cook-mode

Emacs support for cooklang recipe files (.cook).

The package provides two modes — both are included, and you choose which to use:

	cook-mode	cook-ts-mode
Requires	Any Emacs	Emacs 29.2+
Parsing	Regex font-lock	Tree-sitter
Extras	—	Imenu, image overlays, YAML frontmatter

Example of syntax highlight

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Installation

For vanilla Emacs users (package.el)

If you're running Emacs 30 or newer, install with use-package:

(use-package cook-mode
  :vc (:url "https://github.com/cooklang/cook-mode"
       :rev :newest
       :branch "master"))

straight.el

(straight-use-package
 '(cook-mode :type git :host github :repo "cooklang/cook-mode"))

Older Emacs

Download cook-mode.el and add the following to your .emacs.el or .emacs.d/init.el:

(load "/path/to/install/directory/cook-mode.el")

Doom Emacs

Add the following to your packages.el:

(package! cook-mode
  :recipe (:host github
           :repo "cooklang/cook-mode"))

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Choosing a mode

By default, loading the package activates cook-mode for .cook files. To use cook-ts-mode instead, first install the tree-sitter grammar (see below), then load cook-ts-mode:

(require 'cook-ts-mode)

Once loaded, cook-ts-mode registers itself in two ways:

• Automatic upgrade: if cook-mode is also loaded, any .cook file that would open in cook-mode is transparently redirected to cook-ts-mode via major-mode-remap-alist.
• Standalone: if only cook-ts-mode is loaded (without cook-mode), it registers directly in auto-mode-alist.

To explicitly opt out of the upgrade and keep cook-mode even with the grammar installed:

(setq major-mode-remap-alist
      (assoc-delete-all 'cook-mode major-mode-remap-alist))

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cook-ts-mode: grammar installation

cook-ts-mode requires the cooklang tree-sitter grammar. The easiest way is to let Emacs download and build it for you. Add this to your config:

(add-to-list 'treesit-language-source-alist
             '(cooklang "https://github.com/cooklang/tree-sitter-cooklang"))

Then install with:

M-x treesit-install-language-grammar RET cooklang

Note: The key must be cooklang (not cook) — that is the grammar's internal name, which determines the dylib filename (libtree-sitter-cooklang.dylib).

Features

• Syntax highlighting for all cooklang elements (ingredients, cookware, timers, sections, metadata, notes, comments)
• YAML frontmatter highlighting (when the yaml grammar is also installed)
• C-c i — display ingredient list
• C-c C-i — toggle inline image display for [- image.png -] block comments
• M-; — insert -- line comment
• M-x imenu — navigate to sections

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References

https://www.masteringemacs.org/article/how-to-get-started-tree-sitter https://www.masteringemacs.org/article/lets-write-a-treesitter-major-mode https://batsov.com/articles/2026/02/27/building-emacs-major-modes-with-treesitter-lessons-learned/