Search code examples
emacselispemacsclient

Emacsclient server name not recognized

I would like to have emacsclient connect to a given Emacs server from command line. Reading the manual Using Emacs as a Server I thought I could do something like:

emacs --eval '(server-start)' --eval "(set-variable 'server-name \"foo\")" --no-splash fileA &

and then later:

emacsclient -s "foo" -n fileB

But this gives error:

emacsclient: can't find socket; have you started the server?
To start the server in Emacs, type "M-x server-start".
emacsclient: error accessing socket "foo"

However, I can do:

emacsclient -e '(prin1 server-name)'

which gives

"foo"
Solution

  • You must set the name before you start the server:

    emacs --eval '(setq server-name "foo")' --eval '(server-start)' --no-splash fileA &