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edkolev/evil-lion

Evil align operator
Source code at GitHub https://github.com/edkolev/evil-lion
edkolev/evil-lion.json
{
  "createdAt": "2017-03-09T11:31:44Z",
  "defaultBranch": "master",
  "description": "Evil align operator",
  "fullName": "edkolev/evil-lion",
  "homepage": "",
  "language": "Emacs Lisp",
  "name": "evil-lion",
  "pushedAt": "2024-11-20T13:52:01Z",
  "stargazersCount": 136,
  "topics": [
    "emacs"
  ],
  "updatedAt": "2025-11-17T16:35:48Z",
  "url": "https://github.com/edkolev/evil-lion"
}

Build Status MELPA

Emacs evil alignment operator

evil-lion

Section titled “evil-lion”

This package provides gl and gL align operators: gl MOTION CHAR and right-align gL MOTION CHAR.

Use CHAR / to enter regular expression if a single character wouldn’t suffice.

Use CHAR RET to align with align.el’s default rules for the active major mode.

Port of vim-lion

scar

Installation

Section titled “Installation”

with use-package

Section titled “with use-package”
(use-package evil-lion
  :ensure t
  :config
  (evil-lion-mode))

without use-package

Section titled “without use-package”

M-x package-install RET evil-lion RET, then add in init.el:

(evil-lion-mode)

Usage

Section titled “Usage”

Align with gl MOTION CHAR or right-align with gL MOTION CHAR.

If the align separator is / you will be prompted for a regular expression instead of a plain character. If the align separator is RET alignment will be performed with align.el’s rules specific for the major mode.

You can pass count 1 to align on the first occurrence of CHAR. To pass count, use: COUNT gl MOTION CHAR.

Example, left align gl:

Section titled “Example, left align gl:”

After pressing glip= (gl is the operator, ip text object paragraph, = separator)

one = 1
three = 3
fifteen = 15

will become:

one     = 1
three   = 3
fifteen = 15

Example, right align with gL:

Section titled “Example, right align with gL:”

After pressing gLip,

one, two, three,
fifteen, sixteen, seventeen

will become:

one,     two,     three,
fifteen, sixteen, seventeen

Example, align with major mode’s alignment rules:

Section titled “Example, align with major mode’s alignment rules:”

In perl-mode, after pressing glib RET (RET is return key, not individal keys):

my %hash = (
   a => 1,
   bbb => 2,
   cccc => 3,


   a => 1,
   bbb => 2,
   cccccc => 3
);

will become:

my $hash = (
   a    => 1,
   bbb  => 2,
   cccc => 3,


   a      => 1,
   bbb    => 2,
   cccccc => 3
););

Example, align on the first occurrence of CHAR:

Section titled “Example, align on the first occurrence of CHAR:”

After pressing 1glip"

(red "red"
(teal-green "#6fb593")
(wheat "#b9c791")
(blue "blue")
(cyan "#54b6b6")

will become:

(red        "red"
(teal-green "#6fb593")
(wheat      "#b9c791")
(blue       "blue")
(cyan       "#54b6b6")

Customization

Section titled “Customization”

Disable squeezing of spaces

Section titled “Disable squeezing of spaces”

By default, evil-lion will remove unnecessary spaces if there are any. To disable this behaviour:

(setq evil-lion-squeeze-spaces nil) ;; default t

Change the default keys

Section titled “Change the default keys”
;; use `g a` (mnemonic `align`)
;; these variables should be changed before (evil-lion-mode) is called
(setq evil-lion-left-align-key (kbd "g a"))
(setq evil-lion-right-align-key (kbd "g A"))
(evil-lion-mode)

Or withuse-package and bind-key:

(use-package evil-lion
  :ensure t
  :bind (:map evil-normal-state-map
         ("g l " . evil-lion-left)
         ("g L " . evil-lion-right)
         :map evil-visual-state-map
         ("g l " . evil-lion-left)
         ("g L " . evil-lion-right)))

Bind in prog modes only

Section titled “Bind in prog modes only”

Bind evil-lion-left and evil-lion-right to your liking. The evil-lion-mode is just a convenience mode and should not be enabled with this setup.

(evil-define-key 'normal prog-mode-map
  (kbd "g l") 'evil-lion-left
  (kbd "g L") 'evil-lion-right)


(evil-define-key 'visual prog-mode-map
  (kbd "g l") 'evil-lion-left
  (kbd "g L") 'evil-lion-right)