How can I change the name of the org-agenda buffer to something other than "*Org Agenda*"?

Question

When I invoke org-agenda-list I get the org agenda buffer (works fine) but it is always named *Org Agenda* regardless of what type of agenda view I use (I also have a weekly agenda customized in org-agenda-custom-commands but when I invoke it the buffer name is still *Org Agenda*). Is there a way to set this to something else?

While we're at it, it would be great if we could make the buffer name dynamic -- e.g., Week 5 Review to denote that we are on Week 5 of 52 weeks in the year (or Weekly Review (23 DONE) to denote that 23 tasks were completed to a DONE state). Any tips other than digging through the sources?

Answer 1

As with any buffer within Emacs, you can run the command M-x rename-buffer to change the name of the current buffer.

Is there a way to have org-agenda rename its buffer automatically? Sure, this is the perfect use case for hooks! The hook we are interested in here is called 'org-agenda-mode-hook.

Our goal is to draft a function that renames an agenda buffer automatically, then add it to the agenda mode hook so that it runs after an agenda is made. This question has an interesting discussion on the order in which this hook is called when an agenda is being created.

1. Draft a function to rename your agenda buffer.

(defun my-function () 
    ; This names all of the buffers run by agenda to "Agenda x"
    ; To name your buffer dynamically, 
    ; make your function grab the name you're trying to look for.
    (rename-buffer "Agenda x")
)

2. Add your function to the org-agenda-mode-hook

(add-hook 'org-agenda-mode-hook 'my-function)

Depending on where the hook runs, the buffer name may be overwritten. In this case, you have a backup plan: Reimplement the org-agenda command. Taking the suggestion of @lawlist from the previously linked question, you can write a function like this:

(defun my-org-agenda () 
    "Doc-string." 
    (interactive "P")  
    (call-interactively 'org-agenda)
    ; As discussed before, this can be dynamic by
    ; writing the function to grab what you're looking for.
    (rename-buffer "Agenda X"))

Answer 2

I actually ended up providing the org-agenda-buffer-name option inside org-agenda-custom-commands as described in the manual. This appears to be simpler (at least in my use case) and does not run into the problem of rename-buffer failing if called twice in succession after org-agenda (apply: Buffer name ‘foo’ is in use).

Also for whatever reason this only seems to work with block agendas. I'm using doom emacs and org 9.6.