embark-which-key-indicator cannot handle paging

[richcarl]

I was hoping that I could get the C-h paging in which-key to work with Embark via the embark-which-key-indicator from the Wiki (https://github.com/oantolin/embark/wiki/Additional-Configuration#use-which-key-like-a-key-menu-prompt) by doing (setq embark-help-key "?") to leave C-h free for which-key.

I found that the indicator function in the Wiki passes t for the no-paging argument in the call to which-key--show-keymap, and I tried to change that to nil to allow which-key to react to the paging keypress. This works on the which-key side, but once you have pressed e.g. C-h n to page forward and the call returns, I got "Error running timer: (error "embark-next-symbol is not a keymap"), and I'm not good enough at elisp to see what's going on. Maybe someone else can figure out how to fix this so that the which-key indicator function can do paging; it would be nice to have.

[oantolin]

I'd love to have this working, but I never was able to figure it out myself. I don't use which-key so I also didn't spend a ton of time on it, but I did try for a while.

[oantolin]

In the meantime, might I suggest trying embark-minimal-indicator and if you need a reminder of the key bindings, pressing embark-help-key (C-h by default)? I find that much more convenient that either the verbose or the which-key indicators. If you use Vertico, you can even make the display very which-key-like with:

(cl-pushnew '(embark-keybinding grid) vertico-multiform-categories)

You can select a command by completion (and you can complete on either the command name or the string form of the key binding), or, if you press @, you can then type the key binding itself.

[richcarl]

embark-minimal-indicator + embark-help-key with Vertico grid layout was a great suggestion! I hadn't discovered vertico-multiform-mode until now.

[oantolin]

I'm glad you liked that suggestion. It's also related to what I use instead of which-key generally:

(setq prefix-help-command #'embark-prefix-help-command)

With that configuration pressing C-h after a prefix pops embark's completing-read prompter in the minibuffer, listing the command under the prefix and their bindings. (It's just like pressing embark-help-key during embark-act but for arbitrary prefixes.)

Personally, I like this a lot more than which-key for several reasons:

1. The main reason is completion: I can type a few characters to narrow the list of commands to just the ones I want to see. In which-key I find it annoying and wasteful to have to page through and reading everything: surely the computer should be in charge of narrowing the list of commands, not my poor addled brain?

2. I like the grid view which is very which-key-like, but I can also switch Vertico to a vertical list (with M-G or M-V) and then I get the first line of each docstring as a Marginalia annotation, which is great for exploration or for confirming I have the right command name.

3. I can act on the candidates with Embark; for example, I often read the documentation of a couple of commands (with C-. h, since I bind embark-act to C-.), or I sometimes narrow the command list a bit and then use embark-export to get a nice apropos-mode buffer listing all commands with a bit of documentation, that I can peruse at my leisure.

4. This probably not a common preference, but I much prefer summoning help than having it popup automatically.

[richcarl]

I had already enabled the embark-prefix-help-command, as the docs recommended, but haven't yet got into the habit of using it. You're right that it's good to summon help when needed. So far I have liked the timer based help in which-key, so that if I suddenly forget which key to press next it just pops up after a while and with any luck I'll see the key I wanted on the first page. But with the nice grid layout in Embark, I might drop which-key completely once I learn to press C-h instead. (I've been an Emacs user for 30 years, and only now did I learn that you could use C-h after a prefix key.)