Emacs on Vikix & StumpWM

Here is the truth about my desktop: the window manager and the editor are both Lisp, and they can talk to each other. Vikix is my Void Linux setup built around StumpWM, which is written in Common Lisp. Emacs is the editor. This page is about where they meet.

My Emacs config (vukini/emacs-void, toured in My Emacs Config Tour) works on any machine. On Vikix it picks up extra pieces. Everything here comes from those two repos.

The core idea, in plain words

There are two owners of files:

Where	Whose	What
`~/.emacs.d`	a git clone of emacs-void	the config, `config.org`; `vikix update` pulls it
`~/.local/share/vikix/emacs`	Vikix’s	`vikix-theme.el`, `vikix-ai.el`, `vikix-notes.el`, `vikix-python.el` (and more), a link into the Vikix checkout

(From Vikix’s editors guide.)

The Vikix installer step 45-editors clones emacs-void into ~/.emacs.d and links config/emacs into place. My config then loads each Vikix file only if it is there:

(load (expand-file-name "~/.local/share/vikix/emacs/vikix-notes") t t)

The two ts mean “no error if missing, no message”. So on a plain machine nothing happens, and on Vikix the extras switch on. That one pattern is the whole integration.

Starting Emacs: one daemon, many frames

Emacs runs as a daemon from login, so frames open instantly with emacsclient. StumpWM’s command registry binds it to Super+x:

(define-vikix-command emacs "Emacs: a new window"
  :run "exec emacsclient -c -a ''" :key "s-x")

registry.lisp

-a '' means “start a server if there isn’t one”. Super+q closes the window, and the snippet at the end of my init.el remembers that frame’s layout so the next Super+x brings it back. Vikix’s built-in guide opens in Emacs’s Info reader the same way, and Esploro, the Vikix file explorer, is an Emacs frame too (Super+e).

Talking to the window manager: SLIME on port 4004

This is the part I love. StumpWM is built with Swank inside it, and Vikix starts the Swank server on 127.0.0.1 port 4004, leaving 4005 for ordinary SLIME sessions. From Emacs:

M-x slime-connect RET 127.0.0.1 RET 4004

and you are at a REPL inside the running window manager. Redefine a command, rebind a key, try a colour, and it takes effect immediately, no restart. Because Swank runs whatever it is sent, Vikix protects the connection with a shared-secret file that SLIME sends by itself (swank.lisp). My config’s SLIME section (sbcl, slime-fancy, local HyperSpec) is the same one I use for normal Common Lisp, so editing the WM feels like editing any Lisp program. StumpWM’s rules even say a rule defined twice (a reload, or C-x C-e in Emacs) simply replaces itself.

Theme follows the desktop

vikix theme NAME changes the whole desktop, and vikix-theme.el makes a running Emacs change with it: Catppuccin for the default dark and light themes, Doom’s themes for gruvbox, nord and tokyo-night, and Modus Vivendi (which ships with Emacs) for high contrast. My config falls back to gruber-darker when Vikix isn’t there:

(unless (load (expand-file-name "~/.local/share/vikix/emacs/vikix-theme") t t)
  (use-package gruber-darker-theme
    :ensure t
    :config
    (load-theme 'gruber-darker t)))

config.org, Theme and frame appearance

Notes under C-c n

vikix-notes.el puts my Org notes in ~/Dropbox/notes under one prefix:

Key	Does
`C-c n a`	the agenda: this week, then every TODO
`C-c n t`	every TODO in the notes
`C-c n c`	a note into the inbox
`C-c n o`	open a notes file
`C-c n j`	today’s journal page
`C-c n f`	find or start a note (org-roam)
`C-c n i`	insert a link to another note
`C-c n l`	backlinks to this note
`C-c n g`	the notes graph in the browser (org-roam-ui, 127.0.0.1 only)

emacs-void installs org-roam and org-roam-ui deferred, so they load only when one of these keys first needs them. org-roam’s database lives in ~/.cache/vikix, not in Dropbox.

AI and agents

gptel is set up in my config with OpenAI and Perplexity. On Vikix, vikix-ai.el adds Claude and local models (Ollama) and makes the default whatever model Super+i uses (vikix ai use). C-c g opens a chat, C-c G the menu. For coding agents, C-c a opens agent-shell; on Vikix it starts my agent through vikix agent and C-c A runs it in a terminal:

(if (fboundp 'vikix-ai-agent)
    (progn
      (keymap-global-set "C-c a" #'vikix-ai-agent)
      (keymap-global-set "C-c A" #'vikix-ai-agent-terminal))
  (keymap-global-set "C-c a" #'agent-shell))

Keys come from the environment or Vikix’s secrets folder, never from the config.

Python as an IDE under C-c p

vikix-python.el finds the project’s .venv by itself for pyright, the REPL, pytest and ruff, and in Python buffers gives: C-c p t test, T test the file, P the whole project, r run, s the REPL, f format, F format on save, c check, v the venv, i the IDE layout, d docs, q quit.

Common misconceptions

“Vikix forks your Emacs config.” It doesn’t. It clones emacs-void as is, and the Vikix parts are separate files loaded only if present.
“Talking to the WM from Emacs is a gimmick.” It’s how I fix StumpWM: no restart, no lost windows.
“You need Vikix to use this config.” Without Vikix, every one of those load calls quietly does nothing.

Connections

My Emacs Config Tour, Emacs Notes.
Common Lisp, The i3 Window Manager, Linux.