Neovim to Emacs

My journey

Author

Rakesh V

Published

November 23, 2023

Emacs Configuration Guide - Neovim to Emacs Migration (2025)

Complete Package Comparison Table

Category/Plugin Best (Recommended) Alternative 2 Alternative 3 Notes Exploration
Package Manager Elpaca straight.el package.el (built-in) Elpaca: async, parallel installs, interactive UI. straight.el: reproducible builds. package.el: simple but limited. elpaca-manager
LazyGit Magit Diff-hl + VC Forge (for GitHub/GitLab) Magit is the gold standard - many switch to Emacs just for it. Forge adds PR/issue management.
LSP Eglot (built-in Emacs 29+) lsp-mode lsp-bridge Eglot is minimal, fast, built-in. Works out-of-box for shell, Rust, Python. Just enable with eglot-ensure.
Debugger Dape dap-mode Built-in GUD Dape is newer, lighter, simpler than dap-mode. Both support DAP protocol. Built-in GUD for basic debugging.
Quarto quarto-mode (with polymode) markdown-mode + org-mode poly-markdown Official quarto-mode package. Requires polymode, markdown-mode. Supports preview via quarto-preview.
Toggle Term (tmux-like) vterm eat (Emulate A Terminal) eshell + multi-term Vterm is fastest, most complete terminal. Eat is pure elisp (no compilation). Eshell is built-in.
Autopairs electric-pair-mode (built-in) smartparens elec-pair + paren electric-pair-mode is built-in Emacs, works out-of-box. Smartparens for more features.
Code Runner (Python/Jupyter) python-mode + ob-python (org-babel) python-pytest + quickrun jupyter-mode (emacs-jupyter) Use org-babel for literate programming. quickrun for quick execution. jupyter-mode for notebooks. Rust: cargo-mode or quickrun.
Music Player EMMS (Emacs Multimedia System) Bongo Listen.el EMMS is mature, feature-rich (mpv/vlc backend). Bongo is simpler. Listen.el is newest/simplest.
Project Management project.el (built-in) Projectile find-file-in-project project.el is built-in (Emacs 28+), fast. Projectile more features. Works with Vertico/Consult.
Telescope Vertico + Consult + Marginalia + Orderless Ivy + Counsel + Swiper Helm Vertico stack is modern, fast, modular. Native completion. Ivy/Helm are older but still popular.
Zen Mode writeroom-mode olivetti darkroom Writeroom-mode most popular. Olivetti focuses on centered text. All distraction-free.
Comments comment-dwim (built-in) evil-nerd-commenter comment-line comment-dwim is built-in (M-;). evil-nerd-commenter for more features.
Folders/Tree + Icons dired + all-the-icons-dired / nerd-icons-dired treemacs + all-the-icons neotree + all-the-icons Dired is built-in, powerful. Add icons with all-the-icons-dired. Treemacs for IDE-like tree.
Markdown Support markdown-mode gfm-mode (GitHub Flavored) poly-markdown markdown-mode is standard. gfm-mode for GitHub. poly-markdown for code blocks.
LaTeX Support AUCTeX Built-in latex-mode CDLaTeX (math) AUCTeX is the standard. Supports preview, compilation. CDLaTeX for fast math input.
Codeium AI codeium.el tabnine copilot.el Codeium.el is free, fast, supports 70+ languages. Works with company-mode or corfu.
iron.nvim (REPL) ob-python/ob-* (org-babel) python-mode REPL comint-mode Org-babel for literate programming. python-mode has built-in REPL. comint for general REPL.
Org-mode org-mode (built-in) org-agenda org-roam (Zettelkasten) Org-mode is THE reason many use Emacs. Built-in, powerful. org-roam for note-taking.

Power User Essentials (Missing from Neovim List)

Category Package Why Critical Priority
Keybinding Discovery which-key See available commands as you type HIGH
In-buffer Completion corfu + cape Faster than company, native completion HIGH
Navigation avy Jump anywhere instantly HIGH
Context Actions embark Power-user workflow enhancer HIGH
Spell Check jinx Modern, fast, language-aware MEDIUM
Note-taking denote or org-roam Zettelkasten for org-mode HIGH
Keybinding Config general.el Clean, organized keybindings MEDIUM
Help System helpful Better documentation viewer MEDIUM
History savehist + recentf Remember everything (built-in) HIGH
Search rg.el or deadgrep Fast project search with ripgrep HIGH

Font Recommendations

Font Style Best For
Geist Mono Modern, clean All-purpose coding
Iosevka Narrow, customizable Dense code, terminals
JetBrains Mono Readable, ligatures Long coding sessions
Fira Code Popular, ligatures General programming

Configuration:

(set-face-attribute 'default nil :font "Geist Mono-12")

Color Scheme Recommendations

Theme Style Best For Built-in?
modus-themes Accessible, professional All languages, accessibility ✅ Yes (Emacs 28+)
doom-one (doom-themes) Modern, vibrant Dark coding ❌ No
ef-themes Colorful, elegant Variety, by modus author ❌ No
nano-theme Minimal, clean Distraction-free ❌ No
kanagawa-theme Calm, nature-inspired Python, Rust, Markdown ❌ No (MELPA)

Language-Specific Setup

Rust Configuration

  • LSP: rust-analyzer (install system-wide, Eglot auto-detects)
  • Syntax: rust-mode
  • Cargo: cargo-mode for running tests/build
  • Debugging: Dape with lldb
  • Formatter: Built-in with rust-analyzer

Python Configuration

  • LSP: pyright or pylsp (Eglot auto-detects)
  • Mode: python-mode (built-in)
  • Testing: python-pytest
  • Notebooks: jupyter-mode or org-babel
  • Formatter: Use Eglot’s format-on-save

Shell Script Configuration

  • LSP: bash-language-server (Eglot auto-detects)
  • Mode: sh-mode (built-in)
  • Linting: flycheck with shellcheck

Essential Configuration Structure

early-init.el

;; Disable package.el if using Elpaca
(setq package-enable-at-startup nil)

;; Performance tweaks
(setq gc-cons-threshold most-positive-fixnum)
(setq native-comp-async-report-warnings-errors nil)

;; Disable unnecessary UI elements
(setq inhibit-startup-screen t)
(menu-bar-mode -1)
(tool-bar-mode -1)
(scroll-bar-mode -1)

init.el Basic Structure

;; Reset GC threshold after startup
(add-hook 'emacs-startup-hook
  (lambda ()
    (setq gc-cons-threshold (* 16 1024 1024))))

;; Elpaca bootstrap
;; ... (bootstrap code from Elpaca docs)

;; Essential built-in configurations
(use-package emacs
  :ensure nil
  :init
  (electric-pair-mode 1)
  (savehist-mode 1)
  (recentf-mode 1)
  (global-auto-revert-mode 1))

;; Load packages in order:
;; 1. Core utilities (which-key, helpful)
;; 2. Completion (vertico stack, corfu)
;; 3. Navigation (avy, project)
;; 4. Development (eglot, magit, dape)
;; 5. Language modes
;; 6. Org-mode configuration

Minimal Fast Startup Checklist

✅ Use Elpaca for async package loading
✅ Use native packages where possible (Eglot, project.el, electric-pair-mode)
✅ Configure early-init.el for performance
✅ Defer non-essential packages with :defer t
✅ Use :hook for mode-specific packages
✅ Enable native compilation (Emacs 28+)
✅ Keep startup under 1 second (use emacs-init-time)

Priority Installation Order

  1. Package Manager: Elpaca
  2. Core: which-key, helpful, savehist, recentf
  3. Completion: Vertico + Consult + Marginalia + Orderless + Corfu + Cape
  4. Navigation: avy, embark, project.el
  5. Git: Magit (+ Forge if needed)
  6. LSP: Eglot (built-in, just configure)
  7. Languages: rust-mode, python-mode, markdown-mode, AUCTeX
  8. Terminal: vterm
  9. Org: org-mode, org-roam or denote
  10. Theme: modus-themes or kanagawa-theme

Performance Tips

  • Startup Time Target: Under 1 second
  • Use use-package with :defer t for non-essential packages
  • Lazy-load language modes with :mode or :hook
  • Profile startup: M-x emacs-init-time or use esup package
  • Native compilation: Ensure native-comp is enabled (Emacs 28+)
  • Minimize custom-file writes: Set custom-file to temporary location

Resources

  • Eglot: Built-in Emacs 29+, minimal LSP client
  • Vertico/Consult/Corfu: Modern completion ecosystem
  • System Craft: YouTube channel for Emacs tutorials
  • Emacs documentation: C-h i for built-in manuals
  • r/emacs: Active community on Reddit