How can I set multiple arbitrary leader keys?

[jgarte]

Hi,

How can I set multiple arbitrary leader keys?

For example, helix uses the key g (QWERTY layout) as a leader key in addition to the SPC key.

Leader g

Leader SPC

Leader z

[adimit]

My current approach is to use transient, and set up key bindings in meow's normal mode to call these different transients.

Here's a transient somewhat close to Helix's g:

(transient-define-prefix dispatch-goto-menu () "This isn't documentation"
  [["Move"
    ("e" "bottom" end-of-buffer)
    ("g" "top" beginning-of-buffer)
    ("d" "definition (xref)" xref-find-definitions)
    ("h" "beginning of line" beginning-of-line)
    ("l" "end of line" end-of-line)
    ("s" "first non-blank-line" beginning-of-line-text)]
   ["Buffer"
    ("n" "next buffer" next-buffer)
    ("p" "previous buffer" previous-buffer)
    ("b" "bury buffer" bury-buffer)
    ("u" "unbury buffer" unbury-buffer)
    "Avy"
    ("c" "goto char" avy-goto-char)
    ("L" "got line" avy-goto-line)]
   ["LSP"
    ("r" "references" lsp-ui-peek-find-references)
    "Files"
    ("f" "file at point" find-file-at-point)
    ("a" "last file" pop-global-mark)]])

Just bind it like this:

(meow-normal-define-key
  '("g" . dispatch-goto-menu))

[jgarte]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing that.

[zetashift]

I actually do it like this(also a Helix user):

(defvar-keymap find-things-keymap
  :doc "find some things, cause I forget."
  :prefix 'file-things
  "b" #'consult-dir
  "f" #'consult-fd
  "r" #'recentf
  "s" #'save-buffer
  "t" #'treemacs
  "g" #'consult-ripgrep
  "p" #'open-emacs-init-file
  "y" #'copy-file-path
  "w" #'consult-dir)

And then use it in meow like this:

  (meow-leader-define-key
 ;; SPC j/k will run the original command in MOTION state.
 '("j" . "H-j")
 '("k" . "H-k")

 (cons "f" find-things-keymap)
 (cons "c" code-keymap)
 ...etc

[adimit]

Do you get a menu for the keybinds then, too? (Like in Helix.) Maybe via which-key?

[zetashift]

Yes, I don't believe it uses which-key, tho I still use which-key for non-meow keybindings, but here's what I get when I press g :

[adimit]

Nice. @jgarte This would solve your problem, too. The trade-off is, that while making a new keymap is more lightweight, transient allows you to sort actions by topic (which-key just lists them alphabetically.) which-key typically tries to stay out of your way, too, whereas transient pops up immediately (like in Helix).

[willbush]

@zetashift is it easy to jump between meow and helix?

[zetashift]

@willbush depends if you are a heavy Emacs user. A lot of stuff just isn't available in helix.

It's not bad at all though.

[brabalan]

Thank you for this discussion, it was most helpful to factorize keybindings between meow-leader and plain emacs. I had to go through the transient option because the keymap one requires the keymap to be defined when bound, and it’s not necessarily the case (unless I load everything before meow).