minmo

minmo is a (min)imal (mo)de-line with O(1) git and disk status via aggressive caching and tight semantics.

This package exists because I wasn't satisfied either with emacs defaults nor any of the more elaborate alternatives.

Unfortunately the builtin vc package tries much too hard to be compatible with obsolete version control systems no one uses, and as a result has poor performance and more limited functionality than if it consolidated on git. minmo addresses these problems:

1. auto-revert-check-vc-info calls git status on all open vc-enabled buffers, regardless of their display status: essentially O(N) cost. Even on modern hardware, there's a noticeable lag above about 100 open files. minmo uses various hooks and the minmo-git-cache-timer-interval to update git status only for visible buffers, e.g. when calling switch-to-buffer or find-file.

2. The vc-mode string reports a generic status designed before the existence of git: namely it doesn't report staged status. Moreover the status strings are clunky and difficult to change.

3. There's no native mechanics for detecting orphaned files - a file-visiting buffer without a corresponding file in the filesystem. minmo does this with another cache and timer interval, minmo-disk-cache-timer-interval.

Both timers can be disabled by setting those intervals to nil, if you want even better performance: I do this my 14 year-old laptop for battery life. Even without the timers disabled, the minmo mode-line-format only evaluates cached variables: there's no hidden filesystem reads. All I/O happens via hooks and timers.

install

(use-package minmo
  :vc (:url "https://git.bth.moi/bth/minmo" :rev :newest))

symbol semantics

minmo uses a unified symbol set for git and disk status on tty and pts:

status             u : a : git     : disk
--------------------------------------------
unmodified       : ◻ : . : nil     : nil
modified         : ◱ : * : warning : error
ignored/readonly : ◳ : _ : success : success
staged/orphan    : ◰ : + : link    : warning
untracked/buffer : ◲ : ! : error   : link

quadrant semantics:

left              ◱◰ : modified/staged    : indexed
right             ◳◲ : ignored/untracked  : unindexed
top               ◰◳ : staged/ignored     : ready
bottom            ◱◲ : modified/untracked : unready

After a while, you may find them intuitive. But all of this can be changed easily by redefining minmo-status-alist. Just copy the default and change strings and faces as you like.

screenshots

In my own theme, modus-vivendi, solaris-dark, and the kernal tty:

mode-line-format

minmo sets mode-line-format to provide:

• buffer-name
• git and disk status
• project-name
• git branch
• major-mode
• minor-mode selectively
• narrow indicator
• line:col
• total lines

But mode-line-format can easily be set as you wish, using the default as a starting point. The primary value here are the caching routines for getting git and disk status with good performance.

If you wanted an even more minimal mode-line, eval something like this:

(setq-default
 mode-line-format
 (list
  '(:eval (minmo-buffer-name))
  '(:eval (minmo-git-status))
  '(:eval (minmo-disk-status))
  ))

auto-revert-mode

global-auto-revert-mode can still be enabled, but I recommend the following when using minmo to avoid unnecesary polling:

(setopt auto-revert-check-vc-info nil
        auto-revert-use-notify t
        auto-revert-avoid-polling t)

caveats

• The goal here is maximum efficiency while preserving useful git and disk status across emulated and real terminals. I imagine anyone wanting this would also want to customize their mode-line, so this is less about a complete solution than a useful piece of it.

• Nongoals include icons and other eyecandy. If you want more features pick something like doom-modeline.

• Font: I've chosen some fairly esoteric unicode points so if they look wrong on your system it's probably your font. Pick a string that looks good on your machine.