macOS: Korean IME needs two Enter presses to submit

[woonmayer]

Issue Description

With the built-in 2-Set Korean IME, Enter while composing only commits the syllable. iTerm2 and cmux submit in one press.

PR #14272 (auto-closed by the vouch bot) fixes it. I built it on top of main and confirmed. Related: #1663

AI disclosure: Claude helped find the PR and draft this. I reproduced, built and tested it myself.

Expected Behavior

One Enter commits and submits.

Actual Behavior

First Enter only commits; a second Enter is needed to submit.

Reproduction Steps

1. Switch to 2-Set Korean
2. Type 가 in a shell prompt
3. Press Enter

Ghostty Logs

N/A

Ghostty Version

1.3.1

OS Version Information

macOS Tahoe 26.6.2, Apple M1 Pro

(Linux only) Display Server

None

(Linux only) Desktop Environment/Window Manager

No response

Minimal Ghostty Configuration

Empty

Additional Relevant Configuration

No response

I acknowledge that:

• I have reviewed the FAQ and confirm that my issue is NOT among them.
• I have searched the Ghostty documentation and confirm there doesn't exist a configuration option that solves my issue.
• I have searched the Ghostty repository (both open and closed Discussions and Issues) and confirm this is not a duplicate of an existing issue or discussion.
• I have checked the "Preview" tab on all text fields to ensure that everything looks right, and have wrapped all configuration and code in code blocks with a group of three backticks (```) on separate lines.

[hakgeumkim]

A related case with Option+arrow on tip, in case it shares the cause.

With macos-option-as-alt = true, Option+Left/Right while a Hangul syllable is composing does not commit it. The preedit stays attached to the cursor and moves with it, then commits at the new position.

Steps (2-Set Korean, plain zsh, no tmux)

1. Type 안녕 하세요
2. Without Space, press Option+Left

Expected: 요 is committed and the cursor moves back one word: 안녕 하세요

Actual: 요 moves with the cursor and is committed there: 요안녕 하세

• Plain Left/Right work correctly on tip (Fix Korean IME committed text handling for arrow keys #12447).
• Binding the keys directly (keybind = alt+left=esc:b, alt+right=esc:f) gives the same result.
• My guess is the re-synthesized event for option-as-alt in SurfaceView_AppKit.swift (around L1130–1151). The comment there says the original event must be reused for Korean input to work. I have not tested this.

Version: 1.3.2-main+c7cbc9bfd
OS: macOS 27.0, Apple M1
Config: macos-option-as-alt = true

AI disclosure: Claude helped read the source and draft this. I reproduced it myself.

[aca]

#13750

This covers the case. Hope to get some help to make it to the issue. Many koreans are creating discussion over and over. I contributed to several korean issue before (at beta) and I believe I have the fix.

[bo2themax]

It doesn't require a second enter for me to commit.

Screen.Recording.2026-10-21.at.10.41.02.mov

[MunsuBahk]

Additional reproduction evidence on Ghostty 1.4.0: Tab and Ctrl+Y also affected

Environment

• Ghostty 1.4.0 stable, Apple Silicon
• macOS 27.2 (26B123)
• Gureum 1.13.2 (Korean input method / IME)
• Input source: org.youknowone.inputmethod.Gureum.han3finalnoshift
• Reproduced in a standalone Ghostty shell, outside TUIOS and Neovim
• Current user configuration was in use; an empty Ghostty configuration was not tested

Reproduction

1. Run python3 pty-keyprobe.py in a standalone Ghostty shell, outside TUIOS and Neovim.
2. Select the Gureum input source above.
3. Type 가 and leave it composing: k then f in the tested 3-set layout, or r then k in standard 2-set.
4. Press Enter once, pause, then press Enter again. Repeat with a newly composed 가 for Tab and Ctrl+Y.

The byte captures below used the tested Gureum 3-set source. The probe reads stdin in raw mode, bypassing shell line editing.

Actual result

Key	First press	Second press
Enter	ea b0 80 (가) only	0d
Tab	ea b0 80 (가) only	09
Ctrl+Y	ea b0 80 (가) only	19

The first press commits 가 but does not deliver the original control byte. At an ordinary shell prompt, the first Enter likewise only commits the syllable. In Neovim, the first Ctrl+Y or Tab commits the syllable and refreshes completion suggestions; the second accepts completion. Earlier manual tests with English input or input ending in a digit or punctuation accepted completion on the first press.

Additional native AppKit evidence

A separate minimal NSView implementing NSTextInputClient was tested with the same Gureum input source and real user keystrokes. On the first press while markedText was 가, it recorded:

Enter:  insertText("가") → doCommand(insertNewline:)
Tab:    insertText("가") → doCommand(insertTab:)
Ctrl+Y: insertText("가") → doCommand(yank:)

This separate probe is not Ghostty instrumentation. It routes Control key equivalents to its own keyDown, so its responder path differs from Ghostty's.

Suspected handling path

In v1.4.0 SurfaceView_AppKit.swift, a key that commits existing preedit text sends that text separately, then replays only keys allowed by shouldReplayCommittedPreeditKey. Enter, Tab and Ctrl+Y are not allowed, and doCommand(by:) does not retain their selectors for this decision. This is consistent with the captures, but callbacks inside Ghostty were not traced. No patched Ghostty build was tested.

Expected behavior

When the Korean IME commits the syllable and leaves the key's command to the client, deliver the committed text followed by the original key event on the same keypress. The child application should interpret that key according to its own bindings.

Relation to earlier reports

Enter requiring two presses was already discussed in #13218. This report adds PTY byte captures for Tab and Ctrl+Y, together with supporting AppKit callback traces for all three keys. Related changes include #12447 and #12547, which addressed the character-loss issue in #8440. The unmerged #14272 covers Enter/Tab/Escape command matching but does not cover the Ctrl+Y case reported here.

Validation and disclosure

I identified the problem, cross-checked it across input methods and application configurations, and directed the investigation toward Ghostty. I performed the input tests and reviewed and edited this report. Codex assisted with diagnostic tooling, source inspection, log analysis, and drafting.

Attachments

ghostty-korean-ime-report-evidence-2026-11-02.zip: original PTY and AppKit logs, Python and Swift diagnostic sources, and Info.plist.
ghostty-korean-ime-report-evidence-2026-11-02.zip