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Agent skill

Edit In Emacs

by meain in meain/dotfiles

Open a draft in emacsclient (blocking) so the user can review or edit it before further action.

MITAuto-check passed

Install Edit In Emacs

skills CLI
$ npx skills add meain/dotfiles --skill edit-in-emacs -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install meain/dotfiles edit-in-emacs --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/meain/dotfiles.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/agents/.agents/skills/edit-in-emacs .claude/skills/edit-in-emacs && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
edit-in-emacs
GitHub stars
285
Token cost
~629 tokens
SKILL.md length
347 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
35
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Open a draft in emacsclient (blocking) so the user can review or edit it before further action.

  • Works in 4 steps: Write the draft to a temp file under… → Open the file with blocking emacsclient → After the Bash call returns, the edited… → …
  • SKILL.md covers Workflow and Notes
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Edit In Emacs is an agent skill from meain/dotfiles. Open a draft in emacsclient (blocking) so the user can review or edit it before further action. Triggers: /edit-in-emacs, 'open in emacs', 'open in emacsclient', 'let me edit', 'edit before submitting', 'open it in emacs and let me edit'

Its SKILL.md is about 630 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It works with Bash and Jira. The repository describes itself as: If there is a shell, there is a way! The licence is MIT.

Example prompts

  • “open in emacs”
  • “open in emacsclient”
  • “let me edit”
  • “/edit-in-emacs”

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Write the draft to a temp file under /tmp/.
  2. Open the file with blocking emacsclient
  3. After the Bash call returns, the edited file is on disk.
  4. Use the edited contents in the downstream action (jira create, gh pr create, commit, etc.). Do not re-prompt the user for the same…

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 3e336e2. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are bash).

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Edit In Emacs loads about 629 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 63 tokens; SKILL.md has 347 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~63
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~629

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from meain/dotfiles at commit 3e336e2, republished under its MIT licence (© meain). 347 words, ~629 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/edit-in-emacs/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
edit-in-emacs
description
Open a draft in emacsclient (blocking) so the user can review or edit it before further action. Triggers: /edit-in-emacs, 'open in emacs', 'open in emacsclient', 'let me edit', 'edit before submitting', 'open it in emacs and let me edit'
user_invocable
true

Edit in Emacs

Use this skill when the user wants to manually review or edit a draft (commit message, PR body, Jira description, prompt, etc.) before it is submitted or used downstream.

Workflow

  1. Write the draft to a temp file under /tmp/.

    • Pick a descriptive filename, e.g. /tmp/jira-<topic>.md, /tmp/pr-body.md, /tmp/commit-msg.txt.
    • If the draft has multiple structured parts (e.g. summary + body), separate them with a clear marker like a line SUMMARY: ... followed by ---, and tell the user about the convention.

  2. Open the file with blocking emacsclient:

    bash
    emacsclient /tmp/<file>
    • Do not use -n — blocking is the whole point. The Bash call returns only after the user does C-x # (server-edit) in Emacs.
    • Pass timeout: 600000 (10 min) on the Bash tool call so it does not abort while the user is editing.
    • Always use dangerouslyDisableSandbox: true — emacsclient connects to a Unix socket and the sandbox blocks it.

  3. After the Bash call returns, the edited file is on disk.

    • The harness usually emits a system-reminder showing the diff of any changes — use that if it is present.
    • If no diff was shown (e.g. user did not modify the file, or the change is large), Read the file to get the current contents.
    • If emacsclient runs as a background process, a system-reminder may show a mid-session diff before the user is done. Do NOT apply changes from that diff — wait for the background task completion notification, then Read the file for the final state.

  4. Use the edited contents in the downstream action (jira create, gh pr create, commit, etc.). Do not re-prompt the user for the same content; trust their edits.

Show full SKILL.md (79 more words)Show less

Notes

  • The user must have emacs --daemon (or a running GUI Emacs server) for emacsclient to attach. If emacsclient reports can't find socket, fall back to telling the user and offer $EDITOR instead.
  • Keep the temp file under /tmp/, never in the repo root.
  • If the user explicitly asks for a different editor, honour that and skip this skill.
  • The skill is for interactive editing of a draft, not for opening existing source files — for those, just Read them.

© meain, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in agents/.agents/skills/edit-in-emacs of meain/dotfiles.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 3e336e2

Compare with similar skills

Edit In Emacs next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Edit In Emacs compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Edit In Emacs this skillmeain/dotfiles285—~629Automated safety check: PassMIT
Opencli Site VerificationOWWZO/ai-agent189—~596Automated safety check: PassNone
Hook Development for Claude Code Pluginsanthropics/claude-plugins-official38k10 repos~4.1kAutomated safety check: NotesApache-2.0
Plugin Settings Patternanthropics/claude-plugins-official38k7 repos~3kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Mole Bug Patternstw93/Mole70k—~2kAutomated safety check: PassGPL-3.0
Neat-Freak Knowledge CloseoutKKKKhazix/khazix-skills21k—~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Works with

Questions about Edit In Emacs

What does Edit In Emacs do?

Open a draft in emacsclient (blocking) so the user can review or edit it before further action. Edit In Emacs is an agent skill from meain/dotfiles. Open a draft in emacsclient (blocking) so the user can review or edit it before further action.

How do I install Edit In Emacs in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add meain/dotfiles --skill edit-in-emacs -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (agents/.agents/skills/edit-in-emacs in meain/dotfiles) into .claude/skills/edit-in-emacs in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Edit In Emacs in Codex?

Run `npx skills add meain/dotfiles --skill edit-in-emacs -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (agents/.agents/skills/edit-in-emacs in meain/dotfiles) into .agents/skills/edit-in-emacs in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Edit In Emacs in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add meain/dotfiles --skill edit-in-emacs -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/edit-in-emacs, .gemini/skills/edit-in-emacs, .github/skills/edit-in-emacs and .opencode/skills/edit-in-emacs in your project.

What does Edit In Emacs need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Edit In Emacs is instructions for the agent only.

Does Edit In Emacs access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Edit In Emacs safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Edit In Emacs use?

Edit In Emacs is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Edit In Emacs use?

About 629 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.5k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Edit In Emacs?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Edit In Emacs: Opencli Site Verification (OWWZO/ai-agent, 189 stars), Hook Development for Claude Code Plugins (anthropics/claude-plugins-official, 38k stars), Plugin Settings Pattern (anthropics/claude-plugins-official, 38k stars) and Mole Bug Patterns (tw93/Mole, 70k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Edit In Emacs?

meain (a GitHub user) maintains it in meain/dotfiles, which has 285 GitHub stars. The repository holds 35 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 8, 2026.

Source: meain/dotfiles on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.