Wilfred/helpful
A better Emacs *help* buffer observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
39/100
- Activity 15
- Release rhythm 35
- Longevity 100
Flags: no_releases no_license
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: n/a
- age_days: 3441
- days_rel: n/a
- days_push: 512
- n_releases_24m: 0
Adoption not part of the score
1299 stars · 72 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded
Helpful is an Emacs package that replaces the built-in help system with a richer *help* buffer. It adds contextual information such as source code, callers, prettier docstrings, and symbol properties.
Use cases
- look up Emacs function documentation with source code
- find where a function is called in Emacs Lisp
- replace default C-h help keybindings in Emacs
- view docstrings with cross-references and Info links
- inspect symbol properties and aliases in Emacs
When to choose
- you use Emacs daily and want richer, more contextual help than describe-function/describe-variable
- you want to see source code and callers directly in the help buffer
When to avoid
- you don't use Emacs
- you only need minimal built-in help without extra packages
Facets
plugin · maturity active
documentation developer-tools developer-tools text-editors editor-plugin cross-platform emacs emacs-lisp help-buffer melpa introspection
1 source
- readme: https://github.com/Wilfred/helpful · fetched 2026-08-28 · d594f7fbb740
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| Wilfred/helpful | main | 39 |
For agents
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem