#+title: Emacs Configuration #+startup: overview #+DATE: 2026-03-24T10:00:00+11:00 #+DRAFT: false #+PROPERTY: header-args:emacs-lisp :results silent :tangle init.el * Early startup These settings have to exist before the first GUI frame is created, so they tangle into =early-init.el=. #+begin_src emacs-lisp :tangle early-init.el ;;; early-init.el --- generated from config.org -*- lexical-binding: t; -*- ;;; Commentary: ;; This file is generated from config.org. Do not edit it directly. ;;; Code: (dolist (parameter '((width . 140) (height . 42))) (add-to-list 'default-frame-alist parameter) (add-to-list 'initial-frame-alist parameter)) #+end_src * Bootstrapping This is the start of the main runtime entry point, which tangles into =init.el=. #+begin_src emacs-lisp ;;; init.el --- generated from config.org -*- lexical-binding: t; -*- ;;; Commentary: ;; This file is generated from config.org. Do not edit it directly. ;;; Code: (let ((minver "27.1")) (when (version< emacs-version minver) (error "Your Emacs is too old -- this config requires v%s or higher" minver))) (when (version< emacs-version "28.1") (message (concat "Your Emacs is old, and some functionality in this config will be " "disabled. Please upgrade if possible."))) #+end_src * Shared paths and system identity These definitions set up the shared paths used by the rest of the configuration, including the Org directory under =~/org/=. #+begin_src emacs-lisp (defconst *spell-check-support-enabled* nil) (defconst *is-a-windows* (memq system-type '(windows-nt ms-dos cygwin))) (defconst *is-a-linux* (eq system-type 'gnu/linux)) (defconst *is-a-mac* (eq system-type 'darwin)) (defun ss/home-path (path) "Expand PATH relative to the user's home directory." (expand-file-name path "~")) (defun ss/config-path (path) "Expand PATH relative to `user-emacs-directory'." (expand-file-name path user-emacs-directory)) (defun ss/org-path (path) "Expand PATH relative to the Org directory." (expand-file-name path (ss/home-path "org/"))) (provide 'init-paths) ;; Keep custom-set-variables out of the main config. (setq custom-file (ss/config-path "custom.el")) #+end_src * Package setup This section bootstraps packages and defines the archives the rest of the configuration relies on. #+begin_src emacs-lisp (eval-and-compile (require 'package) (setq package-archives (append '(("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/")) package-archives) package-archive-priorities '(("gnu" . 10) ("nongnu" . 8) ("melpa" . 5)) package-install-upgrade-built-in t use-package-always-ensure nil) (package-initialize) (require 'use-package)) #+end_src * Interface defaults This section sets the visual defaults: theme, fonts, and frame behavior. #+begin_src emacs-lisp (defconst ss/font-family "JetBrains Mono" "Preferred font family for GUI Emacs.") (defconst ss/font-height 160 "Preferred default font height for GUI Emacs.") (defconst ss/font-weight 'medium "Preferred default font weight for GUI Emacs.") (defconst ss/frame-width 140 "Preferred width for graphical Emacs frames, in columns.") (defconst ss/frame-height 42 "Preferred height for graphical Emacs frames, in lines.") (defun ss/apply-frame-size (&optional frame) "Apply the preferred size to FRAME when it is graphical. If FRAME is nil, use the selected frame." (let ((target-frame (or frame (selected-frame)))) (when (display-graphic-p target-frame) (set-frame-size target-frame ss/frame-width ss/frame-height)))) (defun ss/apply-font-faces () "Apply the original JetBrains-based face setup." (set-face-attribute 'default nil :family ss/font-family :height ss/font-height :weight ss/font-weight) (set-face-attribute 'fixed-pitch nil :family ss/font-family :weight ss/font-weight) (set-face-attribute 'fixed-pitch-serif nil :family ss/font-family :weight ss/font-weight)) (defun ss/disable-menu-bar () "Disable the menu bar for the current frame/session." (menu-bar-mode -1)) (add-hook 'after-make-frame-functions #'ss/apply-frame-size) (when (display-graphic-p) (ss/apply-frame-size) (ss/disable-menu-bar) (tool-bar-mode -1) (scroll-bar-mode -1) (tooltip-mode -1) (when (find-font (font-spec :name ss/font-family)) (ss/apply-font-faces))) (unless (display-graphic-p) (add-hook 'emacs-startup-hook #'ss/disable-menu-bar)) (setq inhibit-startup-message t inhibit-startup-screen t ring-bell-function 'ignore) (use-package modus-themes :ensure nil :no-require t :config (load-theme 'modus-vivendi t)) (line-number-mode 1) (column-number-mode 1) (show-paren-mode 1) ;; Disable all fringe indicators (setq-default indicate-empty-lines nil) (setq-default indicate-buffer-boundaries nil) (setq-default fringe-indicator-alist nil) #+end_src * Modeline #+begin_src emacs-lisp (use-package time :ensure nil :config ;; Enable 24-hour time display without load average. (setq display-time-24hr-format t display-time-day-and-date t display-time-default-load-average nil) (display-time-mode 1)) ;; Customize modeline appearance - white background with line only on top (set-face-attribute 'mode-line nil :background "white" :foreground "black" :overline "gray50" :underline nil :box nil) (set-face-attribute 'mode-line-inactive nil :background "gray95" :foreground "gray40" :overline "gray30" :underline nil :box nil) ;; Customize the modeline format with padding and right-aligned time (setq-default mode-line-format (list ;; Left padding " " "%e" mode-line-front-space mode-line-mule-info mode-line-client mode-line-modified mode-line-remote mode-line-frame-identification mode-line-buffer-identification " " mode-line-position '(vc-mode vc-mode) " " mode-line-modes ;; Right-align from here '(:eval (propertize " " 'display '((space :align-to (- right 22))))) mode-line-misc-info ;; Right padding " " mode-line-end-spaces)) #+end_src * Editing defaults This section covers global editing behavior and a few startup-time tuning choices. #+begin_src emacs-lisp (set-language-environment "UTF-8") (set-default-coding-systems 'utf-8) (prefer-coding-system 'utf-8) (setq auto-save-default nil backup-inhibited t echo-keystrokes 0.1 compilation-ask-about-save nil mouse-wheel-scroll-amount '(1 ((shift) . 1)) mouse-wheel-progressive-speed nil mouse-wheel-follow-mouse t scroll-step 1 scroll-conservatively 101 enable-recursive-minibuffers t gc-cons-threshold (* 128 1024 1024) read-process-output-max (* 4 1024 1024) process-adaptive-read-buffering nil) (fset 'yes-or-no-p 'y-or-n-p) (global-auto-revert-mode 1) (delete-selection-mode 1) (setq-default indent-tabs-mode nil fill-column 80 tab-width 2 indicate-empty-lines t sentence-end-double-space nil) #+end_src * Dired On macOS, the system =ls= does not support GNU's =--dired= flag. Keeping Dired on its built-in path avoids noisy directory listing errors when opening folders from note helpers. #+begin_src emacs-lisp (use-package dired :ensure nil :custom (dired-use-ls-dired nil)) #+end_src * Minibuffer completion This keeps completion close to standard Emacs behaviour while improving the minibuffer prompts used throughout the notes workflow. Vertico provides the UI, Orderless handles flexible matching, and Marginalia adds lightweight annotations. #+begin_src emacs-lisp (use-package vertico :ensure t :pin melpa :init (vertico-mode 1)) (use-package orderless :ensure t :pin melpa :custom (completion-styles '(orderless basic)) (completion-category-defaults nil) (completion-category-overrides '((file (styles basic partial-completion))))) (use-package marginalia :ensure t :pin melpa :after vertico :init (marginalia-mode 1)) #+end_src * Notes workflow This keeps the note-taking system deliberately small. Daily notes stay as plain Org files in =~/org/daily/=, while longer-lived notes use Denote inside the same root directory and rely on links for relationships. ** Org foundations The Org setup establishes the shared directories, ensures the PARA structure is present at startup, and provides a small helper for opening today's daily note with the standard section layout already in place. Agenda views stay focused on PARA notes, so project, area, and resource files can surface TODOs without pulling in daily or archived notes. A small directory helper keeps PARA subdirectories easy to create from the minibuffer before capturing into them. #+begin_src emacs-lisp (use-package org :ensure nil :functions (denote-keywords-prompt) :defines (denote-directory denote-use-directory denote-use-keywords) :preface (defconst ss/org-directory (expand-file-name "~/org/") "Root directory for Org files.") (defconst ss/org-daily-directory (expand-file-name "daily/" ss/org-directory) "Directory for plain daily Org notes.") (defconst ss/org-projects-directory (expand-file-name "projects/" ss/org-directory) "Directory for project notes.") (defconst ss/org-areas-directory (expand-file-name "areas/" ss/org-directory) "Directory for area notes.") (defconst ss/org-people-directory (expand-file-name "areas/people/" ss/org-directory) "Directory for people notes.") (defconst ss/org-resources-directory (expand-file-name "resources/" ss/org-directory) "Directory for resource notes.") (defconst ss/org-archives-directory (expand-file-name "archives/" ss/org-directory) "Directory for archived notes.") (defconst ss/org-note-directories (list ss/org-directory ss/org-daily-directory ss/org-projects-directory ss/org-areas-directory ss/org-people-directory ss/org-resources-directory ss/org-archives-directory) "Directories that make up the note-taking workflow.") (defconst ss/org-agenda-directories (list ss/org-projects-directory ss/org-areas-directory ss/org-resources-directory) "Directories whose Org files feed the agenda.") (defconst ss/org-subdirectory-roots `(("projects" . ,ss/org-projects-directory) ("areas" . ,ss/org-areas-directory) ("people" . ,ss/org-people-directory) ("resources" . ,ss/org-resources-directory)) "PARA roots offered when creating note subdirectories.") (defun ss/denote-capture-in-directory (directory &optional keywords &rest prompts) "Start a Denote Org capture in DIRECTORY with KEYWORDS and PROMPTS. If PROMPTS is empty, rely on `denote-prompts'." (let* ((prompt-for-keywords (memq :keywords prompts)) (denote-directory directory) (denote-use-directory (unless (memq :subdirectory prompts) directory)) (denote-use-keywords (if prompt-for-keywords (delete-dups (append keywords (denote-keywords-prompt))) keywords))) (if prompts (denote-org-capture-with-prompts (memq :title prompts) nil (memq :subdirectory prompts) (memq :date prompts) (memq :template prompts)) (denote-org-capture)))) (defun ss/note-subdirectory-candidates (root) "Return existing subdirectories under ROOT as relative paths." (sort (delete-dups (mapcar (lambda (path) (directory-file-name (file-relative-name path root))) (seq-filter #'file-directory-p (directory-files-recursively root directory-files-no-dot-files-regexp t t)))) #'string<)) (defun ss/create-note-subdirectory () "Create a PARA subdirectory using minibuffer completion." (interactive) (let* ((root-name (completing-read "PARA root: " (mapcar #'car ss/org-subdirectory-roots) nil t)) (root (alist-get root-name ss/org-subdirectory-roots nil nil #'string=)) (completion-extra-properties '(:category file)) (subdirectory (completing-read (format "Subdirectory in %s: " root-name) (ss/note-subdirectory-candidates root) nil nil)) (target (expand-file-name subdirectory root)) (existing (file-directory-p target))) (make-directory target t) (message "%s note directory: %s" (if existing "Using existing" "Created") target))) (defun ss/ensure-org-note-directories () "Create the Org directories used by the notes workflow." (mapc (lambda (directory) (make-directory directory t)) ss/org-note-directories)) (defun ss/ensure-org-agenda-loaded () "Load Org agenda support before using agenda-specific helpers. This ensures `org-agenda-file-regexp' and `org-agenda' are available." (require 'org-agenda)) (defun ss/org-agenda-files () "Return the Org files that should be scanned by the agenda." (ss/ensure-org-agenda-loaded) (delete-dups (apply #'append (mapcar (lambda (directory) (if (file-directory-p directory) (directory-files-recursively directory org-agenda-file-regexp) nil)) ss/org-agenda-directories)))) (defun ss/refresh-org-agenda-files () "Refresh `org-agenda-files' from the current PARA directories." (setq org-agenda-files (ss/org-agenda-files))) (defun ss/daily-note-path (&optional time) "Return the file name for the daily note at TIME. If TIME is nil, use the current date." (expand-file-name (format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d.org" time) ss/org-daily-directory)) (defun ss/daily-note-template (&optional time) "Return the initial contents for the daily note at TIME." (format "#+title: %s\n\n* Tasks\n\n* Meetings\n\n* Notes\n\n* Open loops\n" (format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d" (or time (current-time))))) (defun ss/ensure-daily-note (&optional time) "Create the daily note for TIME when it does not exist. Return the path to the note." (let* ((date (or time (current-time))) (file (ss/daily-note-path date))) (unless (file-exists-p file) (make-directory (file-name-directory file) t) (with-temp-file file (insert (ss/daily-note-template date)))) file)) (defun ss/open-todays-note () "Open today's daily Org note." (interactive) (find-file (ss/ensure-daily-note))) (defun ss/open-agenda () "Refresh agenda files and invoke `org-agenda'." (interactive) (ss/ensure-org-agenda-loaded) (ss/refresh-org-agenda-files) (call-interactively #'org-agenda)) :bind (("C-c a" . ss/open-agenda) ("C-c c" . org-capture) ("C-c n m" . ss/create-note-subdirectory) ("C-c n d" . ss/open-todays-note)) :config (setq org-directory ss/org-directory org-hide-emphasis-markers t) (add-hook 'org-mode-hook (lambda () (setq-local org-hide-emphasis-markers t) (font-lock-flush) (font-lock-ensure))) (ss/refresh-org-agenda-files) (add-hook 'org-capture-after-finalize-hook #'ss/refresh-org-agenda-files) (ss/ensure-org-note-directories)) #+end_src ** Capture entry points Daily capture goes to today's plain Org file. Denote capture uses Denote's own Org integration so note identity, metadata, and directories stay under Denote's control rather than custom code. The convenience templates set a few durable defaults and prompt for subdirectory placement within the relevant PARA root. #+begin_src emacs-lisp (use-package org-capture :ensure nil :after (org denote) :config (setq org-capture-templates `(("d" "Daily") ("dt" "Task" entry (file+headline ,#'ss/ensure-daily-note "Tasks") "* TODO %?") ("dn" "Note" entry (file+headline ,#'ss/ensure-daily-note "Notes") "* %?") ("dm" "Meeting" entry (file+headline ,#'ss/ensure-daily-note "Meetings") "* %<%H:%M> %?") ("n" "Denote") ("nn" "Generic" plain (file denote-last-path) (function (lambda () (denote-org-capture-with-prompts :title :keywords :subdirectory))) :no-save t :immediate-finish nil :kill-buffer t :jump-to-captured t) ("np" "Project" plain (file denote-last-path) (function (lambda () (ss/denote-capture-in-directory ss/org-projects-directory '("project") :title :keywords :subdirectory))) :no-save t :immediate-finish nil :kill-buffer t :jump-to-captured t) ("na" "Area" plain (file denote-last-path) (function (lambda () (ss/denote-capture-in-directory ss/org-areas-directory '("area") :title :keywords :subdirectory))) :no-save t :immediate-finish nil :kill-buffer t :jump-to-captured t) ("nP" "Person" plain (file denote-last-path) (function (lambda () (ss/denote-capture-in-directory ss/org-people-directory '("person") :title :keywords :subdirectory))) :no-save t :immediate-finish nil :kill-buffer t :jump-to-captured t) ("nr" "Resource" plain (file denote-last-path) (function (lambda () (ss/denote-capture-in-directory ss/org-resources-directory '("resource") :title :keywords :subdirectory))) :no-save t :immediate-finish nil :kill-buffer t :jump-to-captured t) ("nm" "Meeting" plain (file denote-last-path) (function (lambda () (ss/denote-capture-in-directory ss/org-directory '("meeting") :title :keywords :subdirectory))) :no-save t :immediate-finish nil :kill-buffer t :jump-to-captured t)))) #+end_src ** Denote Denote manages the durable notes. The folder layout reflects lifecycle, while Denote handles naming, metadata, linking, and retrieval. #+begin_src emacs-lisp (use-package denote :ensure t :after org :bind (("C-c n n" . denote-open-or-create) ("C-c n l" . denote-link)) :config (setq denote-directory ss/org-directory denote-known-keywords '("area" "project" "person" "meeting" "1on1" "resource" "decision") denote-prompts '(title keywords) denote-org-capture-specifiers "%?") (denote-rename-buffer-mode 1)) #+end_src * Gptel workflow This keeps LLM chat available as a small workflow tool inside Emacs. GitHub Copilot authentication is handled on demand by gptel, so there is no token plumbing in this file. #+begin_src emacs-lisp (use-package gptel :ensure t :init (setq gptel-default-mode 'org-mode gptel-model 'gpt-4o gptel-backend (gptel-make-gh-copilot "Copilot")) :bind (("C-c n g" . gptel) ("C-c n s" . gptel-send) ("C-c n r" . gptel-rewrite) ("C-c n a" . gptel-add))) #+end_src * Generated file footers The closing blocks just finish the generated startup files cleanly. #+begin_src emacs-lisp (when (file-exists-p custom-file) (load custom-file nil 'nomessage)) ;;; init.el ends here #+end_src #+begin_src emacs-lisp :tangle early-init.el ;;; early-init.el ends here #+end_src