{ "mode": "man", "parameter": "EMACSCLIENT", "section": "", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/EMACSCLIENT/json", "generated": "2026-10-22T12:59:10Z", "synopsis": "emacsclient [options] files ...", "sections": { "NAME": { "content": "emacsclient - tells a running Emacs to visit a file\n", "subsections": [] }, "SYNOPSIS": { "content": "emacsclient [options] files ...\n", "subsections": [] }, "DESCRIPTION": { "content": "This manual page documents briefly the emacsclient command. Full documentation is available\nin the GNU Info format; see below.\n\nemacsclient works in conjunction with the built-in Emacs server.\n\nYou can either call emacsclient directly or let other programs run it for you when necessary.\nOn GNU and Unix systems many programs consult the environment variable EDITOR (sometimes also\nVISUAL) to obtain the command used for editing. Thus, setting this environment variable to\n'emacsclient' will allow these programs to use an already running Emacs for editing. Other\noperating systems might have their own methods for defining the default editor.\n\nFor emacsclient to work, you need an already running Emacs with a server. Within Emacs, call\nthe functions \"server-start\" or \"server-mode\". (Your \".emacs\" file can do this automatically\nif you add either \"(server-start)\" or \"(server-mode 1)\" to it.)\n\nWhen you've finished editing the buffer, type \"C-x #\" (\"server-edit\"). This saves the file\nand sends a message back to the emacsclient program telling it to exit. The programs that\nuse EDITOR wait for the \"editor\" (actually, emacsclient) to exit. \"C-x #\" also checks for\nother pending external requests to edit various files, and selects the next such file.\n\nIf you set the variable \"server-window\" to a window or a frame, \"C-x #\" displays the server\nbuffer in that window or in that frame.\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "OPTIONS": { "content": "Most options follow the usual GNU command line syntax, with long options starting with two\ndashes (\"-\").\n\n+line[:column]\nGo to the specified line and column. A missing column is treated as column 1. This\noption applies only to the next file specified.\n", "subsections": [ { "name": "-a, --alternate-editor=COMMAND", "content": "If the Emacs server is not running, run the specified shell command instead. If the\nempty string is specified, run \"emacs --daemon\" to start Emacs in daemon mode, and try\nto connect to it.\n\nSee also the ALTERNATEEDITOR environment variable, over which this option takes\nprecedence.\n", "flag": "-a", "long": "--alternate-editor", "arg": "COMMAND" }, { "name": "-c, --create-frame", "content": "Create a new frame instead of trying to use the current Emacs frame.\n", "flag": "-c", "long": "--create-frame" }, { "name": "-r --reuse-frame", "content": "Reuse an existing frame if one exists, otherwise create a new frame.\n", "flag": "-r", "long": "--reuse-frame" }, { "name": "-F, --frame-parameters=ALIST", "content": "Set the parameters of a newly-created frame.\n", "flag": "-F", "long": "--frame-parameters", "arg": "ALIST" }, { "name": "-d, --display=DISPLAY", "content": "Tell the server to display the files on the given display.\n", "flag": "-d", "long": "--display", "arg": "DISPLAY" }, { "name": "-e, --eval", "content": "Do not visit files but instead evaluate the arguments as Emacs Lisp expressions.\n", "flag": "-e", "long": "--eval" }, { "name": "-f, --server-file=FILENAME", "content": "Use TCP configuration file FILENAME for communication. Relative filenames are rela‐\ntive to \"~/.emacs.d/server/\" or \"$XDGCONFIGHOME/emacs/server/\", and the default is\n\"server\".\n\nSee also the EMACSSERVERFILE environment variable, over which this option takes\nprecedence.\n", "flag": "-f", "long": "--server-file", "arg": "FILENAME" }, { "name": "-n, --no-wait", "content": "Return immediately without waiting for you to \"finish\" the buffer in Emacs. If com‐\nbined with --eval, this option is ignored.\n", "flag": "-n", "long": "--no-wait" }, { "name": "-w, --timeout=N", "content": "How long to wait, in seconds, for Emacs to respond before giving up. The default is\n0, which means to wait forever.\n", "flag": "-w", "long": "--timeout", "arg": "N" }, { "name": "--parent-id=ID", "content": "Open an emacsclient frame as a client frame in the parent X window with id ID.\n", "long": "--parent-id", "arg": "ID" }, { "name": "-q, --quiet", "content": "Do not let emacsclient display messages about waiting for Emacs or connecting to re‐\nmote server sockets.\n", "flag": "-q", "long": "--quiet" }, { "name": "-u, --suppress-output", "content": "Do not let emacsclient display results returned from the server. Mostly useful in\ncombination with --eval when the evaluation performed is for side-effect rather than\nresult.\n", "flag": "-u", "long": "--suppress-output" }, { "name": "-s, --socket-name=FILENAME", "content": "Use socket named FILENAME for communication. Relative filenames are relative to\n\"$XDGRUNTIMEDIR/emacs/\" or \"$TMPDIR/\".\n\nSee also the EMACSSOCKETNAME environment variable, over which this option takes\nprecedence.\n", "flag": "-s", "long": "--socket-name", "arg": "FILENAME" }, { "name": "-nw, -t, --tty", "content": "Open a new Emacs frame on the current terminal.\n", "flag": "-t", "long": "--tty" }, { "name": "-T, --tramp=PREFIX", "content": "Set PREFIX to add to filenames for Emacs to locate files on remote machines using\nTRAMP. This is mostly useful in combination with using the Emacs server on a remote\nhost (either using TCP with --server-file, or a socket forwarded over SSH).\n\nSee also the EMACSCLIENTTRAMP environment variable, over which this option takes\nprecedence.\n", "flag": "-T", "long": "--tramp", "arg": "PREFIX" }, { "name": "-V, --version", "content": "Print version information and exit.\n", "flag": "-V", "long": "--version" }, { "name": "-H, --help", "content": "Print this usage information message and exit.\n", "flag": "-H", "long": "--help" } ] }, "EXIT STATUS": { "content": "Normally, the exit status is 0. If emacsclient shuts down due to Emacs signaling an error,\nthe exit status is 1.\n", "subsections": [] }, "ENVIRONMENT": { "content": "ALTERNATEEDITOR\nIf the Emacs server is not running, run the shell command in this environment variable\ninstead. If set to the empty string, run \"emacs --daemon\" to start Emacs in daemon\nmode, and try to connect to it. Will be overridden by the --alternate-editor option,\nif present.\n\nEMACSCLIENTTRAMP\nA prefix to add to filenames, intended to allow Emacs to locate files on remote ma‐\nchines using TRAMP. Will be overridden by the --tramp option, if present.\n\nEMACSSERVERFILE\nLook in this file to discover where to find a TCP Emacs server. Relative filenames\nare relative to \"~/.emacs.d/server/\" or \"$XDGCONFIGHOME/emacs/server/\", and the de‐\nfault is \"server\". Will be overridden by the --server-file option, if present.\n\nEMACSSOCKETNAME\nThe filename of the socket to use for communication with the Emacs server. Relative\nfilenames are relative to \"$XDGRUNTIMEDIR/emacs/\" or \"$TMPDIR/\". Will be overridden\nby the --socket-name option, if present.\n", "subsections": [] }, "SEE ALSO": { "content": "The program is documented fully in Using Emacs as a Server available via the Info system.\n\nThe XDG environment variables are described in detail in the XDG Base Directory Specifica‐\ntion.\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "AUTHOR": { "content": "This manual page was originally written by Stephane Bortzmeyer , for\nthe Debian GNU/Linux system, but is not specific to that system.\n", "subsections": [] }, "COPYING": { "content": "This manual page is in the public domain.\n\n\nGNU Emacs 2023-12-23 EMACSCLIENT(1)", "subsections": [] } }, "summary": "emacsclient - tells a running Emacs to visit a file", "flags": [ { "flag": "-a", "long": "--alternate-editor", "arg": "COMMAND", "description": "If the Emacs server is not running, run the specified shell command instead. If the empty string is specified, run \"emacs --daemon\" to start Emacs in daemon mode, and try to connect to it. See also the ALTERNATEEDITOR environment variable, over which this option takes precedence." }, { "flag": "-c", "long": "--create-frame", "arg": null, "description": "Create a new frame instead of trying to use the current Emacs frame." }, { "flag": "-r", "long": "--reuse-frame", "arg": null, "description": "Reuse an existing frame if one exists, otherwise create a new frame." }, { "flag": "-F", "long": "--frame-parameters", "arg": "ALIST", "description": "Set the parameters of a newly-created frame." }, { "flag": "-d", "long": "--display", "arg": "DISPLAY", "description": "Tell the server to display the files on the given display." }, { "flag": "-e", "long": "--eval", "arg": null, "description": "Do not visit files but instead evaluate the arguments as Emacs Lisp expressions." }, { "flag": "-f", "long": "--server-file", "arg": "FILENAME", "description": "Use TCP configuration file FILENAME for communication. Relative filenames are rela‐ tive to \"~/.emacs.d/server/\" or \"$XDGCONFIGHOME/emacs/server/\", and the default is \"server\". See also the EMACSSERVERFILE environment variable, over which this option takes precedence." }, { "flag": "-n", "long": "--no-wait", "arg": null, "description": "Return immediately without waiting for you to \"finish\" the buffer in Emacs. If com‐ bined with --eval, this option is ignored." }, { "flag": "-w", "long": "--timeout", "arg": "N", "description": "How long to wait, in seconds, for Emacs to respond before giving up. The default is 0, which means to wait forever." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--parent-id", "arg": "ID", "description": "Open an emacsclient frame as a client frame in the parent X window with id ID." }, { "flag": "-q", "long": "--quiet", "arg": null, "description": "Do not let emacsclient display messages about waiting for Emacs or connecting to re‐ mote server sockets." }, { "flag": "-u", "long": "--suppress-output", "arg": null, "description": "Do not let emacsclient display results returned from the server. Mostly useful in combination with --eval when the evaluation performed is for side-effect rather than result." }, { "flag": "-s", "long": "--socket-name", "arg": "FILENAME", "description": "Use socket named FILENAME for communication. Relative filenames are relative to \"$XDGRUNTIMEDIR/emacs/\" or \"$TMPDIR/\". See also the EMACSSOCKETNAME environment variable, over which this option takes precedence." }, { "flag": "-t", "long": "--tty", "arg": null, "description": "Open a new Emacs frame on the current terminal." }, { "flag": "-T", "long": "--tramp", "arg": "PREFIX", "description": "Set PREFIX to add to filenames for Emacs to locate files on remote machines using TRAMP. This is mostly useful in combination with using the Emacs server on a remote host (either using TCP with --server-file, or a socket forwarded over SSH). See also the EMACSCLIENTTRAMP environment variable, over which this option takes precedence." }, { "flag": "-V", "long": "--version", "arg": null, "description": "Print version information and exit." }, { "flag": "-H", "long": "--help", "arg": null, "description": "Print this usage information message and exit." } ], "examples": [], "see_also": [], "tldr": { "source": "official", "description": "Open files in an existing Emacs server.", "examples": [ { "description": "Open a file in an existing Emacs server (using GUI if available)", "command": "emacsclient {{path/to/file}}" }, { "description": "Open a file in console mode (without an X window)", "command": "emacsclient {{-nw|--no-window-system}} {{path/to/file}}" }, { "description": "Open a file in a new Emacs window", "command": "emacsclient {{-c|--create-frame}} {{path/to/file}}" }, { "description": "Evaluate a command, printing the output to `stdout`, and then quit", "command": "emacsclient {{-e|--eval}} '({{command}})'" }, { "description": "Specify an alternative editor in case no Emacs server is running", "command": "emacsclient {{-a|--alternate-editor}} {{editor}} {{path/to/file}}" }, { "description": "Stop a running Emacs server and all its instances, asking for confirmation on unsaved files", "command": "emacsclient {{-e|--eval}} '(save-buffers-kill-emacs)'" } ] } }