Ascetic Emacs Configuration

Ascetic Emacs

This is my personal Emacs configuration.

Let’s be clear upfront: This is not a framework. This is not a distribution. Unlike previous projects, this repository exists solely to version control my personal tool. It is engineered specifically for my workflow, my aesthetic, and my brain.

You are highly encouraged to read the code, understand the decisions, and steal the snippets you find useful. However, I will not accept feature requests, and Pull Requests altering my workflow will be closed.

Philosophy

Built on Emacs 30+, this configuration follows strict architectural guidelines:

• Native over Bloat: If Emacs has a native solution (Fido-vertical, Tab-bar, Eglot, Tree-sitter), external packages are discarded.
• Acme Inspired: Text is text. UI chrome, scrollbars, toolbars, and artificial visual boundaries are stripped away.
• Clarity through Renunciation: The UI relies on custom ascetic themes. Tree-sitter provides structural parsing handled entirely via typography (bold/italic). Color is strictly reserved for signal (strings, constants, diagnostics, errors).
• Zero Friction: Deterministic window placement, instant completion feedback, and direct macOS integration.

Architecture

The configuration is strictly modular, separating logic from aesthetics.

init.el

The bootstrap sequence, package management, and core engine.

early-init.el

Pre-GUI and garbage collection optimizations.

lisp/core-editing.el

Primitives, formatting boundaries, and text manipulation.

lisp/core-languages.el

Tree-sitter grammars, LSP (Eglot) logic, and compilation workflows.

themes/ascetic-dark-theme.el

Primary dark theme (Anthracite background, high-contrast signal).

themes/ascetic-light-theme.el

Primary light theme (Digital vellum, ink typography).

Prerequisites

To run this exact setup, you need:

• GNU Emacs 30.2+ (compiled with --with-tree-sitter)
• macOS (the config contains specific OS-level appearance syncing), though the core is highly portable to Linux.
• Standard UNIX toolchain (grep, find, git)

Stealing this config

If you want to clone it to test it or use it as a base for your own ascetic journey:

git clone https://github.com/jcostd/emacs.d.git ~/.emacs.d

Upon first launch, Emacs will pull the missing Tree-sitter grammars and essential ELPA/MELPA packages.

License

Source code and themes are licensed under the GPLv3. See the LICENSE file for details.