helix-fcitx-focus

简体中文⁠

Steel plugin for Helix that keeps fcitx5 in English outside insert mode and restores the previous active input method when entering insert mode.

This is useful for Chinese/Japanese/Korean input workflows where normal-mode keys should stay ASCII, while insert mode should resume the input method you were using before leaving insert mode.

Requirements

• Helix built with Steel support from the steel-event-system branch.
• fcitx5 running on the user session bus.

Install with Forge

Install the plugin with Forge:

forge pkg install --git https://github.com/mtul0729/helix-fcitx-focus

Then load the plugin from ~/.config/helix/init.scm:

(require "helix-fcitx-focus/cogs/fcitx-focus.scm")

NixOS / Home Manager

This repository also exposes a flake package and Home Manager module for declarative installations:

{
  inputs.helix-fcitx-focus.url = "github:mtul0729/helix-fcitx-focus";

  outputs =
    { helix-fcitx-focus, ... }:
    {
      # In a Home Manager module:
      home-manager.users.example =
        { pkgs, ... }:
        {
          imports = [
            helix-fcitx-focus.homeManagerModules.default
          ];

          programs.helix.plugins.helix-fcitx-focus.enable = true;

          xdg.configFile."helix/init.scm".text = ''
            (require "helix-fcitx-focus/cogs/fcitx-focus.scm")
          '';
        };
    };
}

Development

For local development from this repository:

nix develop
cargo steel-lib
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/steel/cogs/helix-fcitx-focus/cogs
cp cogs/fcitx-focus.scm ~/.local/share/steel/cogs/helix-fcitx-focus/cogs/

Behavior

• Leaving insert mode saves the current fcitx5 state and switches fcitx5 to inactive/English.
• Entering insert mode restores the saved active input method, if there was one.
• Focusing Helix in normal/select mode closes fcitx5.
• Focusing Helix while it is still in insert mode restores the saved input method instead of blindly closing it.
• When Helix gains focus, the plugin remembers the input method state that was active in the previous application.
• When Helix loses focus, the plugin restores that previous application input method state by default.
• SSH sessions and non-graphical sessions are ignored.

License

Licensed under either of Apache License, Version 2.0 or MIT license at your option.