Vertico, Marginalia, All-the-icons-completion, and Orderless

By Kristoffer Balintona | Published Feb 21, 2022 , last updated Feb 22, 2022 | 2809 words, 14 minutes

Table of Contents

Synopsis

I will be walking through my personal Emacs' minibuffer UI (which means packages like Selectrum, Ido, Helm, Vertico, and Ivy) configuration, which includes the following packages:

Marginalia — minibuffer annotations, i.e., auxiliary candidate information
All-the-icons-completion — all-the-icons icons for minibuffer candidates
Vertico — vertical minibuffer interface
Orderless — a flexible completion-style with multi-component matching

Note: I use straight.el for package management and general.el to set my keybindings. Both of these packages have integration with use-package which come in the form of the :straight and :general keywords, respectively.

Marginalia

The following is vertico with marginalia annotations right-aligned in the minibuffer.

Figure 1: Using helpful-variable — Figure 1: Using `helpful-variable`

Figure 2: Using find-file — Figure 2: Using `find-file`

Marginalia is painless to set up. Remember, I use general.el to set keybindings:

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(use-package marginalia
  :general
  (:keymaps 'minibuffer-local-map
   "M-A" 'marginalia-cycle)
  :custom
  (marginalia-max-relative-age 0)
  (marginalia-align 'right)
  :init
  (marginalia-mode))

All-the-icons-completion

Marginalia, Vertico, and Orderless have already received considerable exposure, but all-the-icons-completion has not.

Figure 3: Using find-file in a directory with subdirectories, python files, a .txt file, and an org file. You can see the icons in the far left. — Figure 3: Using `find-file` in a directory with subdirectories, python files, a .txt file, and an org file. You can see the icons in the far left.

All-the-icons-completion is also dead-simple to set up:

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(use-package all-the-icons-completion
  :after (marginalia all-the-icons)
  :hook (marginalia-mode . all-the-icons-completion-marginalia-setup)
  :init
  (all-the-icons-completion-mode))

Note: All-the-icons-completion depends on an already installed all-the-icons.

Vertico

Vertico is a minibuffer interface, that is, it changes the minibuffer looks and how you interact with it.

Basic

This is a very basic Vertico configuration.

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(use-package vertico
  :custom
  (vertico-count 13)                    ; Number of candidates to display
  (vertico-resize t)
  (vertico-cycle nil) ; Go from last to first candidate and first to last (cycle)?
  :config
  (vertico-mode))

Now we can add a few changes to the default keybindings (again, I use general.el to set keybindings):

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(use-package vertico
  :custom
  (vertico-count 13)                    ; Number of candidates to display
  (vertico-resize t)
  (vertico-cycle nil) ; Go from last to first candidate and first to last (cycle)?
  :general
  (:keymaps 'vertico-map
   "<tab>" #'vertico-insert  ; Insert selected candidate into text area
   "<escape>" #'minibuffer-keyboard-quit ; Close minibuffer
   ;; NOTE 2022-02-05: Cycle through candidate groups
   "C-M-n" #'vertico-next-group
   "C-M-p" #'vertico-previous-group)
  :config
  (vertico-mode))

Extensions

Vertico becomes much more interesting with its extensions. These extensions have to manually be cloned from the repo with a corresponding require invocation. However, with straight.el, we can do something like this to install and load them:

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(use-package vertico
  ;; Special recipe to load extensions conveniently
  :straight (vertico :files (:defaults "extensions/*")
                     :includes (vertico-indexed
                                vertico-flat
                                vertico-grid
                                vertico-mouse
                                vertico-quick
                                vertico-buffer
                                vertico-repeat
                                vertico-reverse
                                vertico-directory
                                vertico-multiform
                                vertico-unobtrusive
                                ))
  :general
  (:keymaps 'vertico-map
   "<tab>" #'vertico-insert    ; Choose selected candidate
   "<escape>" #'minibuffer-keyboard-quit ; Close minibuffer
   ;; NOTE 2022-02-05: Cycle through candidate groups
   "C-M-n" #'vertico-next-group
   "C-M-p" #'vertico-previous-group)
  :custom
  (vertico-count 13)                    ; Number of candidates to display
  (vertico-resize t)
  (vertico-cycle nil) ; Go from last to first candidate and first to last (cycle)?
  :config
  (vertico-mode))

With the extensions installed, we have a lot of room to set their variables to our liking. In particular, vertico-multiform is the most interesting and, in my opinion, useful. You can choose how the minibuffer appears, which is provided by Vertico’s extensions (see more here). The current options are

buffer — minibuffer treated as a normal, separate buffer,
Figure 4: Vertico-buffer UI (minibuffer now a separate window)
flat — a flat format (like ido),
Figure 5: Vertico-flat minibuffer UI
grid — a grid format,
Figure 6: Vertico-grid UI
reverse — moves the area in which you type above the candidates, like selectrum,
Figure 7: Vertico-reverse UI. Notice the text area is below the candidates. Moreover, the candidates are in reverse order.
unobtrusive — like the vertico-flat format, but only showing the selected candidate,
Figure 8: Vertico-unobtrusive UI (there are multiple files in this directory, only the current candidate is shown)
indexed — allows you “to select indexed candidates with prefix arguments”
Figure 9: Vertico-indexed UI

These formats each have a separate minor-mode which can be activated if you want to use that format singly. However, with vertico-multiform-mode as well as configuration of vertico-multiform-categories, vertico-multiform-commands, and keybinds, you can enable/disable multiple of these formats simultaneously:

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(vertico-multiform-mode)

Here are the extension variables I set in the :custom block of my use-package:

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(vertico-grid-separator "       ")
(vertico-grid-lookahead 50)
(vertico-buffer-display-action '(display-buffer-reuse-window)) ; Default
(vertico-multiform-categories                                  ; Choose a multiform
 '((file reverse)
   (consult-grep buffer)
   (consult-location)
   (imenu buffer)
   (library reverse indexed)
   (org-roam-node reverse indexed)
   (t reverse)
   ))
(vertico-multiform-commands
 '(("flyspell-correct-*" grid reverse)
   (org-refile grid reverse indexed)
   (consult-yank-pop indexed)
   (consult-flycheck)
   (consult-lsp-diagnostics)
   ))

Here are the vertico-multiform related keybinds I have in my :general block:

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(:keymaps 'vertico-map
 ;; Toggle Vertico multiforms in active minibuffer
 "C-i" #'vertico-quick-insert
 "C-o" #'vertico-quick-exit
 "M-G" #'vertico-multiform-grid
 "M-F" #'vertico-multiform-flat
 "M-R" #'vertico-multiform-reverse
 "M-U" #'vertico-multiform-unobtrusive)

These are rarely used, but can be handy.

Finally, the other Vertico extensions I configure are vertico-repeat and vertico-directory. I add the following keybinds:

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(:keymaps '(normal insert visual motion)
 "M-." #'vertico-repeat) ; Perfectly return to the state of the last Vertico minibuffer usage
(:keymaps 'vertico-map
 ;; Vertico-directory which makes typing file paths in the minibuffer
 ;; more convenient. Use it to get a sense of what these do
 "<backspace>" #'vertico-directory-delete-char
 "C-w" #'vertico-directory-delete-word
 "C-<backspace>" #'vertico-directory-delete-word
 "RET" #'vertico-directory-enter)

Additionally, we need to add the following hook for vertico-repeat:

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:hook (minibuffer-setup . vertico-repeat-save) ; Make sure vertico state is saved for `vertico-repeat'

Vertico extension commands

If you’d like, you can set up a toggle between two multiforms in the minibuffer. For instance, the following function definition with a corresponding keybind in vertico-map toggles between vertico-flat-mode and vertico-reverse-mode:

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(defun kb/vertico-multiform-flat-toggle ()
  "Toggle between flat and reverse."
  (interactive)
  (vertico-multiform--display-toggle 'vertico-flat-mode)
  (if vertico-flat-mode
      (vertico-multiform--temporary-mode 'vertico-reverse-mode -1)
    (vertico-multiform--temporary-mode 'vertico-reverse-mode 1)))

The following function uses vertico-quick-jump (like avy but for minibuffer candidates) to embark-act on a candidate without having to first hover over the candidate:

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(defun kb/vertico-quick-embark (&optional arg)
  "Embark on candidate using quick keys."
  (interactive)
  (when (vertico-quick-jump)
    (embark-act arg)))

Niceties

Finally, I add a few niceties.

The following prefixes (i.e. in the left fringe) and arrow character on the currently selected candidate¹:

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;; Prefix the current candidate with “» ”. From
;; https://github.com/minad/vertico/wiki#prefix-current-candidate-with-arrow
(advice-add #'vertico--format-candidate :around
                                        (lambda (orig cand prefix suffix index _start)
                                          (setq cand (funcall orig cand prefix suffix index _start))
                                          (concat
                                           (if (= vertico--index index)
                                               (propertize "» " 'face 'vertico-current)
                                             "  ")
                                           cand)))

When using a command for selecting a file in the minibuffer, the following fixes the path so the path you select doesn’t have prepended junk left behind²:

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:hook (rfn-eshadow-update-overlay . vertico-directory-tidy) ; Correct file path when changed

Figure 10: Using find-file and going from a subdirectory in $HOME to the distant /tmp/ directory. Notice that the file-path is “cleaned up.” — Figure 10: Using `find-file` and going from a subdirectory in `$HOME` to the distant `/tmp/` directory. Notice that the file-path is “cleaned up.”

Finally, the following makes working with remote files via tramp easier.

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;; Workaround for problem with `tramp' hostname completions. This overrides
;; the completion style specifically for remote files! See
;; https://github.com/minad/vertico#tramp-hostname-completion
(defun kb/basic-remote-try-completion (string table pred point)
  (and (vertico--remote-p string)
       (completion-basic-try-completion string table pred point)))
(defun kb/basic-remote-all-completions (string table pred point)
  (and (vertico--remote-p string)
       (completion-basic-all-completions string table pred point)))
(add-to-list 'completion-styles-alist
             '(basic-remote           ; Name of `completion-style'
               kb/basic-remote-try-completion kb/basic-remote-all-completions nil))

End product

In the end, we have this³:

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(use-package vertico
  :demand t                             ; Otherwise won't get loaded immediately
  :straight (vertico :files (:defaults "extensions/*") ; Special recipe to load extensions conveniently
                     :includes (vertico-indexed
                                vertico-flat
                                vertico-grid
                                vertico-mouse
                                vertico-quick
                                vertico-buffer
                                vertico-repeat
                                vertico-reverse
                                vertico-directory
                                vertico-multiform
                                vertico-unobtrusive
                                ))
  :general
  (:keymaps '(normal insert visual motion)
   "M-." #'vertico-repeat
   )
  (:keymaps 'vertico-map
   "<tab>" #'vertico-insert ; Set manually otherwise setting `vertico-quick-insert' overrides this
   "<escape>" #'minibuffer-keyboard-quit
   "?" #'minibuffer-completion-help
   "C-M-n" #'vertico-next-group
   "C-M-p" #'vertico-previous-group
   ;; Multiform toggles
   "<backspace>" #'vertico-directory-delete-char
   "C-w" #'vertico-directory-delete-word
   "C-<backspace>" #'vertico-directory-delete-word
   "RET" #'vertico-directory-enter
   "C-i" #'vertico-quick-insert
   "C-o" #'vertico-quick-exit
   "M-o" #'kb/vertico-quick-embark
   "M-G" #'vertico-multiform-grid
   "M-F" #'vertico-multiform-flat
   "M-R" #'vertico-multiform-reverse
   "M-U" #'vertico-multiform-unobtrusive
   "C-l" #'kb/vertico-multiform-flat-toggle
   )
  :hook ((rfn-eshadow-update-overlay . vertico-directory-tidy) ; Clean up file path when typing
         (minibuffer-setup . vertico-repeat-save) ; Make sure vertico state is saved
         )
  :custom
  (vertico-count 13)
  (vertico-resize t)
  (vertico-cycle nil)
  ;; Extensions
  (vertico-grid-separator "       ")
  (vertico-grid-lookahead 50)
  (vertico-buffer-display-action '(display-buffer-reuse-window))
  (vertico-multiform-categories
   '((file reverse)
     (consult-grep buffer)
     (consult-location)
     (imenu buffer)
     (library reverse indexed)
     (org-roam-node reverse indexed)
     (t reverse)
     ))
  (vertico-multiform-commands
   '(("flyspell-correct-*" grid reverse)
     (org-refile grid reverse indexed)
     (consult-yank-pop indexed)
     (consult-flycheck)
     (consult-lsp-diagnostics)
     ))
  :init
  (defun kb/vertico-multiform-flat-toggle ()
    "Toggle between flat and reverse."
    (interactive)
    (vertico-multiform--display-toggle 'vertico-flat-mode)
    (if vertico-flat-mode
        (vertico-multiform--temporary-mode 'vertico-reverse-mode -1)
      (vertico-multiform--temporary-mode 'vertico-reverse-mode 1)))
  (defun kb/vertico-quick-embark (&optional arg)
    "Embark on candidate using quick keys."
    (interactive)
    (when (vertico-quick-jump)
      (embark-act arg)))

  ;; Workaround for problem with `tramp' hostname completions. This overrides
  ;; the completion style specifically for remote files! See
  ;; https://github.com/minad/vertico#tramp-hostname-completion
  (defun kb/basic-remote-try-completion (string table pred point)
    (and (vertico--remote-p string)
         (completion-basic-try-completion string table pred point)))
  (defun kb/basic-remote-all-completions (string table pred point)
    (and (vertico--remote-p string)
         (completion-basic-all-completions string table pred point)))
  (add-to-list 'completion-styles-alist
               '(basic-remote           ; Name of `completion-style'
                 kb/basic-remote-try-completion kb/basic-remote-all-completions nil))
  :config
  (vertico-mode)
  ;; Extensions
  (vertico-multiform-mode)

  ;; Prefix the current candidate with “» ”. From
  ;; https://github.com/minad/vertico/wiki#prefix-current-candidate-with-arrow
  (advice-add #'vertico--format-candidate :around
                                          (lambda (orig cand prefix suffix index _start)
                                            (setq cand (funcall orig cand prefix suffix index _start))
                                            (concat
                                             (if (= vertico--index index)
                                                 (propertize "» " 'face 'vertico-current)
                                               "  ")
                                             cand)))
  )

Orderless

Orderless is an alternative and powerful completion style, that is, it is an alternative to Emacs’s basic candidate-filtering capacities.

Basic

To use orderless you simply need the following.

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(use-package orderless
  :custom
  (completion-styles '(orderless))      ; Use orderless
  (completion-category-defaults nil)    ; I want to be in control!
  (completion-category-overrides
   '((file (styles basic-remote ; For `tramp' hostname completion with `vertico'
                   orderless)))))

However, we want to be more interesting! The following configures the matching styles that orderless uses. A matching style is a criterion for what is a valid candidate (a description of what each matching style does can be found in Orderless’s readme):

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:custom
(orderless-matching-styles
 '(orderless-literal
   orderless-prefixes
   orderless-initialism
   orderless-regexp
   ;; orderless-flex                       ; Basically fuzzy finding
   ;; orderless-strict-leading-initialism
   ;; orderless-strict-initialism
   ;; orderless-strict-full-initialism
   ;; orderless-without-literal          ; Recommended for dispatches instead
   ))

Style dispatchers

Figure 11: A first component of “lm” using the prot-orderless-strict-initialism-dispatcher style dispatcher, and a second component of “map” using the prot-orderless-literal-dispatcher. — Figure 11: A first component of “lm” using the `prot-orderless-strict-initialism-dispatcher` style dispatcher, and a second component of “map” using the `prot-orderless-literal-dispatcher`.

Orderless becomes much more powerful when using its style dispatchers. A description of style dispatches can be found here. Essentially, you can choose which matching style is used for a particular orderless component. Thus, one component can use the orderless-initialism matching style while the next can use the orderless-literal matching style, and the result will be candidates which match both styles:

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;; The following is taken directly from Protesilaos's Emacs configuration, with
;; very minor changes. See
;; https://gitlab.com/protesilaos/dotfiles/-/blob/master/emacs/.emacs.d/prot-emacs.el
:custom
(orderless-style-dispatchers
 '(prot-orderless-literal-dispatcher           ; = suffix for literal
   prot-orderless-strict-initialism-dispatcher ; , suffix for initialism
   prot-orderless-flex-dispatcher              ; . suffix for flex
   ))
:init
(defun orderless--strict-*-initialism (component &optional anchored)
  "Match a COMPONENT as a strict initialism, optionally ANCHORED.
The characters in COMPONENT must occur in the candidate in that
order at the beginning of subsequent words comprised of letters.
Only non-letters can be in between the words that start with the
initials.

If ANCHORED is `start' require that the first initial appear in
the first word of the candidate.  If ANCHORED is `both' require
that the first and last initials appear in the first and last
words of the candidate, respectively."
  (orderless--separated-by
      '(seq (zero-or-more alpha) word-end (zero-or-more (not alpha)))
    (cl-loop for char across component collect `(seq word-start ,char))
    (when anchored '(seq (group buffer-start) (zero-or-more (not alpha))))
    (when (eq anchored 'both)
      '(seq (zero-or-more alpha) word-end (zero-or-more (not alpha)) eol))))

(defun orderless-strict-initialism (component)
  "Match a COMPONENT as a strict initialism.
This means the characters in COMPONENT must occur in the
candidate in that order at the beginning of subsequent words
comprised of letters.  Only non-letters can be in between the
words that start with the initials."
  (orderless--strict-*-initialism component))

(defun prot-orderless-literal-dispatcher (pattern _index _total)
  "Literal style dispatcher using the equals sign as a suffix.
It matches PATTERN _INDEX and _TOTAL according to how Orderless
parses its input."
  (when (string-suffix-p "=" pattern)
    `(orderless-literal . ,(substring pattern 0 -1))))

(defun prot-orderless-strict-initialism-dispatcher (pattern _index _total)
  "Leading initialism  dispatcher using the comma suffix.
It matches PATTERN _INDEX and _TOTAL according to how Orderless
parses its input."
  (when (string-suffix-p "," pattern)
    `(orderless-strict-initialism . ,(substring pattern 0 -1))))

(defun prot-orderless-flex-dispatcher (pattern _index _total)
  "Flex  dispatcher using the tilde suffix.
It matches PATTERN _INDEX and _TOTAL according to how Orderless
parses its input."
  (when (string-suffix-p "." pattern)
    `(orderless-flex . ,(substring pattern 0 -1))))

Finally, rather than using the default “+ “ to separate components, I use a space instead:

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:custom
(orderless-component-separator 'orderless-escapable-split-on-space) ; Use backslash for literal space

End product

The end result is this⁴:

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(use-package orderless
  :custom
  (completion-styles '(orderless))
  (completion-category-defaults nil)    ; I want to be in control!
  (completion-category-overrides
   '((file (styles basic-remote ; For `tramp' hostname completion with `vertico'
                   orderless
                   ))
     ))

  (orderless-component-separator 'orderless-escapable-split-on-space)
  (orderless-matching-styles
   '(orderless-literal
     orderless-prefixes
     orderless-initialism
     orderless-regexp
     ;; orderless-flex
     ;; orderless-strict-leading-initialism
     ;; orderless-strict-initialism
     ;; orderless-strict-full-initialism
     ;; orderless-without-literal          ; Recommended for dispatches instead
     ))
  (orderless-style-dispatchers
   '(prot-orderless-literal-dispatcher
     prot-orderless-strict-initialism-dispatcher
     prot-orderless-flex-dispatcher
     ))
  :init
  (defun orderless--strict-*-initialism (component &optional anchored)
    "Match a COMPONENT as a strict initialism, optionally ANCHORED.
The characters in COMPONENT must occur in the candidate in that
order at the beginning of subsequent words comprised of letters.
Only non-letters can be in between the words that start with the
initials.

If ANCHORED is `start' require that the first initial appear in
the first word of the candidate.  If ANCHORED is `both' require
that the first and last initials appear in the first and last
words of the candidate, respectively."
    (orderless--separated-by
        '(seq (zero-or-more alpha) word-end (zero-or-more (not alpha)))
      (cl-loop for char across component collect `(seq word-start ,char))
      (when anchored '(seq (group buffer-start) (zero-or-more (not alpha))))
      (when (eq anchored 'both)
        '(seq (zero-or-more alpha) word-end (zero-or-more (not alpha)) eol))))

  (defun orderless-strict-initialism (component)
    "Match a COMPONENT as a strict initialism.
This means the characters in COMPONENT must occur in the
candidate in that order at the beginning of subsequent words
comprised of letters.  Only non-letters can be in between the
words that start with the initials."
    (orderless--strict-*-initialism component))

  (defun prot-orderless-literal-dispatcher (pattern _index _total)
    "Literal style dispatcher using the equals sign as a suffix.
It matches PATTERN _INDEX and _TOTAL according to how Orderless
parses its input."
    (when (string-suffix-p "=" pattern)
      `(orderless-literal . ,(substring pattern 0 -1))))

  (defun prot-orderless-strict-initialism-dispatcher (pattern _index _total)
    "Leading initialism  dispatcher using the comma suffix.
It matches PATTERN _INDEX and _TOTAL according to how Orderless
parses its input."
    (when (string-suffix-p "," pattern)
      `(orderless-strict-initialism . ,(substring pattern 0 -1))))

  (defun prot-orderless-flex-dispatcher (pattern _index _total)
    "Flex  dispatcher using the tilde suffix.
It matches PATTERN _INDEX and _TOTAL according to how Orderless
parses its input."
    (when (string-suffix-p "." pattern)
      `(orderless-flex . ,(substring pattern 0 -1))))
  )

Changelog

February 22, 2022 Added demonstrative images and a GIF. Added section on all-the-icons-completion.

This does add width to the left side of the minibuffer, which may interfere with your aesthetic-related configurations of other packages. ↩︎
This relies on the vertico-directory extension. ↩︎
This is a direct copy and paste from my configuration file. There are slight differences in comments compared to the code snippets above. ↩︎
Again, taken verbatim from my Emacs configuration, with fewer useful comments. ↩︎

Synopsis

Marginalia

All-the-icons-completion

Vertico

Basic

Extensions

Vertico extension commands

Niceties

End product

Orderless

Basic

Style dispatchers

End product

Changelog

Text Completion and Minibuffer UI series