dotfiles/modules/keys.org

#+TITLE: Keys
#+AUTHOR: Christopher James Hayward
#+EMAIL: chris@chrishayward.xyz

#+PROPERTY: header-args:emacs-lisp :tangle keys.el :comments org
#+PROPERTY: header-args            :results silent :eval no-export :comments org

#+OPTIONS: num:nil toc:nil todo:nil tasks:nil tags:nil
#+OPTIONS: skip:nil author:nil email:nil creator:nil timestamp:nil

Improve the keyboard experience within Emacs.

* Config

Some of the default keybindings in Emacs really do leave you wondering, for example, when you want to exit a prompt you have to use =C-g=. Offer =ESC= as an alternative to quit (most) prompts, which I have muscle memory for already from literally every program created since 1990.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(global-set-key (kbd "<escape>") 'keyboard-escape-quit)
#+end_src

** Hints

Since Emacs is keyboard driven software, there are a lot of keybindings. Sometimes it's useful to start pressing well-known key combinations, and view the available completions. This behaviour is implemented in the third-party package ~which-key~[fn:1]. It displays the current incomplete keybinding input in a mini-buffer. It also works in the other direction, showing the corresponding keybindings for each command when you run =M-x=.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package which-key
  :diminish which-key-mode
  :custom (which-key-idle-delay dotfiles/idle)
  :config (which-key-mode))
#+end_src

** Leader

If like myself, you started using Emacs using a framework such as ~doom~[fn:2] or ~spacemacs~[fn:3], you probably have a considerable amount of muscle memory developed for using =SPC= as a leader key. In both of the previously mentioned frameworks, the package ~general.el~[fn:4] is used to implement this behaviour. It's a major improvement to the default way of creating custom keybindings in Emacs.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package general
  :config
  (general-create-definer dotfiles/leader
    :states '(normal motion)
    :keymaps 'override
    :prefix dotfiles/leader-key
    :global-prefix dotfiles/leader-key-global))
#+end_src

** Transient

Create transient keybindings with a shared prefix through ~hydra~[fn:5]. This is also used by a number of third-party packages as a completion system. An implementation example is used to scale the font size.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package hydra
  :defer t)
#+end_src

* Shortcuts

Implement some shortcut bindings, with a significant portion of them cherry picked from ~doom~[fn:2]:

+ Close buffers with =SPC c=
+ Find files with =SPC . (period)=
+ Switch buffers with =SPC , (comma)=

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(dotfiles/leader
  "." '(find-file :which-key "Files")
  "," '(switch-to-buffer :which-key "Buffers"))
#+end_src

** Quitting Emacs

Customize the behaviour of exiting emacs, with keybindings behind =SPC q=:

+ Save and quit =q=
+ Quit without saving =w=
+ Exit the Frame (daemon) =f=

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(dotfiles/leader
  "q" '(:ignore t :which-key "Quit")
  "qq" '(save-buffers-kill-emacs :which-key "Save")
  "qw" '(kill-emacs :which-key "Now")
  "qf" '(delete-frame :which-key "Frame"))
#+end_src

** Managing windows

Screen space is divided into Frames inside of Emacs, manage them behind =SPC w=:

+ Swap with =w=
+ Close with =c=
+ Delete with =d=
+ Move with =h,j,k,l=
+ Split with =s - <motion>=

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(dotfiles/leader
  "w" '(:ignore t :which-key "Window")
  "ww" '(window-swap-states :which-key "Swap")
  "wc" '(kill-buffer-and-window :which-key "Close")
  "wd" '(delete-window :which-key "Close")
  "wh" '(windmove-left :which-key "Left")
  "wj" '(windmove-down :which-key "Down")
  "wk" '(windmove-up :which-key "Up")
  "wl" '(windmove-right :which-key "Right")
  "ws" '(:ignore t :which-key "Split")
  "wsj" '(split-window-below :which-key "Down")
  "wsl" '(split-window-right :which-key "Right"))
#+end_src

** Helper Functions

Use the built-in ~describe-*~ functionality of Emacs to quickly access documentation for packages, variables, and functions. Run helper functions with =SPC h=:

+ Packages =p=
+ Variables =v=
+ Functions =f=

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(dotfiles/leader
  "h" '(:ignore t :which-key "Help")
  "hp" '(describe-package :which-key "Package")
  "hv" '(describe-variable :which-key "Variable")
  "hf" '(describe-function :which-key "Function"))
#+end_src

* Footnotes

[fn:1] https://github.com/justbur/emacs-which-key/

[fn:2] https://github.com/hlissner/doom-emacs/

[fn:3] https://spacemacs.org

[fn:4] https://github.com/noctuid/general.el

[fn:5] https://github.com/abo-abo/hydra