Add Emacs Channel

Adds Emacs support via a local HTTP bridge. Works with Doom Emacs, Spacemacs, and vanilla Emacs 27.1+.

What you can do with this

• Ask while coding — open the chat buffer (C-c n c / SPC N c), ask about a function or error without leaving Emacs
• Code review — select a region and send it with nanoclaw-org-send; the response appears as a child heading inline in your org file
• Meeting notes — send an org agenda entry; get a summary or action item list back as a child node
• Draft writing — send org prose; receive revisions or continuations in place
• Research capture — ask a question directly in your org notes; the answer lands exactly where you need it

Install

NanoClaw doesn't ship channels in trunk. This skill copies the Emacs adapter and the Lisp client in from the channels branch. Native HTTP bridge — no Chat SDK, no adapter package.

Pre-flight (idempotent)

Skip to Enable if all of these are already in place:

• src/channels/emacs.ts exists
• src/channels/emacs.test.ts exists
• src/channels/emacs-registration.test.ts exists
• emacs/nanoclaw.el exists
• src/channels/index.ts contains import './emacs.js';

Otherwise continue. Every step below is safe to re-run.

1. Fetch the channels branch

git fetch origin channels

2. Copy the adapter and Lisp client

mkdir -p emacs
git show origin/channels:src/channels/emacs.ts                    > src/channels/emacs.ts
git show origin/channels:src/channels/emacs.test.ts              > src/channels/emacs.test.ts
git show origin/channels:src/channels/emacs-registration.test.ts > src/channels/emacs-registration.test.ts
git show origin/channels:emacs/nanoclaw.el                        > emacs/nanoclaw.el

3. Append the self-registration import

Append to src/channels/index.ts (skip if the line is already present):

import './emacs.js';

4. Build and validate

pnpm run build
pnpm exec vitest run src/channels/emacs-registration.test.ts

Both must be clean before proceeding. emacs-registration.test.ts is the one integration test: it imports the real channel barrel and asserts the registry contains emacs. It goes red if the import './emacs.js'; line is deleted or drifts, or if the barrel fails to evaluate (so the channel genuinely would not register). The adapter uses only Node builtins (http), so there is no npm dependency to guard for this channel.

End-to-end message delivery from a real Emacs buffer is verified manually once the service is running — see Verify and Troubleshooting.

Enable

The adapter is gated by EMACS_ENABLED so the HTTP port isn't opened on hosts that aren't running Emacs. Add to .env:

EMACS_ENABLED=true
EMACS_CHANNEL_PORT=8766       # optional — change only if 8766 is taken
EMACS_AUTH_TOKEN=             # optional — set to a random string to lock the endpoint
EMACS_PLATFORM_ID=default     # optional — only change if you want a non-default chat id

Generate an auth token (recommended even on single-user machines — prevents other local processes from poking the endpoint):

node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(16).toString('hex'))"

Wire the channel

Emacs is a single-user, single-chat channel. One host = one messaging group with platform_id = "default".

If this is your first agent group

Run /init-first-agent — pick Emacs as the channel, use any short handle as the "user id" (e.g. your OS username), and the skill will create the agent group, wire the channel, and write a welcome message that the agent delivers back to your Emacs buffer.

Otherwise — wire to an existing agent group

Run the register step directly. The EMACS_PLATFORM_ID (default default) becomes the messaging group's platform id:

pnpm exec tsx setup/index.ts --step register -- \
  --platform-id "default" --name "Emacs" \
  --folder "<existing-folder>" --channel "emacs" \
  --session-mode "agent-shared" \
  --assistant-name "<existing-assistant-name>"

agent-shared puts Emacs messages in the same session as any other channel wired to the same agent group — so a conversation you started in Telegram continues in Emacs. Use shared to keep an independent Emacs thread with the same workspace, or a new --folder for a dedicated Emacs-only agent.

Configure Emacs

nanoclaw.el needs only Emacs 27.1+ builtins (url, json, org) — no package manager.

AskUserQuestion: Which Emacs distribution are you using?

• Doom Emacs — config.el with map! keybindings
• Spacemacs — dotspacemacs/user-config in ~/.spacemacs
• Vanilla Emacs / other — init.el with global-set-key

Doom Emacs — add to ~/.config/doom/config.el (or ~/.doom.d/config.el):

;; NanoClaw — personal AI assistant channel
(load (expand-file-name "~/src/nanoclaw/emacs/nanoclaw.el"))

(map! :leader
      :prefix ("N" . "NanoClaw")
      :desc "Chat buffer"  "c" #'nanoclaw-chat
      :desc "Send org"     "o" #'nanoclaw-org-send)

Reload: M-x doom/reload

Spacemacs — add to dotspacemacs/user-config in ~/.spacemacs:

;; NanoClaw — personal AI assistant channel
(load-file "~/src/nanoclaw/emacs/nanoclaw.el")

(spacemacs/set-leader-keys "aNc" #'nanoclaw-chat)
(spacemacs/set-leader-keys "aNo" #'nanoclaw-org-send)

Reload: M-x dotspacemacs/sync-configuration-layers or restart Emacs.

Vanilla Emacs — add to ~/.emacs.d/init.el:

;; NanoClaw — personal AI assistant channel
(load-file "~/src/nanoclaw/emacs/nanoclaw.el")

(global-set-key (kbd "C-c n c") #'nanoclaw-chat)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c n o") #'nanoclaw-org-send)

Reload: M-x eval-buffer or restart Emacs.

Replace ~/src/nanoclaw/emacs/nanoclaw.el with your actual NanoClaw checkout path.

If EMACS_AUTH_TOKEN is set, also add (any distribution):

(setq nanoclaw-auth-token "<your-token>")

If you changed EMACS_CHANNEL_PORT from the default:

(setq nanoclaw-port <your-port>)

Restart NanoClaw

Run from your NanoClaw project root:

pnpm run build
source setup/lib/install-slug.sh
launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/$(launchd_label)   # macOS
# systemctl --user restart $(systemd_unit)             # Linux

Verify

HTTP endpoint

curl -s http://localhost:8766/api/messages?since=0

Expected: {"messages":[]}. With an auth token:

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" http://localhost:8766/api/messages?since=0

From Emacs

Tell the user:

1. Open the chat buffer with your keybinding (SPC N c, SPC a N c, or C-c n c)
2. Type a message and press C-c C-c to send (RET inserts newlines)
3. A response should appear within a few seconds

For org-mode: open any .org file, position the cursor on a heading, and use SPC N o / SPC a N o / C-c n o

Log line

tail -f logs/nanoclaw.log should show Emacs channel listening at startup.

Channel Info

• type: emacs
• terminology: Single local buffer. There are no "groups" or separate chats — one host = one chat, addressed by a platform_id string (default default).
• how-to-find-id: The platform id is whatever you set in EMACS_PLATFORM_ID (default default). User handles are arbitrary; your OS username or first name is fine (e.g. emacs:<username>).
• supports-threads: no
• typical-use: Single developer talking to the assistant from within Emacs, alongside whatever other channel they use (Slack, Telegram, Discord).
• default-isolation: Same agent group as the primary DM, with session-mode = agent-shared so a conversation started elsewhere continues in Emacs. Pick a separate folder only if you specifically want an Emacs-only persona.

Features

• Interactive chat buffer (nanoclaw-chat) with markdown → org-mode rendering
• Org integration (nanoclaw-org-send) — sends the current subtree or region; reply lands as a child heading
• Optional bearer-token auth for the local endpoint
• Single-user: the adapter exposes exactly one messaging group per host

Not applicable (design): multi-user channels, threads, cold DM initiation, typing indicators, attachments.

Troubleshooting

Port already in use

Error: listen EADDRINUSE: address already in use :::8766

Either a stale NanoClaw is running or another app has the port. Kill stale process or change port:

lsof -ti :8766 | xargs kill -9
# or set EMACS_CHANNEL_PORT in .env and mirror in Emacs config (nanoclaw-port)

Adapter not starting

If grep "Emacs channel listening" logs/nanoclaw.log returns nothing, check that EMACS_ENABLED=true is in .env and that the adapter import is present:

grep -q '^EMACS_ENABLED=true' .env && echo "enabled" || echo "not enabled"
grep -q "import './emacs.js'" src/channels/index.ts && echo "imported" || echo "not imported"

No response from agent

1. NanoClaw running: launchctl list | grep "$(. setup/lib/install-slug.sh && launchd_label)" (macOS) / systemctl --user status "$(. setup/lib/install-slug.sh && systemd_unit)" (Linux)
2. Messaging group wired: pnpm exec tsx scripts/q.ts data/v2.db "SELECT mg.platform_id, ag.folder FROM messaging_groups mg JOIN messaging_group_agents mga ON mg.id = mga.messaging_group_id JOIN agent_groups ag ON ag.id = mga.agent_group_id WHERE mg.channel_type = 'emacs'"
3. Logs show inbound: grep 'channel_type=emacs\|Emacs' logs/nanoclaw.log | tail -20

If no messaging group row exists, run the register command above.

Auth token mismatch (401 Unauthorized)

M-x describe-variable RET nanoclaw-auth-token RET

Must match EMACS_AUTH_TOKEN in .env. If you didn't set one server-side, clear it in Emacs too:

(setq nanoclaw-auth-token nil)

nanoclaw.el not loading

ls ~/src/nanoclaw/emacs/nanoclaw.el

If NanoClaw is cloned elsewhere, update the load/load-file path in your Emacs config.

Agent Formatting

The Emacs bridge converts markdown → org-mode automatically. Agents should output standard markdown, not org-mode syntax:

If an agent outputs org-mode directly, markers get double-converted and render incorrectly.

Removal

See REMOVE.md to uninstall this channel.