48 Emacs Lisp Packages
Emacs is extended by implementing additional features in packages, which are Emacs Lisp libraries. These could be written by you or provided by someone else. If you want to install such a package so it is available in your future Emacs session, you need to compile it and put it in a directory where Emacs looks for Lisp libraries. See Libraries of Lisp Code for Emacs, for more details about this manual installation method. Many packages provide installation and usage instructions in the large commentary near the beginning of the Lisp file; you can use those instructions for installing and fine-tuning your use of the package.
Packages can also be provided by package archives, which are large collections of Emacs Lisp packages. Each package is a separate Emacs Lisp program, sometimes including other components such as an Info manual. Emacs includes a facility that lets you easily download and install packages from such archives. The rest of this chapter describes this facility.
To list the packages available for installation from package
archives, type M-x list-packages RET. It brings up a
buffer named *Packages* with a list of all packages. You can
install or uninstall packages via this buffer. See The Package Menu Buffer.
The command C-h P ( describe-package) prompts for the
name of a package, and displays a help buffer describing the
attributes of the package and the features that it implements.
By default, Emacs downloads packages from a package archive maintained by the Emacs developers and hosted by the GNU project. Optionally, you can also download packages from archives maintained by third parties. See Package Installation.
For information about turning an Emacs Lisp program into an installable package, See Packaging in The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual.