Consult provides search and navigation commands based on the Emacs completion
function completing-read. Completion allows you to quickly select an item from a
list of candidates. Consult offers asynchronous and interactive consult-grep
and
consult-ripgrep
commands, and the line-based search command consult-line
.
Furthermore Consult provides an advanced buffer switching command consult-buffer
to switch between buffers, recently opened files, bookmarks and buffer-like
candidates from other sources. Some of the Consult commands are enhanced
versions of built-in Emacs commands. For example the command consult-imenu
presents a flat list of the Imenu with live preview, grouping and narrowing.
Please take a look at the full list of commands.
Consult is fully compatible with completion systems centered around the standard
Emacs completing-read
API, notably the default completion system, Vertico, Mct,
and Icomplete.
This package keeps the completion system specifics to a minimum. The ability of the Consult commands to work well with arbitrary completion systems is one of the main advantages of the package. Consult fits well into existing setups and it helps you to create a full completion environment out of small and independent components.
You can combine the complementary packages Marginalia, Embark and Orderless with Consult. Marginalia enriches the completion display with annotations, e.g., documentation strings or file information. The versatile Embark package provides local actions, comparable to a context menu. These actions operate on the selected candidate in the minibuffer or at point in normal buffers. For example, when selecting from a list of files, Embark offers an action to delete the file. Additionally Embark offers a facility to collect completion candidates in a collect buffer. The section Embark integration documents in greater detail how Consult and Embark work together.
Fig. 1: Command
consult-git-grep
Most Consult commands follow the meaningful naming scheme consult-<thing>
.
Many commands implement a little known but convenient Emacs feature called
“future history”, which guesses what input the user wants. At a command prompt
type M-n
and typically Consult will insert the symbol or thing at point into
the input.
TIP: If you have Marginalia annotators activated, type M-x ^consult
to see
all Consult commands with their abbreviated description. Alternatively, type
C-h a ^consult
to get an overview of all Consult variables and functions with
their descriptions.
consult-buffer
(-other-window
,-other-frame
): Enhanced version ofswitch-to-buffer
with support for virtual buffers. Supports live preview of buffers and narrowing to the virtual buffer types. You can typef SPC
in order to narrow to recent files. PressSPC
to show ephemeral buffers. Supported narrowing keys:- b Buffers
- SPC Hidden buffers
- * Modified buffers
- f Files (Requires
recentf-mode
) - r File registers
- m Bookmarks
- p Project
- Custom other sources configured in
consult-buffer-sources
.
consult-project-buffer
: Variant ofconsult-buffer
restricted to buffers and recent files of the current project. You can add custom sources toconsult-project-buffer-sources
. The command may prompt you for a project if you invoke it from outside a project.consult-bookmark
: Select or create bookmark. To select bookmarks you might use theconsult-buffer
as an alternative, which can include a bookmark virtual buffer source. Note thatconsult-bookmark
supports preview of bookmarks and narrowing.consult-recent-file
: Select from recent files with preview. You might prefer the powerfulconsult-buffer
instead, which can include recent files as a virtual buffer source. Therecentf-mode
enables tracking of recent files.
consult-yank-from-kill-ring
: Enhanced version ofyank
to select an item from thekill-ring
. The selected text previewed as overlay in the buffer.consult-yank-pop
: Enhanced version ofyank-pop
with DWIM-behavior, which either replaces the lastyank
by cycling through thekill-ring
, or if there has not been a lastyank
consults thekill-ring
. The selected text previewed as overlay in the buffer.consult-yank-replace
: Likeconsult-yank-pop
, but always replaces the lastyank
with an item from thekill-ring
.consult-kmacro
: Select macro from the macro ring and execute it.
consult-register
: Select from list of registers. The command supports narrowing to register types and preview of marker positions. This command is useful to search the register contents. For quick access use the commandsconsult-register-load
,consult-register-store
or the built-in Emacs register commands.consult-register-format
: Setregister-preview-function
to this function for an enhanced register formatting. See the example configuration.consult-register-window
: Replaceregister-preview
with this function for a better register window. See the example configuration.consult-register-load
: Utility command to quickly load a register. The command either jumps to the register value or inserts it.consult-register-store
: Improved UI to store registers depending on the current context with an action menu. With an active region, store/append/prepend the contents, optionally deleting the region when a prefix argument is given. With a numeric prefix argument, store/add the number. Otherwise store point, frameset, window or kmacro. Usage examples:M-' x
: If no region is active, store point in registerx
. If a region is active, store the region in registerx
.M-' M-w x
: Store window configuration in registerx
.C-u 100 M-' x
: Store number in registerx
.
consult-goto-line
: Jump to line number enhanced with live preview. This is a drop-in replacement forgoto-line
.consult-mark
: Jump to a marker in themark-ring
. Supports live preview and recursive editing.consult-global-mark
: Jump to a marker in theglobal-mark-ring
. Supports live preview and recursive editing.consult-outline
: Jump to a heading of the outline. Supports narrowing to a heading level, live preview and recursive editing.consult-imenu
: Jump to imenu item in the current buffer. Supports live preview, recursive editing and narrowing.consult-imenu-multi
: Jump to imenu item in project buffers, with the same major mode as the current buffer. Supports live preview, recursive editing and narrowing. This feature has been inspired by imenu-anywhere.
consult-line
: Enter search string and select from matching lines. Supports live preview and recursive editing. The symbol at point and the recent Isearch string are added to the “future history” and can be accessed by pressingM-n
. Whenconsult-line
is bound to theisearch-mode-map
and is invoked during a running Isearch, it will use the current Isearch string.consult-line-multi
: Search dynamically across multiple buffers. By default search across project buffers. If invoked with a prefix argument search across all buffers. The candidates are computed on demand based on the input. The command behaves likeconsult-grep
, but operates on buffers instead of files.consult-keep-lines
: Replacement forkeep/flush-lines
which uses the current completion style for filtering the buffer. The function updates the buffer while typing. In particularconsult-keep-lines
can narrow down an exported Embark collect buffer further, relying on the same completion filtering ascompleting-read
. If the input begins with the negation operator, i.e.,! SPC
, the filter matches the complement. If a region is active, the region restricts the filtering.consult-focus-lines
: Temporarily hide lines by filtering them using the current completion style. Call withC-u
prefix argument in order to show the hidden lines again. If the input begins with the negation operator, i.e.,! SPC
, the filter matches the complement. In contrast toconsult-keep-lines
this function does not edit the buffer. If a region is active, the region restricts the filtering.
consult-grep
,consult-ripgrep
,consult-git-grep
: Search for regular expression in files. Consult invokes Grep asynchronously, while you enter the search term. After at leastconsult-async-min-input
characters, the search gets started. Consult splits the input string into two parts, if the first character is a punctuation character, like#
. For example#regexps#filter-string
, is split at the second#
. The stringregexps
is passed to Grep. Note that Consult transforms Emacs regular expressions to expressions understand by the search program. Always use Emacs regular expressions at the prompt. If you enter multiple regular expressions separated by space only lines matching all regular expressions are shown. In order to match space literally, escape the space with a backslash. Thefilter-string
is passed to the fast Emacs filtering to further narrow down the list of matches. This is particularly useful if you are using an advanced completion style like orderless.consult-grep
supports preview. If theconsult-project-function
returns non-nil,consult-grep
searches the current project directory. Otherwise thedefault-directory
is searched. Ifconsult-grep
is invoked with prefix argumentC-u M-s g
, you can specify the directory manually.consult-find
,consult-locate
: Find file by matching the path against a regexp. Like forconsult-grep
, either the project root or the current directory is the root directory for the search. The input string is treated similarly toconsult-grep
, where the first part is passed to find, and the second part is used for Emacs filtering.
consult-compile-error
: Jump to a compilation error. Supports live preview narrowing and recursive editing.consult-flymake
: Jump to flymake diagnostic. Supports live preview and recursive editing. The command supports narrowing. Presse SPC
,w SPC
,n SPC
to only show errors, warnings and notes respectively.consult-xref
: Integration with xref. This function can be set asxref-show-xrefs-function
andxref-show-definitions-function
.
consult-complex-command
: Select a command from thecommand-history
. This command is acompleting-read
version ofrepeat-complex-command
and is also a replacement for thecommand-history
command from chistory.el.consult-history
: Insert a string from the current buffer history, for example the Eshell or Comint history. You can also invoke this command from the minibuffer. In that caseconsult-history
uses the history stored in theminibuffer-history-variable
. If you prefercompletion-at-point
, take a look atcape-history
from the Cape package.consult-isearch-history
: During an Isearch session, this command picks a search string from history and continues the search with the newly selected string. Outside of Isearch, the command allows you to pick a string from the history and starts a new Isearch.consult-isearch-history
acts as a drop-in replacement forisearch-edit-string
.
consult-minor-mode-menu
: Enable/disable minor mode. Supports narrowing to on/off/local/global modes by pressingi/o/l/g SPC
respectively.consult-mode-command
: Run a command from the currently active minor or major modes. Supports narrowing to local-minor/global-minor/major mode via the keysl/g/m
.
consult-org-heading
: Similar toconsult-outline
, for Org buffers. Supports narrowing by heading level, priority and TODO state, as well as live preview and recursive editing.consult-org-agenda
: Jump to an agenda heading. Supports narrowing by heading level, priority and TODO state, as well as live preview and recursive editing.
consult-man
: Find Unix man page, via Unixapropos
orman -k
.consult-man
opens the selected man page using the Emacsman
command.consult-info
: Full text search through info pages. If the command is invoked from within an*info*
buffer, it will search through the current manual. You may want to create your own commands which search through a predefined set of info pages, for example:
(defun consult-info-emacs ()
"Search through Emacs info pages."
(interactive)
(consult-info "emacs" "efaq" "elisp" "cl" "compat"))
(defun consult-info-org ()
"Search through the Org info page."
(interactive)
(consult-info "org"))
(defun consult-info-completion ()
"Search through completion info pages."
(interactive)
(consult-info "vertico" "consult" "marginalia" "orderless" "embark"
"corfu" "cape" "tempel"))
consult-theme
: Select a theme and disable all currently enabled themes. Supports live preview of the theme while scrolling through the candidates.consult-preview-at-point
andconsult-preview-at-point-mode
: Command and minor mode which previews the candidate at point in the*Completions*
buffer. This mode is relevant if you use Mct or the default*Completions*
UI.consult-completion-in-region
: In case you don’t use Corfu as your in-buffer completion UI, this function can be set ascompletion-in-region-function
. Then your minibuffer completion UI (e.g., Vertico or Icomplete) will be used forcompletion-at-point
. If you use Mct, you can givemct-region-mode
a try.;; Use `consult-completion-in-region' if Vertico is enabled. ;; Otherwise use the default `completion--in-region' function. (setq completion-in-region-function (lambda (&rest args) (apply (if vertico-mode #'consult-completion-in-region #'completion--in-region) args)))
Instead of
consult-completion-in-region
, you may prefer to see the completions directly in the buffer as a small popup. In that case, I recommend either the Corfu or the Company package. There is a technical limitation ofconsult-completion-in-region
in combination with Lsp-mode or Eglot. The Lsp server relies on the input at point, in order to generate refined candidate strings. Since the completion is transferred from the original buffer to the minibuffer, the server does not receive the updated input. LSP completion works with Corfu or Company though, which perform the completion directly in the original buffer.
Consult enhances completing-read
with live previews of candidates, additional
narrowing capabilities to candidate groups and asynchronously generated
candidate lists. The internal consult--read
function, which is used by most
Consult commands, is a thin wrapper around completing-read
and provides the
special functionality. In order to support multiple candidate sources there
exists the high-level function consult--multi
. The architecture of Consult
allows it to work with different completion systems in the backend, while still
offering advanced features.
Some Consult commands support live previews. For example when you scroll through
the items of consult-line
, the buffer will scroll to the corresponding position.
It is possible to jump back and forth between the minibuffer and the buffer to
perform recursive editing while the search is ongoing.
Consult enables previews by default. You can disable them by adjusting the
consult-preview-key
variable. Furthermore it is possible to specify keybindings
which trigger the preview manually as shown in the example configuration. The
default setting of consult-preview-key
is any
which means that Consult triggers
the preview immediately on any key press when the selected candidate changes.
You can configure each command individually with its own :preview-key
. The
following settings are possible:
- Automatic and immediate
'any
- Automatic and delayed
(list :debounce 0.5 'any)
- Manual and immediate
"M-."
- Manual and delayed
(list :debounce 0.5 "M-.")
- Disabled
nil
A safe recommendation is to leave automatic immediate previews enabled in
general and disable the automatic preview only for commands where the preview
may be expensive due to file loading. Internally, Consult uses the
value of this-command
to determine the :preview-key
customized. This means that if you wrap a consult-*
command within
your own function or command, you will also need to add the name of
your custom command to the consult-customize
call in order for it
to be considered.
(consult-customize
consult-ripgrep consult-git-grep consult-grep
consult-bookmark consult-recent-file consult-xref
consult--source-bookmark consult--source-file-register
consult--source-recent-file consult--source-project-recent-file
;; my/command-wrapping-consult ;; disable auto previews inside my command
:preview-key '(:debounce 0.4 any) ;; Option 1: Delay preview
;; :preview-key "M-.") ;; Option 2: Manual preview
In this case one may wonder what the difference is between using an Embark
action on the current candidate in comparison to a manually triggered preview.
The main difference is that the files opened by manual preview are closed again
after the completion session. Furthermore during preview some functionality is
disabled to improve the performance, see for example the customization variables
consult-preview-allowed-hooks
and consult-preview-variables
. Files larger than
consult-preview-raw-size
are previewed literally without syntax highlighting and
without changing the major mode. Delaying the preview is also useful for
consult-theme
, since the theme preview is slow. The delay results in a smoother
UI experience.
;; Preview on any key press, but delay 0.5s
(consult-customize consult-theme :preview-key '(:debounce 0.5 any))
;; Preview immediately on M-., on up/down after 0.5s, on any other key after 1s
(consult-customize consult-theme
:preview-key
'("M-."
:debounce 0.5 "<up>" "<down>"
:debounce 1 any))
Consult has special support for candidate groups. If the completion UI supports
the grouping functionality, the UI separates the groups with thin lines and
shows group titles. Grouping is useful if the list of candidates consists of
candidates of multiple types or candidates from multiple sources, like the
consult-buffer
command, which shows both buffers and recently opened files. Note
that you can disable the group titles by setting the :group
property of the
corresponding command to nil using the consult-customize
macro.
By entering a narrowing prefix or by pressing a narrowing key it is possible to
restrict the completion candidates to a certain candidate group. When you use
the consult-buffer
command, you can enter the prefix b SPC
to restrict list of
candidates to buffers only. If you press DEL
afterwards, the full candidate list
will be shown again. Furthermore a narrowing prefix key and a widening key can
be configured which can be pressed to achieve the same effect, see the
configuration variables consult-narrow-key
and consult-widen-key
.
After pressing consult-narrow-key
, the possible narrowing keys can be shown by
pressing C-h
. When pressing C-h
after some prefix key, the prefix-help-command
is invoked, which shows the keybinding help window by default. As a more compact
alternative, there is the consult-narrow-help
command which can be bound to a
key, for example ?
or C-h
in the consult-narrow-map
, as shown in the example
configuration. If which-key is installed, the narrowing keys are automatically
shown in the which-key window after pressing the consult-narrow-key
.
Consult has support for asynchronous generation of candidate lists. This feature
is used for search commands like consult-grep
, where the list of matches is
generated dynamically while the user is typing a regular expression. The grep
process is executed in the background. When modifying the regular expression,
the background process is terminated and a new process is started with the
modified regular expression.
The matches, which have been found, can then be narrowed using the installed
Emacs completion-style. This can be powerful if you are using for example the
orderless
completion style.
This two-level filtering is possible by splitting the input string. Part of the
input string is treated as input to grep and part of the input is used for
filtering. There are multiple splitting styles available, configured in
consult-async-split-styles-alist
: nil
, comma
, semicolon
and perl
. The default
splitting style is configured with the variable consult-async-split-style
.
With the comma
and semicolon
splitting styles, the first word before the comma
or semicolon is passed to grep, the remaining string is used for filtering. The
nil
splitting style does not perform any splitting, the whole input is passed to
grep.
The perl
splitting style splits the input string at a punctuation character,
using a similar syntax as Perl regular expressions.
Examples:
#defun
: Search for “defun” using grep.#consult embark
: Search for both “consult” and “embark” using grep in any order.#first.*second
: Search for “first” followed by “second” using grep.#\(consult\|embark\)
: Search for “consult” or “embark” using grep. Note the usage of Emacs-style regular expressions.#defun#consult
: Search for “defun” using grep, filter with the word “consult”./defun/consult
: It is also possible to use other punctuation characters.#to#
: Force searching for “to” using grep, since the grep pattern must be longer thanconsult-async-min-input
characters by default.#defun -- --invert-match#
: Pass argument--invert-match
to grep.
Asynchronous processes like find
and grep
create an error log buffer
_*consult-async*
(note the leading space), which is useful for
troubleshooting. The prompt has a small indicator showing the process status:
:
the usual prompt colon, before input is provided.*
with warning face, the process is running.:
with success face, success, process exited with an error code of zero.!
with error face, failure, process exited with a nonzero error code.;
with error face, interrupted, for example if more input is provided.
Multiple synchronous candidate sources can be combined. This feature is used by
the consult-buffer
command to present buffer-like candidates in a single menu
for quick access. By default consult-buffer
includes buffers, bookmarks, recent
files and project-specific buffers and files. It is possible to configure the
list of sources via the consult-buffer-sources
variable. Arbitrary custom
sources can be defined.
As an example, the bookmark source is defined as follows:
(defvar consult--source-bookmark
`(:name "Bookmark"
:narrow ?m
:category bookmark
:face consult-bookmark
:history bookmark-history
:items ,#'bookmark-all-names
:action ,#'consult--bookmark-action))
Required source fields:
:category
Completion category.:items
List of strings to select from or function returning list of strings. A list of cons cells is not supported.
Optional source fields:
:name
Name of the source, used for narrowing, group titles and annotations.:narrow
Narrowing character or(character . string)
pair.:preview-key
Preview key or keys which trigger preview.:enabled
Function which must return t if the source is enabled.:hidden
When t candidates of this source are hidden by default.:face
Face used for highlighting the candidates.:annotate
Annotation function called for each candidate, returns string.:history
Name of history variable to add selected candidate.:default
Must be t if the first item of the source is the default value.:action
Function called with the selected candidate.:new
Function called with new candidate name, only if:require-match
is nil.:state
State constructor for the source, must return the state function.- Other source fields can be added specifically to the use case.
The :state
and :action
fields of the sources deserve a longer explanation. The
:action
function takes a single argument and is only called after selection with
the selected candidate, if the selection has not been aborted. This
functionality is provided for convenience and easy definition of sources. The
:state
field is more general. The :state
function is a constructor function
without arguments, which can perform some setup necessary for the preview. It
must return a closure which takes an ACTION and a CANDIDATE argument. See the
docstring of consult--with-preview
for more details about the ACTION argument.
By default, consult-buffer
previews buffers, bookmarks and files. Loading recent
files or bookmarks can result in expensive operations. However it is possible to
configure a manual preview as follows.
(consult-customize
consult--source-bookmark consult--source-file-register
consult--source-recent-file consult--source-project-recent-file
:preview-key "M-.")
Sources can be added directly to the consult-buffer-source
list for convenience.
For example views/perspectives can be added to the list of virtual buffers from
a library like bookmark-view.
;; Configure new bookmark-view source
(add-to-list 'consult-buffer-sources
(list :name "View"
:narrow ?v
:category 'bookmark
:face 'font-lock-keyword-face
:history 'bookmark-view-history
:action #'consult--bookmark-action
:items #'bookmark-view-names)
'append)
;; Modify bookmark source, such that views are hidden
(setq consult--source-bookmark
(plist-put
consult--source-bookmark :items
(lambda ()
(bookmark-maybe-load-default-file)
(mapcar #'car
(seq-remove (lambda (x)
(eq #'bookmark-view-handler
(alist-get 'handler (cdr x))))
bookmark-alist)))))
Another useful source lists all Org buffers and lets you create new ones. One can create similar sources for other major modes, e.g., for Eshell.
(defvar org-source
(list :name "Org Buffer"
:category 'buffer
:narrow ?o
:face 'consult-buffer
:history 'buffer-name-history
:state #'consult--buffer-state
:new
(lambda (name)
(with-current-buffer (get-buffer-create name)
(insert "#+title: " name "\n\n")
(org-mode)
(consult--buffer-action (current-buffer))))
:items
(lambda ()
(mapcar #'buffer-name
(seq-filter
(lambda (x)
(eq (buffer-local-value 'major-mode x) 'org-mode))
(buffer-list))))))
(add-to-list 'consult-buffer-sources 'org-source 'append)
For more details, see the documentation of consult-buffer
and of the
internal consult--multi
API. The consult--multi
function can be used to
create new multi-source commands, but is part of the internal API as of now,
since some details may still change.
NOTE: Install the embark-consult
package from MELPA, which provides
Consult-specific Embark actions and the Occur buffer export.
Embark is a versatile package which offers context dependent actions, comparable to a context menu. See the Embark manual for an extensive description of its capabilities.
Actions are commands which can operate on the currently selected candidate (or
target in Embark terminology). When completing files, for example the
delete-file
command is offered. With Embark you can execute arbitrary commands
on the currently selected candidate via M-x
.
Furthermore Embark provides the embark-collect
command, which collects
candidates and presents them in an Embark collect buffer, where further actions
can be applied to them. A related feature is the embark-export
command, which
exports candidate lists to a buffer of a special type. For example in the case
of file completion, a Dired buffer is opened.
In the context of Consult, particularly exciting is the possibility to export
the matching lines from consult-line
, consult-outline
, consult-mark
and
consult-global-mark
. The matching lines are exported to an Occur buffer where
they can be edited via the occur-edit-mode
(press key e
). Similarly, Embark
supports exporting the matches found by consult-grep
, consult-ripgrep
and
consult-git-grep
to a Grep buffer, where the matches across files can be edited,
if the wgrep package is installed. These three workflows are symmetric.
consult-line
->embark-export
tooccur-mode
buffer ->occur-edit-mode
for editing of matches in buffer.consult-grep
->embark-export
togrep-mode
buffer ->wgrep
for editing of all matches.consult-find
->embark-export
todired-mode
buffer ->wdired-change-to-wdired-mode
for editing.
Consult can be installed from ELPA or MELPA via the Emacs built-in package manager. Alternatively it can be directly installed from the development repository via other non-standard package managers.
There is the Consult wiki, where additional configuration examples can be contributed.
IMPORTANT: It is strongly recommended that you enable lexical binding in your configuration. Consult relies on lambdas and lexical closures. For this reason many Consult-related snippets require lexical binding.
The Consult package only provides commands and does not add any keybindings or
modes. Therefore the package is non-intrusive but requires a little setup
effort. In order to use the Consult commands, it is advised to add keybindings
for commands which are accessed often. Rarely used commands can be invoked via
M-x
. Feel free to only bind the commands you consider useful to your workflow.
The configuration shown here relies on the use-package
macro, which is a
convenient tool to manage package configurations.
NOTE: There is the Consult wiki, where you can contribute additional configuration examples.
;; Example configuration for Consult
(use-package consult
;; Replace bindings. Lazily loaded due by `use-package'.
:bind (;; C-c bindings (mode-specific-map)
("C-c M-x" . consult-mode-command)
("C-c h" . consult-history)
("C-c k" . consult-kmacro)
("C-c m" . consult-man)
("C-c i" . consult-info)
([remap Info-search] . consult-info)
;; C-x bindings (ctl-x-map)
("C-x M-:" . consult-complex-command) ;; orig. repeat-complex-command
("C-x b" . consult-buffer) ;; orig. switch-to-buffer
("C-x 4 b" . consult-buffer-other-window) ;; orig. switch-to-buffer-other-window
("C-x 5 b" . consult-buffer-other-frame) ;; orig. switch-to-buffer-other-frame
("C-x r b" . consult-bookmark) ;; orig. bookmark-jump
("C-x p b" . consult-project-buffer) ;; orig. project-switch-to-buffer
;; Custom M-# bindings for fast register access
("M-#" . consult-register-load)
("M-'" . consult-register-store) ;; orig. abbrev-prefix-mark (unrelated)
("C-M-#" . consult-register)
;; Other custom bindings
("M-y" . consult-yank-pop) ;; orig. yank-pop
;; M-g bindings (goto-map)
("M-g e" . consult-compile-error)
("M-g f" . consult-flymake) ;; Alternative: consult-flycheck
("M-g g" . consult-goto-line) ;; orig. goto-line
("M-g M-g" . consult-goto-line) ;; orig. goto-line
("M-g o" . consult-outline) ;; Alternative: consult-org-heading
("M-g m" . consult-mark)
("M-g k" . consult-global-mark)
("M-g i" . consult-imenu)
("M-g I" . consult-imenu-multi)
;; M-s bindings (search-map)
("M-s d" . consult-find)
("M-s D" . consult-locate)
("M-s g" . consult-grep)
("M-s G" . consult-git-grep)
("M-s r" . consult-ripgrep)
("M-s l" . consult-line)
("M-s L" . consult-line-multi)
("M-s k" . consult-keep-lines)
("M-s u" . consult-focus-lines)
;; Isearch integration
("M-s e" . consult-isearch-history)
:map isearch-mode-map
("M-e" . consult-isearch-history) ;; orig. isearch-edit-string
("M-s e" . consult-isearch-history) ;; orig. isearch-edit-string
("M-s l" . consult-line) ;; needed by consult-line to detect isearch
("M-s L" . consult-line-multi) ;; needed by consult-line to detect isearch
;; Minibuffer history
:map minibuffer-local-map
("M-s" . consult-history) ;; orig. next-matching-history-element
("M-r" . consult-history)) ;; orig. previous-matching-history-element
;; Enable automatic preview at point in the *Completions* buffer. This is
;; relevant when you use the default completion UI.
:hook (completion-list-mode . consult-preview-at-point-mode)
;; The :init configuration is always executed (Not lazy)
:init
;; Optionally configure the register formatting. This improves the register
;; preview for `consult-register', `consult-register-load',
;; `consult-register-store' and the Emacs built-ins.
(setq register-preview-delay 0.5
register-preview-function #'consult-register-format)
;; Optionally tweak the register preview window.
;; This adds thin lines, sorting and hides the mode line of the window.
(advice-add #'register-preview :override #'consult-register-window)
;; Use Consult to select xref locations with preview
(setq xref-show-xrefs-function #'consult-xref
xref-show-definitions-function #'consult-xref)
;; Configure other variables and modes in the :config section,
;; after lazily loading the package.
:config
;; Optionally configure preview. The default value
;; is 'any, such that any key triggers the preview.
;; (setq consult-preview-key 'any)
;; (setq consult-preview-key "M-.")
;; (setq consult-preview-key '("S-<down>" "S-<up>"))
;; For some commands and buffer sources it is useful to configure the
;; :preview-key on a per-command basis using the `consult-customize' macro.
(consult-customize
consult-theme :preview-key '(:debounce 0.2 any)
consult-ripgrep consult-git-grep consult-grep
consult-bookmark consult-recent-file consult-xref
consult--source-bookmark consult--source-file-register
consult--source-recent-file consult--source-project-recent-file
;; :preview-key "M-."
:preview-key '(:debounce 0.4 any))
;; Optionally configure the narrowing key.
;; Both < and C-+ work reasonably well.
(setq consult-narrow-key "<") ;; "C-+"
;; Optionally make narrowing help available in the minibuffer.
;; You may want to use `embark-prefix-help-command' or which-key instead.
;; (define-key consult-narrow-map (vconcat consult-narrow-key "?") #'consult-narrow-help)
;; By default `consult-project-function' uses `project-root' from project.el.
;; Optionally configure a different project root function.
;;;; 1. project.el (the default)
;; (setq consult-project-function #'consult--default-project--function)
;;;; 2. vc.el (vc-root-dir)
;; (setq consult-project-function (lambda (_) (vc-root-dir)))
;;;; 3. locate-dominating-file
;; (setq consult-project-function (lambda (_) (locate-dominating-file "." ".git")))
;;;; 4. projectile.el (projectile-project-root)
;; (autoload 'projectile-project-root "projectile")
;; (setq consult-project-function (lambda (_) (projectile-project-root)))
;;;; 5. No project support
;; (setq consult-project-function nil)
)
TIP: If you have Marginalia installed, type M-x customize-variable RET
^consult
to see all Consult-specific customizable variables with their current
values and abbreviated description. Alternatively, type C-h a ^consult
to get
an overview of all Consult variables and functions with their descriptions.
Variable | Description |
---|---|
consult-after-jump-hook | Functions to call after jumping to a location |
consult-async-input-debounce | Input debounce for asynchronous commands |
consult-async-input-throttle | Input throttle for asynchronous commands |
consult-async-min-input | Minimum numbers of letters needed for async process |
consult-async-refresh-delay | Refresh delay for asynchronous commands |
consult-async-split-style | Splitting style used for async commands |
consult-async-split-styles-alist | Available splitting styles used for async commands |
consult-bookmark-narrow | Narrowing configuration for consult-bookmark |
consult-buffer-filter | Filter for consult-buffer |
consult-buffer-sources | List of virtual buffer sources |
consult-find-args | Command line arguments for find |
consult-fontify-max-size | Buffers larger than this limit are not fontified |
consult-fontify-preserve | Preserve fontification for line-based commands. |
consult-git-grep-args | Command line arguments for git-grep |
consult-goto-line-numbers | Show line numbers for consult-goto-line |
consult-grep-max-columns | Maximal number of columns of the matching lines |
consult-grep-args | Command line arguments for grep |
consult-imenu-config | Mode-specific configuration for consult-imenu |
consult-line-numbers-widen | Show absolute line numbers when narrowing is active. |
consult-line-start-from-top | Start the consult-line search from the top |
consult-locate-args | Command line arguments for locate |
consult-man-args | Command line arguments for man |
consult-mode-command-filter | Filter for consult-mode-command |
consult-mode-histories | Mode-specific history variables |
consult-narrow-key | Narrowing prefix key during completion |
consult-point-placement | Placement of the point when jumping to matches |
consult-preview-key | Keys which triggers preview |
consult-preview-allowed-hooks | List of find-file hooks to enable during preview |
consult-preview-excluded-files | Regexps matched against file names during preview |
consult-preview-max-count | Maximum number of files to keep open during preview |
consult-preview-max-size | Files larger than this size are not previewed |
consult-preview-raw-size | Files larger than this size are previewed in raw form |
consult-preview-variables | Alist of variables to bind during preview |
consult-project-buffer-sources | List of virtual project buffer sources |
consult-project-function | Function which returns current project root |
consult-register-prefix | Prefix string for register keys during completion |
consult-ripgrep-args | Command line arguments for ripgrep |
consult-themes | List of themes to be presented for selection |
consult-widen-key | Widening key during completion |
consult-yank-rotate | Rotate kill ring |
NOTE: Consult supports fine-grained customization of individual commands. This configuration feature exists for experienced users with special requirements. There is the Consult wiki, where we collect further configuration examples.
Commands and buffer sources allow flexible, individual customization by using
the consult-customize
macro. You can override any option passed to the internal
consult--read
API. The Consult wiki already contains a numerous useful
configuration examples. Note that since consult--read
is part of the internal
API, options could be removed, replaced or renamed in future versions of the
package.
Useful options are:
:prompt
set the prompt string:preview-key
set the preview key, default isconsult-preview-key
:initial
set the initial input:default
set the default value:history
set the history variable symbol:add-history
add items to the future history, for example symbol at point:sort
enable or disable sorting:group
set to nil to disable candidate grouping and titles.:inherit-input-method
set to non-nil to inherit the input method.
(consult-customize
;; Disable preview for `consult-theme' completely.
consult-theme :preview-key nil
;; Set preview for `consult-buffer' to key `M-.'
consult-buffer :preview-key "M-."
;; For `consult-line' change the prompt and specify multiple preview
;; keybindings. Note that you should bind <S-up> and <S-down> in the
;; `minibuffer-local-completion-map' or `vertico-map' to the commands which
;; select the previous or next candidate.
consult-line :prompt "Search: "
:preview-key '("S-<down>" "S-<up>"))
The configuration values are evaluated at runtime, just before the completion
session is started. Therefore you can use for example thing-at-point
to adjust
the initial input or the future history.
(consult-customize
consult-line
:add-history (seq-some #'thing-at-point '(region symbol)))
(defalias 'consult-line-thing-at-point 'consult-line)
(consult-customize
consult-line-thing-at-point
:initial (thing-at-point 'symbol))
Generally it is possible to modify commands for your individual needs by the following techniques:
- Use
consult-customize
in order to change the command or source settings. - Create your own wrapper function which passes modified arguments to the Consult functions.
- Create your own buffer multi sources for
consult-buffer
. - Create advices to modify some internal behavior.
- Write or propose a patch.
I use and recommend this combination of packages:
- consult: This package
- vertico: Fast and minimal vertical completion system
- marginalia: Annotations for the completion candidates
- embark and embark-consult: Action commands, which can act on the completion candidates
- orderless: Completion style which offers flexible candidate filtering
There exist many other fine completion UIs beside Vertico, which are supported by Consult. Give them a try and find out which interaction model fits best for you.
- The builtin completion UI, which pops up the
*Completions*
buffer. - The builtin
icomplete-vertical-mode
in Emacs 28. - mct by Protesilaos Stavrou: Minibuffer and Completions in Tandem, which builds on the default completion UI (development currently discontinued).
Note that all packages are independent and can be exchanged with alternative components, since there exist no hard dependencies. Furthermore it is possible to get started with only default completion and Consult and add more components later to the mix. For example you can omit Marginalia if you don’t need annotations. I highly recommend the Embark package, but in order to familiarize yourself with the other components, you can first start without it - or you could use with Embark right away and add the other components later on.
You can integrate Consult with special programs or with other packages in the wider Emacs ecosystem. You may want to install some of theses packages depending on your preferences and requirements.
- consult-ag: Support for the Silver Searcher in the style of
consult-grep
. - consult-company: Completion at point using the Company backends.
- consult-codesearch: Integration with Code Search.
- consult-dir: Directory jumper using Consult multi sources.
- consult-dash: Consult interface to Dash documentation
- consult-eglot: Integration with Eglot (LSP client).
- consult-flycheck: Additional Flycheck integration.
- consult-flyspell: Additional Flyspell integration.
- consult-git-log-grep: Consult interface to git log.
- consult-hatena-bookmark: Access Hatena bookmarks.
- consult-ls-git: List files from git via Consult.
- consult-lsp: Integration with Lsp-mode (LSP client).
- consult-notmuch: Access the Notmuch email system using Consult.
- consult-notes: Searching notes with Consult.
- consult-org-roam: Integration with Org-roam.
- consult-project-extra: Additional project.el extras and buffer sources.
- consult-projectile: Additional Projectile integration and buffer sources.
- consult-recoll: Access the Recoll desktop full-text search using Consult.
- consult-spotify: Access the Spotify API and control your local music player.
- consult-yasnippet: Integration with Yasnippet.
- affe: Asynchronous Fuzzy Finder for Emacs based on Consult.
Not directly related to Consult, but maybe still of interest are the following
packages. These packages should work well with Consult, follow a similar spirit or
offer functionality based on completing-read
.
- corfu: Completion systems for
completion-at-point
using small popups (Alternative to Company). - cape: Completion At Point Extensions, which can be used with
consult-completion-in-region
and Corfu. - bookmark-view: Store window configuration as bookmarks, possible integration with
consult-buffer
. - citar: Versatile package for citation insertion and bibliography management.
- devdocs: Emacs viewer for DevDocs with a convenient completion interface.
- flyspell-correct: Apply spelling corrections by selecting via
completing-read
. - wgrep: Editing of grep buffers, use together with
consult-grep
viaembark-export
. - all-the-icons-completion: Icons for the completion UI.
If you find a bug or suspect that there is a problem with Consult, please carry out the following steps:
- Search through the issue tracker if your issue has been reported before (and has been resolved eventually) in the meantime.
- Remove all packages involved in the suspected bug from your installation.
- Reinstall the newest version of all relevant packages. Updating alone is not sufficient, since package.el is known to cause miscompilation. The list of packages includes Consult, Compat, Vertico or other completion UIs, Marginalia, Embark and Orderless.
- Either use the default completion UI or ensure that exactly one of
vertico-mode
,mct-mode
, oricomplete-mode
is enabled. The unsupported modesselectrum-mode
,ivy-mode
,helm-mode
,ido-mode
andido-ubiquitous-mode
must be disabled. - Ensure that the
completion-styles
variable is properly configured. Try to setcompletion-styles
to a list includingsubstring
ororderless
. - Try to reproduce the issue by starting a bare bone Emacs instance with
emacs -Q
on the command line. Execute the following minimal code snippets in the scratch buffer. This way we can exclude side effects due to configuration settings. If other packages are relevant to reproduce the issue, include them in the minimal configuration snippet.
Minimal setup with Vertico for emacs -Q
:
(package-initialize)
(require 'consult)
(require 'vertico)
(vertico-mode)
(setq completion-styles '(substring basic))
Minimal setup with the default completion system for emacs -Q
:
(package-initialize)
(require 'consult)
(setq completion-styles '(substring basic))
Please provide the necessary important information with your bug report:
- The minimal configuration snippet used to reproduce the issue.
- Your completion UI (Default completion, Vertico, Mct or Icomplete).
- A stack trace in case the bug triggers an exception.
- Your Emacs version, since bugs may be fixed or introduced in newer versions.
- Your operating system, since Emacs behavior varies between Linux, Mac and Windows.
- The package manager, e.g., straight.el or package.el, used to install the Emacs packages, in order to exclude update issues. Did you install Consult as part of the Doom or Spacemacs Emacs distributions?
- Do you use Evil or other packages which apply deep changes? Consult does not provide Evil integration out of the box, but there is some support in evil-collection.
When evaluating Consult-related code snippets you should enable lexical binding. Consult often relies on lambdas and lexical closures.
Consult is a community effort, please participate in the discussions. Contributions are welcome, but you may want to discuss potential contributions first. Since this package is part of GNU ELPA contributions require a copyright assignment to the FSF.
If you have a proposal, take a look at the Consult issue tracker and the Consult wishlist. There have been many prior feature discussions. Please search through the issue tracker, maybe your issue or feature request has already been discussed. You can contribute to the Consult wiki, in case you want to share small configuration or command snippets.
This package took inspiration from Counsel by Oleh Krehel. Some of the Consult commands originated in the Counsel package or the wiki of the Selectrum package. This package exists only thanks to the help of these great contributors and thanks to the feedback of many users. Thank you!
Code contributions:
- Omar Antolín Camarena
- Sergey Kostyaev
- Earl Hyatt
- Clemens Radermacher
- Tom Fitzhenry
- jakanakaevangeli
- Iñigo Serna
- Adam Spiers
- Omar Polo
- Augusto Stoffel
- Fox Kiester
- Tecosaur
- Mohamed Abdelnour
- Sylvain Rousseau
- J.D. Smith
- Mohsin Kaleem
- Jean-Philippe Bernardy
- Aymeric Agon-Rambosson
- Geoffrey Lessel
- Piotr Kwiecinski
Advice and useful discussions:
- Clemens Radermacher
- Omar Antolín Camarena
- Protesilaos Stavrou
- Steve Purcell
- Adam Porter
- Manuel Uberti
- Tom Fitzhenry
- Howard Melman
- Stefan Monnier
- Dmitry Gutov
- Itai Y. Efrat
- Bruce d’Arcus
- J.D. Smith
- Enrique Kessler Martínez
- Radon Rosborough
Authors of supplementary consult-*
packages:
- Jose A Ortega Ruiz (consult-notmuch, consult-recoll, consult-spotify)
- Gerry Agbobada (consult-lsp)
- Karthik Chikmagalur (consult-dir)
- Mohsin Kaleem (consult-company, consult-eglot, consult-yasnippet)
- Marco Pawłowski (consult-flyspell, consult-projectile)
- Enrique Kessler Martínez (consult-project-extra)
- Jan Gru (consult-org-roam)
- Kanon Kakuno (consult-ag)
- Robin Joy (consult-ls-git)
- Ravi R Kiran (consult-dash)
- Colin McLear (consult-notes)
- Yukinori Kitadai (consult-hatena-bookmark)
- ghosty141 (consult-git-log-grep)
- YoungJoo Lee (consult-codesearch)