which-key
Hacker ApprovedRanked 9 of 24 Emacs packages by recommenders
Popup that lists available keybindings and descriptions as you type a key prefix, helping you navigate large key chord hierarchies in Neovim and Emacs.
Popup that lists available keybindings and descriptions as you type a key prefix, helping you navigate large key chord hierarchies in Neovim and Emacs.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Shows keybinding hints as you type
“You do have that somewhat with packages like which-key that will show you a menu of options every time you press a key.”
Comment from 10 Mar 2026 in “Two Years of Emacs Solo: 35 Modules, Zero External Packages, and a Full Refactor” “very popular plugin for neovim that shows a popup with possible keybinds and descriptions”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “I set all 376 Vim options and I'm still a fool” “hints come as you stutter on what to press next”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “GUIs should be fully keyboard-driven” Staple in many Emacs setups
“Lots of nice built-in packages like modus themes, eglot, which-key.”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “Emacs Turns 50” “I couldn't live without the emacs version of which-key”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “GUIs should be fully keyboard-driven” “packages like embark, which-key, transient”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “Julia Snail – An Emacs Development Environment for Julia Like Clojure's Cider” - Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “Even More Batteries Included with Emacs”
Helps find commands quickly
“Check out whichkey and/or command line completion to find those commands easier”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: Difi – Git diff TUI with NVIM support built with Go and Bubbletea” “a quick key to pop up a command palette”
Comment from 2 Jun 2026 in “Movwin: My (Unpublished) TUI Framework”
Other Emacs packages people recommend
The four most recommended other Emacs packages, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evil mode for Emacs | 39 | 7 | 85% | 11 | — | Approved |
| agent-shell | 25 | 6 | 81% | 11 | — | Approved |
| TRAMP for Emacs | 25 | 10 | 71% | 8 | — | Approved |
| gptel | 20 | 1 | 95% | 12 | — | Approved |
| which-keyThis page | 13 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
All 13 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Lots of nice built-in packages like modus themes, eglot, which-key.”
“I couldn't live without the emacs version of which-key”
“Even as a fairly confident nvim user, I still use and recommend”
“hints come as you stutter on what to press next”
“The only thing I use is his which-key”
“emacs ecosystem has better ideas - which-key, embark do not stop to amuse me”
“a quick key to pop up a command palette”
“packages like embark, which-key, transient”
“Which-key is invaluable as a way to navigate a large key chord hierarchy.”
“You do have that somewhat with packages like which-key that will show you a menu of options every time you press a key.”
“Check out whichkey and/or command line completion to find those commands easier”
“very popular plugin for neovim that shows a popup with possible keybinds and descriptions”
“"which key" helps a lot here”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.