Native-comp in Emacs 27: Should I keep it enabled for use-package?

The Short Answer

You cannot enable native compilation in Emacs 27. Native compilation (native-comp) was introduced in Emacs 28.1. If you are running Emacs 27, any attempts to configure native-comp variables will result in void-variable or void-function errors because the underlying libgccjit engine is not present in that version.

Technical Context and Assumptions

Assuming you may be upgrading to Emacs 28+ or are misidentifying your current version, it is important to distinguish between use-package and the native compilation process:

• use-package is a macro-based configuration utility. It manages when and how a package is loaded, but it does not perform the compilation itself.
• Native Compilation transforms Elisp byte-code into native machine code. This process typically happens asynchronously in the background after a package is loaded.

Because use-package simply triggers the loading of a package, it does not inherently cause native-comp crashes. Stability issues usually stem from the package's own internal logic—specifically if the package uses low-level byte-code manipulation or dynamic eval patterns that the native compiler cannot safely optimize.

Recommendation for Emacs 28+ Users

If you move to a version that supports native-comp, the recommended approach for stability is selective enablement rather than global disabling:

1. Keep native-comp enabled globally to benefit from the performance gains in startup and execution.
2. Identify failing packages by monitoring the *Warnings* buffer or observing crashes during the asynchronous compilation phase.
3. Disable native-comp for specific files if a crash is confirmed, though this is typically handled by the build system or by avoiding the specific problematic package.

Verification Steps

To confirm whether your current installation actually supports native compilation, run the following check in the *scratch* buffer:

(native-comp-available-p)

If this returns nil, you are likely on Emacs 27 or a build of Emacs 28+ that was not compiled with --with-native-compilation.

Missing Diagnostic Detail

To provide a more specific stability recommendation, please provide the output of M-x emacs-version. If you are seeing crashes in Emacs 27, they are likely related to standard byte-code compilation or memory management, not native-comp.