Claude Code IDE integration for Emacs

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Evolution of Editors and IDE Features

  • Many see Emacs and (Neo)vim not as laggards but as long‑time leaders in editor/IDE innovation; corporate IDEs often copy ideas from them.
  • Their high customizability and composability are viewed as a strong match for AI/agent tooling compared with more closed IDEs.

Claude Code and Other Integrations Across Editors

  • Neovim already has several Claude Code plugins; early ones mostly just embed the TUI, while newer ones expose open buffers, selections and diffs via MCP.
  • Some users prefer simply running Claude Code in a terminal/tmux pane, citing simplicity; others want deeper “pair programmer” behavior (motions, macros, search/replace).
  • There’s interest in similar integrations for Helix and Zed; Zed already has an unofficial Claude Code extension.

Emacs‑Specific AI Tooling and Workflows

  • Besides this package, there are multiple Emacs Claude/agent integrations (terminal wrappers, full IDE bridges, and MCP‑based setups).
  • gptel is repeatedly praised as a powerful, editor‑agnostic LLM front‑end; some combine it with MCP servers and Claude (or other models, including local ones).
  • Advanced workflows include: using Claude Code for refactors, gptel for higher‑level reasoning, magit for supervising AI changes, and org‑mode for persistent chat/knowledge capture.

Protocols, Standards, and Openness

  • People ask for an “LSP for agents”; MCP is seen as an emerging candidate but far from universal.
  • Some complain that Claude Code’s IDE protocol is underdocumented/awkward, making third‑party integrations harder.
  • Others argue agent CLIs (Claude Code, Aider, etc.) already work fine via any editor’s terminal, especially with auto‑reloading buffers.

Emacs vs. Other Tools (Philosophy and Practicalities)

  • Long debate over whether Vim/Emacs are “niche”; anecdotes strongly diverge by company, stack, and region.
  • Emacs is variously described as IDE, OS, “PDE” (personal dev environment), or “Lisp machine with an editor,” with strong emphasis on runtime extensibility.
  • Some longtime users feel maintaining configs (LSP, tree‑sitter, language tooling) is getting harder, and are tempted by Neovim/Zed/JetBrains, while others argue learning Emacs debugging/profiling and using tools like use-package, Nix, or Docker makes it manageable.

Free Software Politics and AI Integration

  • There’s criticism that core Emacs governance (especially FSF/RMS positions on non‑free services) slows official AI integration, pushing innovation into third‑party packages.
  • Others defend a hard‑line free‑software stance as an important counterweight, while noting Emacs’s architecture lets users adopt any non‑free AI tools they want regardless.

Privacy, Local Models, and Work Usage

  • Some isolate AI‑enabled editors (e.g., via bubblewrap, gitignore rules) to avoid leaking secrets.
  • There is active experimentation with local code models via Ollama/LM Studio; consensus is they’re useful but not yet at “big lab” quality.
  • Several professionals pay for Claude personally and use it at work, sometimes against corporate tooling choices or firewalls.