Expose initial evil state as defcustom

[Cianidos]

Problem

evil-ghostel-mode hard-codes (evil-set-initial-state 'ghostel-mode 'insert) inside its activation body (evil-ghostel.el:337). Wired to ghostel-mode-hook per the README:

(use-package evil-ghostel
  :hook (ghostel-mode . evil-ghostel-mode))

the call fires on every ghostel buffer creation, running before evil-initialize reads the initial state via after-change-major-mode-hook. User overrides (Customize, setq, direct evil-set-initial-state) survive until the next new ghostel buffer opens, then get clobbered.

Change

• Add evil-ghostel-default-state defcustom. :set re-runs evil-set-initial-state so Customize / setopt take effect immediately. Direct calls to evil-set-initial-state also keep working — the registry is last-writer-wins.
• Apply the current value once at load — covers (setq ... ) before require, where defcustom preserves the value without calling :set.
• Drop the hard-coded call from the activation body.

Default stays 'insert; no behaviour change for existing users.

Tests

Three new ERT cases in test/evil-ghostel-test.el:

• default-state-load-applied — value is registered at load.
• default-state-custom-set-updates-registry — Customize propagates.
• mode-activation-preserves-initial-state — regression guard: activation no longer clobbers the registry.

[Cianidos]

Context on why this matters to me, in case it's useful for the design discussion:

I prefer defaulting new ghostel buffers to 'emacs because ESC then passes through to the terminal untouched — which is essential for TUI apps (htop, btop, fzf pickers, vim over ssh, etc.).

evil-ghostel seems designed around a normal ↔ insert flow: insert to interact with the TUI, normal to navigate the buffer. In practice I find normal ↔ emacs (toggled via C-z) smoother for the same flow — emacs-state behaves like a vanilla terminal, normal-state gives me the evil goodies (scrollback, search, yank).

Possible I'm using the package against its intended grain; happy to hear if there's a more canonical way. Either way, the defcustom lets both workflows coexist without config-side advice tricks.

[dakra]

Thanks again ❤️

evil-ghostel seems designed around a normal ↔ insert flow: insert to interact with the TUI, normal to navigate the buffer. In practice I find normal ↔ emacs (toggled via C-z) smoother for the same flow — emacs-state behaves like a vanilla terminal, normal-state gives me the evil goodies (scrollback, search, yank).

Possible I'm using the package against its intended grain; happy to hear if there's a more canonical way. Either way, the defcustom lets both workflows coexist without config-side advice tricks.

Personally I'm not a evil user. I just added this package because a few users requested it and it's very popular.
So if something is not evil-idiomatic etc, you can just say or create a PR to fix it.