Recent commits

Expanding/Collapsing Sections

• Navigate to a section header (e.g., "Unstaged changes") with j/k or search
• Press Tab to expand/collapse the section
• Sections with … suffix are collapsed
• When expanded, files are listed; press Tab on a file to show its diff hunks

Staging Changes

Stage entire hunk:

• Navigate cursor anywhere inside a hunk
• Press s to stage that hunk

Stage specific lines (partial hunk staging):

1. Navigate to the first line you want to stage
2. Press v to enter visual mode
3. Use j/k to expand selection to desired lines
4. Press s to stage only the selected lines

Stage entire file:

• Navigate to the filename line
• Press s

Unstage:

• Navigate to staged item
• Press u to unstage

Committing

1. Press c to open commit transient menu
2. Press c again to create a regular commit
3. A commit message buffer opens:
   • Press i to enter insert mode
   • Type your commit message
   • Press Escape to exit insert mode
   • Press C-c C-c to finalize the commit
   • Press C-c C-k to cancel

Refreshing

• Press g to refresh the magit status buffer after external git operations

Common Magit Keys

| Key | Action | |-----|--------| | s | Stage (hunk, file, or visual selection) | | u | Unstage | | c c | Create commit | | c a | Amend commit | | Tab | Expand/collapse section or file | | g | Refresh buffer | | q | Quit magit buffer | | $ | Show git process output | | l l | Show log | | d d | Show diff | | P p | Push | | F p | Pull |

Common Pitfalls

• Forgetting to send C-m to confirm commands
• Sending multi-character vim commands: gg should be sent as two separate keys: send-keys 'g' 'g'
• Not capturing/verifying output before next command
• Visual selection in magit: Be precise with line selection or you'll stage unwanted lines

Tips

• Always capture pane output after sending commands to verify state (see tmux skill).
• When in doubt about magit state, press g to refresh the buffer.
• If a command seems stuck, C-g twice usually cancels.
• For simple git operations like git commit --amend -m "message", using bash directly is often simpler than navigating magit.