emacs-lisp SKILL.md skillA
emacs-lisp from jkitchin/knowhow is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add jkitchin/knowhow/emacs-lisp@git:20251108.00b7c61Pins git:20251108.00b7c61 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- jkitchin/knowhow
- Path
skills/programming/emacs-lisp/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 2
- Latest version
- git:20251108.00b7c61, committed Nov 8, 2025
- First version recorded
- Nov 6, 2025
- Size
- 18,541 bytes
- Repository stars
- 42
- License
- MIT
Expert guidance for writing professional Emacs Lisp code following the community-driven Emacs Lisp Style Guide by Bozhidar Batsov. Covers layout, naming conventions, syntax preferences, macros, documentation, and best practices. Use this skill when writing Emacs configuration, creating Emacs packages, writing interactive commands, developing major/minor modes, or refactoring Emacs Lisp code. Emphasizes: lexical binding, proper naming, documentation standards, autoloading, and community…
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# Emacs Lisp Style Guide Skill
This skill provides expert guidance for writing professional, maintainable Emacs Lisp code following the community-driven Emacs Lisp Style Guide.
## When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when:
- Writing Emacs configuration files (~/.emacs.d/init.el)
- Creating Emacs packages or libraries
- Developing major or minor modes
- Writing interactive commands and functions
- Creating keybindings and hooks
- Refactoring existing Emacs Lisp code
- Setting up package metadata and autoloads
- Writing Emacs Lisp macros
- Creating custom variables and faces
## Core Principles
### 1. Source Code Layout
#### Indentation and Spacing
**Use Spaces, Never Tabs:**
```elisp
;; Good - spaces for indentation
(defun my-function (arg1 arg2)
(let ((result (+ arg1 arg2)))
(message "Result: %s" result)))
;; Bad - mixing tabs and spaces (never do this)
```
**Align Function Arguments Vertically:**
```elisp
;; Good - arguments aligned
(defun long-function-name (arg1
arg2
arg3)
(body))
;; Good - first arg on new line, aligned with function name
(defun long-function-name
(arg1 arg2 arg3)
(body))
…Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add jkitchin/knowhow/emacs-lisp@sha256:7a95f8f3a2eef135The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20251108.00b7c61, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_bgwyh5qyx5csr6ay)
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Versions
The registry has recorded 2 versions of this file, between Nov 6, 2025 and Nov 8, 2025, about one every 3 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20251108.00b7c61 latest | 2025-11-08 | 00b7c61 | 18,541 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20251106.3079452 | 2025-11-06 | 3079452 | 18,522 B | A | view |
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (18541 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
jkitchin/knowhow · 42 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-02 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_bgwyh5qyx5csr6ay GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=jkitchin/knowhow/emacs-lisp GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/7a95f8f3a2eef135db3d0e932c074d622ceaf15f3539f4a87eb236f757a5d315
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.