Emacs: cursory version 1.2.0

2025-07-22

Cursory lets users define preset configurations for the cursor. Those cover the style of the cursor (e.g. box or bar), whether it is blinking or not, and how fast, as well as the colour it uses. Having distinct presets makes it easy to switch between, say, a “reading mode” with an ambient cursor and a “presentation mode” with a cursor that is more noticeable and thus easier to spot.

• Package name (GNU ELPA): cursory
• Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/cursory
• Change log: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/cursory-changelog
• Git repositories:
  • GitHub: https://github.com/protesilaos/cursory
  • GitLab: https://gitlab.com/protesilaos/cursory
• Backronym: Cursor Usability Requires Styles Objectively Rated Yearlong.

Below are the release notes.

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Version 1.2.0 on 2025-07-22

This version contains small additions to a stable package.

Set the last preset when starting up Emacs

The new function cursory-set-last-or-fallback makes it easier to set the last known preset when starting Emacs or via a hook such as after-init-hook. Internally, it takes care to fall back to a set of default values that always work.

Before the introduction of cursory-set-last-or-fallback users had to do something like this:

;; Old way of setting a preset:
(cursory-set-preset (or cursory-last-selected-preset cursory-recovered-preset 'box))

;; Old way of doing the above via a hook:
(add-hook 'after-init-hook (lambda () (cursory-set-preset (or cursory-last-selected-preset cursory-recovered-preset 'box))))

Those would also fail if the named preset did not exist (box in the above example). Whereas the addition of a fallback preset guarantees a result that works.

Note that I am defining the cursory-fallback-preset using defconst instead of exposing it as a user option. This is to avoid a scenario where the values are accidentally set incorrectly.

Presets can define a :cursor-color

This is a new attribute which corresponds to the background value of the cursor face.

• When the value is nil or unspecified (the default), Cursory does not modify the cursor face.

• When the value is a hexadecimal RGB color value, like #123456 it is used as-is. Same if it is a named color among those produced by the command list-colors-display.

• When the value is the symbol of a face (unquoted), then the foreground of that face is used for the cursor face, falling back to default.

Concretely, users can have something like this in their configuration:

(setq cursory-presets
      '((box
         :cursor-color "#21439f"
         :blink-cursor-interval 1.2)
        (baring
         :cursor-type (bar . 2)
         :cursor-color error ; the `error' face will typically be red (see `list-faces-display')
         :blink-cursor-interval 0.8)
        (underscore
         :cursor-color "green" ; see `list-colors-display'
         :cursor-type (hbar . 1)
         :blink-cursor-interval 0.3
         :blink-cursor-blinks 50)
        (t ; the default values
         :cursor-color unspecified ; use the theme's original
         :cursor-type box
         :cursor-in-non-selected-windows hollow
         :blink-cursor-mode 1
         :blink-cursor-blinks 10
         :blink-cursor-interval 0.2
         :blink-cursor-delay 0.2)))

Remember to read the documentation of cursory-presets for all the rest.

The cursory-mode persists the :cursor-color while changing themes

Before, the cursory-mode would only take care to save the last selected preset and to persist it across Emacs sessions. In addition to that, it now also ensures that loading a new theme does not override the :cursor-color.

The cursory-set-preset prompt is smarter about its default value

When the cursory-set-preset is called interactively, it uses the minibuffer to prompt for a preset among the cursory-presets.

In the past, its default value would simply be the last selected preset. Cursory would not check whether that symbol was still a member of the cursory-presets. This had the potential to set the wrong configurations.

Now the prompt only uses as its default value the last selected and existing preset among those found in the history of selections. It will not provide a default if it cannot find any.

Note that the “default value” in the context of the minibuffer refers to the input that will normally be provided if the user types RET without writing anything into the minibuffer.