Cursor IME Indicator

A lightweight VS Code extension that displays the current input language directly above your cursor. Never accidentally type in the wrong language again.

Features

• Inline language indicator — Shows a small label above your cursor so you always know which input language is active.
• Instant detection — Uses a native event-driven watcher on macOS for real-time input source changes with zero polling overhead.
• 25+ languages supported — Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese, and many more out of the box.
• Fully customizable — Adjust font size, opacity, color, and bold style to match your theme.

Supported Languages

CJK and non-Latin scripts display a representative character from their native writing system. Latin-alphabet languages display the ISO country code. Unknown input sources fall back to a 2-letter abbreviation automatically.

Requirements

• macOS (primary platform — uses native DistributedNotificationCenter for event-driven detection)
• VS Code 1.85.0 or later
• Xcode Command Line Tools (for first-run native helper compilation; falls back to polling if unavailable)

Windows and Linux support is planned for a future release.

Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Cmd+Shift+X)
3. Search for Cursor IME Indicator
4. Click Install

From VSIX

code --install-extension cursor-ime-indicator-0.0.1.vsix

Extension Settings

Example: Minimal

{
  "cursorImeIndicator.fontSize": 0.5,
  "cursorImeIndicator.opacity": 0.8,
  "cursorImeIndicator.bold": true,
  "cursorImeIndicator.color": "#888888"
}

Commands

Access via Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P).

How It Works

macOS

1. Primary: A native Swift helper listens for AppleSelectedInputSourcesChangedNotification via DistributedNotificationCenter. This is fully event-driven — no polling, no CPU overhead.
2. Fallback: If the native helper cannot be compiled (no Xcode CLI tools), the extension falls back to periodic polling via defaults read.

The native helper is automatically compiled on first activation and cached for subsequent sessions.

Known Issues

• On the first line of a file, the indicator may be partially clipped at the top edge.
• The indicator position may vary slightly depending on editor font and line height settings.

Release Notes

0.0.1

• Initial release
• macOS input source detection (native watcher + polling fallback)
• 25+ language support with native script indicators
• Customizable appearance (font size, opacity, bold, color)

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests.

License

MIT