makem.sh is a script that helps to build, lint, and test Emacs Lisp packages. It aims to make linting and testing as simple as possible without requiring per-package configuration.

It works similarly to a Makefile in that “rules” are called to perform actions such as byte-compiling, linting, testing, etc.

Source and test files are discovered automatically from the project’s Git repo, and package dependencies within them are parsed automatically.

Output is simple: by default, there is no output unless errors occur. With increasing verbosity levels, more detail gives positive feedback. Output is colored by default to make reading easy.

The script can run Emacs with the developer’s local Emacs configuration, or with a clean, “sandbox” configuration that can be optionally removed afterward. This is especially helpful when upstream dependencies may have released new versions that differ from those installed in the developer’s personal configuration.

• Installation
• Usage
• Changelog
• Comparisons

Some example output. The first shows running the test rule with verbosity level 1, which shows which tests are run but omits each test’s output unless it fails:

Increasing the verbosity shows green output for passing tests:

The lint-compile rule treats byte-compiler warnings as errors:

The all rule runs all rules and treats warnings as errors:

Of course, with increased verbosity, it also shows which rules did not signal errors:

The included test.yml GitHub Actions file can be used to easily set up CI, giving output like:

Copy makem.sh into your package’s root directory. Optionally, also copy Makefile, to make calling the script easier.

• makem.sh script
• Transient menu (makem.el)
• Makefile
• GitHub Action
• GitHub Linguist statistics
• git pre-push hook
• Spell checking

The script may be called directly to specify additional options.

makem.sh [OPTIONS] RULES...

Linter- and test-specific rules will error when their linters or tests
are not found.  With -vv, rules that run multiple rules will show a
message for unavailable linters or tests.

Rules:
  all      Run all lints and tests.
  compile  Byte-compile source files.

  lint           Run all linters, ignoring unavailable ones.
  lint-checkdoc  Run checkdoc.
  lint-compile   Byte-compile source files with warnings as errors.
  lint-declare   Run check-declare.
  lint-elsa      Run Elsa (not included in "lint" rule).
  lint-indent    Lint indentation.
  lint-package   Run package-lint.
  lint-regexps   Run relint.

  test, tests           Run all tests, ignoring missing test types.
  test-buttercup        Run Buttercup tests.
  test-ert              Run ERT tests.
  test-ert-interactive  Run ERT tests interactively.

  batch        Run Emacs in batch mode, loading project source and test files
               automatically, with remaining args (after "--") passed to Emacs.
  interactive  Run Emacs interactively, loading project source and test files
               automatically, with remaining args (after "--") passed to Emacs.

Options:
  -d, --debug    Print debug info.
  -h, --help     I need somebody!
  -v, --verbose  Increase verbosity, up to -vvv.
  --no-color     Disable color output.

  --debug-load-path  Print load-path from inside Emacs.

  -E, --emacs PATH  Run Emacs at PATH.

  -e, --exclude FILE  Exclude FILE from linting and testing.
  -f, --file FILE     Check FILE in addition to discovered files.

  -c, --compile-batch  Batch-compile files (instead of separately; quicker, but
                                            may hide problems).
  -C, --no-compile     Don't compile files automatically.

Sandbox options:
  -s[DIR], --sandbox[=DIR]  Run Emacs with an empty config in a sandbox DIR.
                            If DIR does not exist, make it.  If DIR is not
                            specified, use a temporary sandbox directory and
                            delete it afterward, implying --install-deps and
                            --install-linters.
  --install-deps            Automatically install package dependencies.
  --install-linters         Automatically install linters.
  -i, --install PACKAGE     Install PACKAGE before running rules.

  An Emacs version-specific subdirectory is automatically made inside
  the sandbox, allowing testing with multiple Emacs versions.  When
  specifying a sandbox directory, use options --install-deps and
  --install-linters on first-run and omit them afterward to save time.

Source files are automatically discovered from git, or may be
specified with options.  Package dependencies are discovered from
"Package-Requires" headers in source files, from -pkg.el files, and
from a Cask file.

Checkdoc's spell checker may not recognize some words, causing the
`lint-checkdoc' rule to fail.  Custom words can be added in file-local
or directory-local variables using the variable
`ispell-buffer-session-localwords', which should be set to a list of
strings.

The Elisp file makem.el provides a Transient dispatcher (this file should be installed into your Emacs configuration rather than into a project’s directory). Use M-x makem RET to show it.

A default Makefile is provided which calls the makem.sh script. Call it with the name of a rule and an optional verbosity level, like:

# Run all rules.
$ make all

# Run all lints.
$ make lint

# Run all tests.
$ make test

# Run ERT tests with verbosity level 1.
$ make v=v test-ert

# Run Buttercup tests with verbosity level 2.
$ make v=vv test-buttercup

# Run tests with emacs-sandbox.sh in a temporary sandbox.
# Implies install-deps=t.
$ make sandbox=t test

# Initialize a permanent sandbox directory, DIR (the developer might
# choose to recreate it manually when necessary, leaving it in place
# to save time otherwise).  Then run all linters and tests.
$ make sandbox=DIR install-deps=t install-linters=t
$ make sandbox=DIR all

Using Steve Purcell’s setup-emacs Action, it’s easy to set up CI on GitHub for an Emacs package.

1. Put makem.sh in your package’s repo and make it executable.
2. Add test.yml (from the makem.sh repo) to your package’s repo at .github/workflows/test.yml. It should work without modification for most Emacs packages.

Having makem.sh in your repository will affect GitHub’s language stats provided by Linguist, which might cause it to be classified as a Shell project rather than an Emacs Lisp one. The Linguist documentation explains how to avoid this. Probably the most appropriate way is to use a .gitattributes file to classify makem.sh as vendored, like:

makem.sh linguist-vendored

It’s often helpful to run tests automatically before pushing with git. Here’s an example of using makem.sh in a pre-push hook:

#!/bin/sh

# * Commit parameters
# Unused now, but good for future reference.  See man 5 githooks.

remote="$1"
url="$2"

read local_ref local_sha remote_ref remote_sha

# * Run tests

# Not using sandbox and auto-install, because "git push" shouldn't
# cause remote code to be downloaded and executed (i.e. what would
# happen by installing packages).  It can be done manually when
# needed.  However, in a CI system running in a container, where
# testing in a clean config against the latest available dependency
# versions is desired, one could use:

#   make sandbox=t install-deps=t test

make test

Checkdoc’s spell checker may not recognize some words, causing the lint-checkdoc rule to fail. Custom words can be added in file-local or directory-local variables using the variable ispell-buffer-session-localwords, which should be set to a list of strings.

Changes

• Don’t initialize package system when not necessary (as initializing the package system causes some other libraries, like url, to be loaded, which can obscure problems which might occur otherwise). (#47. Thanks to Joseph Turner for reporting.)

Fixes

• Escape backticks in makem.sh’s usage function’s Bash here-document. (Thanks to Ola Nilsson.)
• Removal of temporary files.

Compatibility

• Restore compatibility with Bash versions earlier than 4.0 (e.g. on Mac OS). (#49. Thanks to Aaron Zeng.)

Fixes

• Don’t use obsolete Org ELPA repository (preventing obsolete Org versions from being installed).

Added

• Script makem.sh can now be run from a subdirectory (rather than having to be in the project’s root directory). This also enables it to be used as a git submodule.
• Commands in library makem.el locate the shell script automatically in the project’s directories and submodules.
• Upgrade built-in packages when installing dependencies. (#41. Thanks to USHIN for sponsoring this fix.)

Fixed

• File exclusion regular expression. (#32. Thanks to Fritz Grabo.)

Credits

• Thanks to ushin for contributing the subdirectory/submodule-related changes.

Added

• lint-elint rule (not enabled by default in lint rule due to Elint’s output not seeming very useful).
• makem.el library with Transient dispatcher.
• Custom words for spell checking may be set in a file- or directory-local variable, ispell-buffer-session-localwords. (Thanks to Joseph Turner.)
• Allow running makem.sh from subdirectories within a project, as well as from a Git submodule. (Thanks to Joseph Turner.)

Fixed

• Set package-user-dir (needed for Emacs 28 compatibility).
• Rule lint-indent for Emacs 28.
• Install Ispell in CI for checkdoc linting.

Internal

• Use grep -E instead of egrep. (#38. Thanks to James Chen-Smith.)

Changed

• Display all byte-compile warnings when linting, not just the first.

Fixed

• Always set load-prefer-newer to t (rather than only when initializing packages).
• When running interactive, automatically byte-compile source files unless --no-compile is used, and load filenames sans extension so Emacs will prefer to load byte-compiled files.

Fixed

• Show all checkdoc warnings, not just the first one.

Added

• Verbosity level 3 (i.e. -vvv), currently only used in per-file byte-compilation output.

Fixed

• Redundant byte-compilation error message.

Added

• Option -c / --compile-batch compiles files as a batch, in a single Emacs process (faster, but may hide problems).

Changed

• Compile files separately rather than as a batch. (Slower, but doesn’t hide problems due to compilation order.)

Fixed

• Use -a argument to grep in case an Elisp file contains control characters (rare, but sometimes necessary).

Added

• Emacs 27.1 to test.yml.

Updated

• test.yml: Use new GitHub environment variable syntax. (See notice, documentation.)

First tagged release.

There are several similar tools, each of which is slightly different.

Notes:

• In these comparisons, makem.sh’s Makefile is not included, because it only provides an alternative, make-style calling convention; it provides no functionality.
• These notes were compiled by reading these projects’ documentation and source code, but the author is not an expert on these tools. Corrections are welcome.

Cask is a classic Emacs package project management tool. It’s powerful and well-documented. It’s much more sophisticated than makem.sh.

• Cask requires configuration and initialization for each project before use. makem.sh is designed to work without initialization or configuration.
• Cask maintains a project-local Emacs configuration for building and testing. makem.sh provides similar, optional sandboxing to install dependencies separately from the developer’s Emacs configuration.
• Cask is intended to be installed by using curl to download a script which is piped to Python. This is a dangerous, insecure anti-pattern, compounded by the size of the code. makem.sh is intended to be copied into place by the package developer, and its code is easy to inspect.
• Cask is intended to be installed locally on each developer’s machine. makem.sh is intended to be dropped in to a package’s repo, requiring no local installation.
• Cask’s documentation is extensive and well-presented on its Web site. makem.sh can be used by reading a standard --help usage guide.
• Cask is over 3,000 lines of Emacs Lisp and Python code. makem.sh is about 600 lines of very simple code in one file.

Eldev is a powerful, flexible tool. It has many features and can be extended and configured for each project. It’s designed to be much more sophisticated than makem.sh.

• Eldev requires some initialization and configuration for each project before use. makem.sh is designed to work without initialization or configuration.
• Eldev installs dependencies in an Emacs version-specific directory in the package repo, which allows testing with multiple Emacs versions. makem.sh can either use dependencies that exist in the developer’s local Emacs configuration, or it can use built-in sandboxing to install dependencies separately; it does not support separate, Emacs version-specific sandboxes.
• Eldev is intended to be installed by using curl to download a script which is piped to a shell. This is a dangerous, insecure anti-pattern, compounded by the size of the code. makem.sh is intended to be copied into place by the package developer, and its code is easy to inspect.
• Eldev is intended to be installed locally on each developer’s machine. makem.sh is intended to be dropped in to a package’s repo, requiring no local installation.
• Eldev’s documentation is comprehensive and well-written, and it’s about 8,000 words. makem.sh can be used by reading a standard --help usage guide.
• Eldev runs from within Emacs, within the same process as the operations being run (such as testing). makem.sh runs outside of Emacs, and each operation is run in a separate Emacs process.
• Eldev is over 4,000 lines of dense code across 8 source files. makem.sh is about 600 lines of very simple code in one file.

emake is intended for continuous integration testing. It is powerful and well-documented, and provides some more specific flexibility than makem.sh.

• emake requires that a variety of project-specific, Emacs-specific variables be configured before use. makem.sh is designed to work without initialization or configuration.
• It appears that emake may be run locally rather than only on remote systems like Travis CI or GitHub Actions, but that extensive configuration and initialization is required. makem.sh is designed to be equally simple to use for both local developer systems and remote CI testing.
• emake provides some tools for building specific Emacs versions when running on CI systems. makem.sh itself uses only the locally installed version of Emacs; for CI use, a GitHub Actions configuration is provided that uses other tools to install specific Emacs versions.
• emake is intended to be installed by using curl to download a script which is piped to a shell, and it appears to make further use of downloading remote shell scripts at runtime, at least for initialization. This is a dangerous, insecure anti-pattern. makem.sh is intended to be copied into place by the package developer, and its code is easy to inspect. No remote code is downloaded, other than installing Emacs package dependencies when requested.
• emake’s documentation is comprehensive and well-written, and it’s about 2,000 words. makem.sh can be used by reading a standard --help usage guide.
• emake is a 700-line Emacs Lisp file, with an optional 100-line Makefile that provides some default configuration. makem.sh is about 600 lines of Bash code in one file.

Of these alternatives, makel is most like makem.sh. It’s simple and requires little configuration.

• makel requires configuring several variables before use. makem.sh is designed to work without initialization or configuration.
• makel can install package dependencies which are manually specified, and it appears to download them into the local package repo directory. makem.sh only installs dependencies into a sandbox directory, which, by default, is a temporary directory that is automatically removed.
• makel can be used on remote CI systems, but no specific integration tools are provided. makem.sh provides a GitHub Actions file that can be used as-is.
• makel is intended to be used by copying two Make files into the project repo directory. It recommends allowing one of them to download the other automatically from the Internet when not present. makem.sh is intended to be copied into place by the package developer. No remote code is downloaded, other than installing Emacs package dependencies when requested.
• makel provides no built-in documentation, but it is very simple to use. makem.sh can be used by reading a standard --help usage guide.
• makel is about 150 lines of Make code in one file. makem.sh is about 600 lines of Bash code in one file.

Inspired by Damien Cassou’s excellent makel project.

Bug reports, feature requests, suggestions — oh my!

GPLv3