Emacs Lisp: Run Emacs Lisp Script in Shell

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .

You can run emacs lisp script in shell (terminal), using the --script option. For example:

emacs --script elispfile.el

Prepare Your Emacs Lisp Script to Run in Batch Mode

When you write a elisp script to run in batch, make sure your elisp file is:

  1. self-contained; Doesn't depend on anything from your emacs init file.
  2. Explicitly load all libraries it needs (using require or load).
  3. Has necessary load path set in the script (For example, (add-to-list 'load-path lib_path)) if it needs libs that's not part of standard GNU emacs install, just like you would with a Python or Ruby script.

How to start emacs on a Mac from command line?

If you are on a Mac, call it from the command line like this:

/Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/MacOS/Emacs --script=name.el