From 3fd28987f7f1e4da226d650166cc64e71e30e645 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Craig Jennings <c@cjennings.net>
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2026 23:26:44 -0400
Subject: perf: re-enable native-comp JIT and hand GC to gcmh

early-init.el disabled JIT native compilation with (setq native-comp-deferred-compilation nil), the obsolete alias of native-comp-jit-compilation. Despite the comment, setting it nil turns JIT off entirely rather than making it synchronous. Most modules then ran interpreted for the daemon's lifetime, and the native-comp-speed/jobs settings in system-defaults.el were dead. The "Selecting deleted buffer" async race that prompted the disable was an Emacs 28/29 issue. This is 30.2. I re-enabled it with native-comp-jit-compilation t and silent async warnings.

GC was pinned at the stock 800KB: early-init restored it post-startup and the minibuffer setup/exit hooks bounced back to it. That's Emacs's bare-editor default, far too low for 184 packages, so GC pauses fired often during completion, agenda, and LSP/AI work. I replaced both hand-rolled mechanisms with gcmh, which keeps the threshold at 1GB during activity and collects on idle.

Verified a clean full launch in a throwaway daemon (JIT on, gcmh active, no backtrace) and gcmh's threshold cycle in batch.
---
 modules/gcmh-config.el     | 30 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 modules/system-defaults.el | 19 +++++++------------
 2 files changed, 37 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 modules/gcmh-config.el

(limited to 'modules')

diff --git a/modules/gcmh-config.el b/modules/gcmh-config.el
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..beceb1a01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/gcmh-config.el
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+;;; gcmh-config.el --- Garbage collection strategy via gcmh -*- lexical-binding: t -*-
+
+;;; Commentary:
+;; gcmh (the Garbage Collector Magic Hack) owns `gc-cons-threshold' for the
+;; session.  It keeps the threshold very high while you are active so GC never
+;; pauses mid-edit, then drops it and collects on idle, when a pause is
+;; invisible.  This replaces the old hand-rolled scheme -- a stock-800KB restore
+;; in early-init.el plus a minibuffer setup/exit bump -- which pinned GC at
+;; 800000 (Emacs's bare-editor default), far too low for a config this size and
+;; the cause of frequent GC pauses during completion, agenda builds, and LSP/AI
+;; activity.
+;;
+;; Kept in its own module, not system-defaults.el: that module is pre-loaded by
+;; the comp-errors test harness, which has no package system, so an `:ensure'
+;; package there errors at load time.  early-init.el bumps the threshold to
+;; `most-positive-fixnum' for startup and deliberately does not restore it;
+;; `gcmh-mode' takes ownership from here on.
+
+;;; Code:
+
+(use-package gcmh
+  :ensure t
+  :demand t
+  :config
+  (setq gcmh-idle-delay 'auto                          ; scale the idle GC delay to GC cost
+        gcmh-high-cons-threshold (* 1 1024 1024 1024)) ; 1 GB during activity
+  (gcmh-mode 1))
+
+(provide 'gcmh-config)
+;;; gcmh-config.el ends here
diff --git a/modules/system-defaults.el b/modules/system-defaults.el
index 0062a82cf..6d9c811a6 100644
--- a/modules/system-defaults.el
+++ b/modules/system-defaults.el
@@ -212,18 +212,13 @@ appears only once per session."
 (setq custom-safe-themes t)                   ;; treat all themes as safe (stop asking)
 (setq server-client-instructions nil)         ;; I already know what to do when done with the frame
 
-;; ------------------ Reduce Garbage Collections In Minibuffer -----------------
-
-(defun cj/minibuffer-setup-hook ()
-  "Hook to prevent garbage collection while user's in minibuffer."
-  (setq gc-cons-threshold most-positive-fixnum))
-
-(defun cj/minibuffer-exit-hook ()
-  "Hook to trigger garbage collection when exiting minibuffer."
-  (setq gc-cons-threshold 800000))
-
-(add-hook 'minibuffer-setup-hook #'cj/minibuffer-setup-hook)
-(add-hook 'minibuffer-exit-hook #'cj/minibuffer-exit-hook)
+;; ----------------------------- Garbage Collection ----------------------------
+;; GC is managed by gcmh in modules/gcmh-config.el: it keeps gc-cons-threshold
+;; high during activity and collects on idle, replacing the old stock-800KB
+;; scheme (an early-init restore plus a minibuffer setup/exit bump). gcmh lives
+;; in its own module rather than here because system-defaults.el is pre-loaded
+;; by the comp-errors test harness, which has no package system -- an `:ensure'
+;; package loaded here would error at load time and break those tests.
 
 ;; ----------------------------- Bookmark Settings -----------------------------
 
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