Emacs UnifiedFork of Awesome Emacs Keymap (vscode-emacs-mcx) with added comment-dwim, dired file browser, unified next-error, and paredit-ts. Installation Launch VS Code Quick Open ( Ctrl+P), paste the following command, and press enter.Copied to clipboard |
Emacs Unified
A consolidation fork of Awesome Emacs Keymap (vscode-emacs-mcx) that adds new commands and absorbs related extensions into a single package. Emacs Unified is a fork of vscode-emacs-mcx by Yuichiro Tsuchiya. It inherits all of the upstream functionality and adds new features, bug fixes, and absorbed extensions that were previously separate installs. Why fork?Running vanilla Emacs keybindings in VS Code previously required installing multiple extensions that overlapped, conflicted, or accumulated supply-chain risk. Emacs Unified consolidates them:
What's new (beyond upstream)These features are not in Awesome Emacs Keymap and are original to Emacs Unified:
|
| Binding | Command |
|---|---|
C-M-u |
backward-up-list — move up/out one paren level |
C-M-d |
down-list — move forward and down into next list |
C-x d |
Open dired (standard Emacs binding) |
C-x C-b |
List buffers by most recently used |
C-M-\ |
Format selection / document (indent-region) |
Other improvements
- Zero runtime npm dependencies (except paredit-ts) — replaced Winston logger with VS Code's built-in
LogOutputChannel - Sexp operations powered by paredit-ts — a TypeScript rewrite of paredit.js
- Zero
npm auditvulnerabilities - Works as both desktop and web extension
Compatibility with Awesome Emacs Keymap
Emacs Unified retains the emacs-mcx configuration namespace so your existing emacs-mcx.* settings carry over without changes. However, Emacs Unified and Awesome Emacs Keymap cannot be installed at the same time — they share command IDs and keybindings. Uninstall one before installing the other.
New settings (Emacs Unified only)
emacs-mcx.commentColumn
Column at which comment-dwim (M-;) inserts end-of-line comments. Default is 32, matching Emacs' default comment-column.
emacs-mcx.commentSyntax
Map of VS Code language ID to comment delimiter. Overrides or extends the built-in defaults (40+ languages). A plain string means a line comment; an object with start/end means a block comment.
"emacs-mcx.commentSyntax": {
"python": "#",
"c": { "start": "/*", "end": "*/" }
}
Complete keybinding reference
All keybindings from the upstream Awesome Emacs Keymap are included plus the additions listed above. The Meta key is Alt by default; configure via emacs-mcx.useMetaPrefixEscape, emacs-mcx.useMetaPrefixCtrlLeftBracket, or emacs-mcx.useMetaPrefixMacCmd.
Movement
| Key | Command | Prefix arg |
|---|---|---|
C-f / C-b |
forward-char / backward-char | ✓ |
C-n / C-p |
next-line / previous-line | ✓ |
C-a / C-e |
beginning-of-line / end-of-line | ✓ |
M-f / M-b |
forward-word / backward-word | ✓ |
C-<right> / C-<left> |
right-word / left-word | ✓ |
M-m |
back-to-indentation | |
C-v / M-v |
scroll-up / scroll-down | ✓ |
M-{ / M-} |
backward-paragraph / forward-paragraph | ✓ |
M-< / M-> |
beginning-of-buffer / end-of-buffer | |
M-g g |
goto-line | ✓ |
M-g n / M-g p |
next-error / previous-error (diagnostics, then search results) | |
C-l |
recenter-top-bottom |
Search
| Key | Command |
|---|---|
C-s / C-r |
isearch-forward / isearch-backward |
C-M-s / C-M-r |
isearch-forward-regexp / isearch-backward-regexp |
M-% |
query-replace |
C-M-% |
query-replace-regexp |
C-M-n / C-M-p |
add selection to next/previous find match |
M-s o |
Quick Search (like occur) |
Editing
| Key | Command | Prefix arg |
|---|---|---|
C-d / C-h |
delete forward / backward | ✓ |
M-\ |
delete-horizontal-space | ✓ |
C-x C-o |
delete-blank-lines | |
C-t / C-x C-t |
transpose-chars / transpose-lines | ✓ |
M-^ |
delete-indentation | |
M-d / M-Bksp |
kill-word / backward-kill-word | ✓ |
M-z |
zap-to-char | ✓ |
C-k |
kill-line | ✓ |
C-S-Bksp |
kill-whole-line | |
C-w |
kill-region | |
M-w |
kill-ring-save | |
C-y |
yank | ✓ |
M-y |
yank-pop | ✓ |
C-c y |
browse kill ring | |
C-o / C-j / C-m |
open-line / newline | ✓ |
C-x h |
select all | |
C-/ / C-_ |
undo | |
C-; |
toggle line comment | |
M-; |
comment-dwim | |
C-M-\ |
indent-region / format document | |
M-l / M-u / M-c |
lowercase / uppercase / titlecase word |
Mark and region
| Key | Command |
|---|---|
C-SPC |
set-mark-command |
C-SPC C-SPC |
set mark, push to ring, deactivate |
C-u C-SPC |
pop mark ring |
C-x C-x |
exchange-point-and-mark |
Sexp / ParEdit
| Key | Command | Prefix arg |
|---|---|---|
C-M-f / C-M-b |
forward-sexp / backward-sexp | ✓ |
C-M-u / C-M-d |
backward-up-list / down-list | |
C-M-@ |
mark-sexp | ✓ |
C-M-k / C-M-Bksp |
kill-sexp / backward-kill-sexp | ✓ |
C-S-k |
paredit-kill | ✓ |
Powered by paredit-ts.
Registers and rectangles
| Key | Command |
|---|---|
C-x r s r |
copy-to-register |
C-x r i r |
insert-register |
C-x r SPC r |
point-to-register |
C-x r j r |
jump-to-register |
C-x r k |
kill-rectangle |
C-x r M-w |
copy-rectangle-as-kill |
C-x r d |
delete-rectangle |
C-x r y |
yank-rectangle |
C-x r o |
open-rectangle |
C-x r c |
clear-rectangle |
C-x r t |
string-rectangle |
C-x r r r |
copy-rectangle-to-register |
C-x SPC |
rectangle-mark-mode |
Files, buffers, and windows
| Key | Command |
|---|---|
C-x C-f |
find-file (Quick Open) |
C-x C-s |
save-buffer |
C-x C-w |
write-file (Save As) |
C-x s |
save-some-buffers |
C-x C-n |
new window |
C-x b |
switch-to-buffer |
C-x C-b |
list-buffers (MRU) |
C-x k |
kill-buffer |
C-x 0 |
delete-window |
C-x 1 |
delete-other-windows |
C-x 2 / C-x 3 |
split below / right |
C-x 4 |
toggle split layout |
C-x o |
other-window |
C-x LEFT / C-x RIGHT |
previous-buffer / next-buffer |
Dired (file browser)
Open with C-x d.
| Key | Command |
|---|---|
RET |
Open file or enter directory |
^ |
Go up to parent directory |
. |
Toggle dot files |
g |
Refresh |
m / u |
Mark / unmark |
+ |
Create directory |
C-x f |
Create file |
R / C / D |
Rename / copy / delete |
q |
Close dired |
Other
| Key | Command |
|---|---|
C-g / ESC |
quit |
M-x |
command palette |
C-M-SPC |
toggle sidebar |
C-x z |
toggle Zen Mode |
C-x C-c |
close window |
C-u |
universal-argument |
M-<digit> |
digit-argument |
M-- |
negative-argument |
M-. |
find definitions |
M-, |
go back |
C-M-, |
go forward |
M-? |
find references |
C-M-i / M-/ |
trigger suggest |
Settings reference
Most emacs-mcx.* settings from Awesome Emacs Keymap are supported. See the upstream documentation for inherited configuration options, when clause contexts, and the prefix argument API.
Dired settings
| Setting | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
emacs-mcx.dired.fixedWindow |
boolean | false |
Reuse the same editor tab for dired navigation |
emacs-mcx.dired.askDirectory |
boolean | true |
Prompt for directory when opening dired |
Attribution
This extension is built on the work of several authors:
- vscode-emacs-mcx by Yuichiro Tsuchiya (whitphx) — MIT license, the foundation
- vscode-dired by WAKAYAMA Shirou — Apache 2.0, the dired file browser
- vscode-emacs-friendly by Sebastian Zaha — Apache 2.0, keybinding design inspiration
- Emacs Keymap by hiro-sun — the original VS Code Emacs extension
See LICENSE for full details.
Install
- VS Code Marketplace: Search "Emacs Unified" in Extensions, or
code --install-extension kshartman.emacs-unified - GitHub Release (VSIX): Download from latest release and
code --install-extension emacs-unified.vsix
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, build commands, and release workflow.