# Ivy (Emacs package)

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/ivy/

5 people recommended Ivy (Emacs package) in Hacker News comments and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 12 months, in 5 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Quick filtering of files and buffers in Emacs, with a fully featured interface that works alongside other Emacs tools. Some find it weak for dependency management.

Summary written by Claude from 6 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Fully featured, UI-changing completion (2 comments in the sample): "Ivy and Counsel are kind of game changers to the UI" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45783670)) "Helm and Ivy are fully featured" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50275845))
- Quick filtering of files and buffers (1 comment in the sample): "I love using ido/ivy for file navigation, quickly filtering through buffers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47374264))
- Works with projectile and flycheck (1 comment in the sample): "features that I've come to know and love (like projectile, flycheck, ivy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48547543))

## What people warn about

- Poor for dependency management (1 comment in the sample): "I haven't had good luck using Ivy for dependency management." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48315586))

## Other Emacs packages people recommend

- [Evil mode for Emacs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/evil-mode/): 33 recommend, 3 mixed, 7 criticize
- [agent-shell](https://hackerapproved.com/p/agent-shell/): 23 recommend, 2 mixed, 5 criticize
- [gptel](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gptel/): 18 recommend, 1 mixed, 1 criticize
- [Vertico](https://hackerapproved.com/p/vertico/): 18 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Ivy (Emacs package)", https://hackerapproved.com/p/ivy/ (5 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.