Elisp: Run Emacs Lisp Script in Shell

Run Emacs Lisp Script in Shell

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

emacs --script myfile.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:

• Self-contained; Doesn't depend on anything from your emacs init file.
• Explicitly load all libraries it needs (using require or load). see Elisp: provide, require, features • Elisp: load, load-file, autoload
• Has necessary load path set in the script (e.g. (add-to-list 'load-path lib_path)) if it needs libs that's not part of standard GNU emacs install.

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