Doom Emacs: Star Issue With Org Headings & Theme

by Alex Johnson 49 views

Experiencing unexpected visual glitches in your Doom Emacs setup can be frustrating. This article addresses a peculiar issue where a star character appears before Org headings when using the doom-tokyo-night theme. We'll explore the problem, analyze potential causes, and offer solutions to restore the intended appearance of your Org files. If you're encountering this weird star issue with your Org headings in Doom Emacs, you're in the right place.

Understanding the Issue

As demonstrated by the user, the doom-tokyo-night theme should render Org headings cleanly, without any preceding characters. However, in some configurations, a star (*) symbol unexpectedly appears before each heading. This deviates from the theme's intended look and can be visually distracting. The user reports that the issue is resolved when the theme is manually loaded using load-theme, suggesting a problem with how the theme is initialized during startup.

In essence, the problem is a visual anomaly where an unwanted star character prefixes Org headings when the doom-tokyo-night theme is active in Doom Emacs.

Analyzing the Configuration

Let's dissect the user's configuration to identify potential conflicts or misconfigurations:

  • use-package doom-themes: This line ensures that the doom-themes package is installed and managed by use-package.
  • :ensure t: This flag tells use-package to install the package if it's not already present.
  • :config: This section contains the code that's executed after the package is loaded.
  • (load-theme 'doom-tokyo-night t): This line attempts to load the doom-tokyo-night theme. The t argument forces the theme to load, replacing any existing theme.
  • (doom-themes-visual-bell-config): This enables visual bell configuration for doom themes, flashing the mode-line on errors.
  • (doom-themes-neotree-config): This configures the neotree theme for doom themes, requiring nerd-icons to be installed.
  • (doom-themes-org-config): This corrects and improves org-mode's native fontification. This is particularly relevant, as it directly impacts how Org headings are displayed.

Possible causes for this issue include:

  1. Theme Loading Order: The theme might be loading before Org mode is fully initialized, leading to incorrect fontification.
  2. Font Configuration: The selected font might not be fully compatible with the theme's intended rendering of Org headings.
  3. Package Conflicts: Other installed packages could be interfering with the theme's rendering.
  4. Doom Emacs Configuration: Some Doom Emacs settings might be overriding the theme's defaults.

Troubleshooting Steps

To resolve the star appearing before Org headings, try the following steps:

  1. Ensure Org Mode is Fully Loaded: Delay loading the theme until after Org mode is fully initialized. You can achieve this by using eval-after-load. Add the following to your configuration:

    (eval-after-load 'org
  (load-theme 'doom-tokyo-night t))

    This ensures that the theme is loaded only after Org mode has been fully loaded, potentially resolving fontification issues.

  2. Check Font Configuration: Verify that your selected font supports the characters and styles used by the doom-tokyo-night theme. Try a different font known for its compatibility with Emacs and Org mode. You can configure the font in your init.el file. For example:

    (set-face-attribute 'default nil :font