Emacs Bedrock 2.0 Released, Requires Emacs 31 and Introduces Configuration Changes

Bedrock 2.0 Release and Emacs 31 Requirement

Bedrock, an Emacs starter-kit focused on providing better defaults without third-party packages in its base configuration, has announced the release of version 2.0. This new version mandates Emacs 31, which was released in August 2026. Users unable to upgrade to Emacs 31 may need to manually remove specific configurations to maintain functionality.

Core Philosophy and Configuration Structure

Bedrock is designed as a straightforward collection of `early-init.el` and `init.el` files that users copy into their `~/.emacs.d/` directory and modify directly. The configuration includes comments to guide users. Configurations for third-party packages are stored in a separate `extras/` folder, allowing users to integrate them into their `init.el` as needed.

Key Changes in Version 2.0

Version 2.0 is considered a major release due to its incompatibility with Emacs 29. Significant changes include the adoption of `lexical-binding: t` in all `.el` files and the automatic installation of packages declared with `use-package`. The update also replaces `which-key` with `embark-auto-prefix-help-mode` when the `embark` package is loaded, and `wgrep` is removed in favor of the built-in `grep-change-to-grep-edit-mode`.

Configuration Improvements and Fixes

Further enhancements in Bedrock 2.0 involve vastly improved `tree-sitter` and `isearch` configurations. The built-in `*Completions*` buffer now auto-updates, and `repeat-mode` is enabled by default. Fixes address issues such as theme colors not being respected and improved suppression of startup messages, alongside other minor improvements.