Avoid synthetic-input bugs in automation targeting IME-based (CJK) text entry by respecting composition events instead of raw keydown
domain: developer.mozilla.org · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
Sampled — shipped under file-level sampling, not individually fact-checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Steps
Recognize that typing CJK text involves a distinct composition phase — compositionstart/compositionupdate/compositionend fire around the eventual final input event, not a simple keydown/keyup per character
When scripting Enter-key handling for an app under test, check the event's isComposing flag before treating Enter as a submit/select action, since an IME Enter often confirms a candidate rather than submitting
In frameworks with synthetic event systems (e.g. React), read isComposing off the native event rather than the synthetic wrapper, since the synthetic event may not carry it
When driving automation input synthetically, prefer setting the input value plus dispatching input/composition events over simulating raw per-character key presses, since most automation keyboard APIs type Latin characters without a real IME composition sequence
Test with an actual non-Latin locale/keyboard layout in CI rather than assuming Latin-keyboard automation coverage generalizes, since physical key codes are layout-dependent
Known gotchas
A component that submits or acts on every Enter keydown without checking isComposing fires prematurely on the IME confirmation keystroke, committing unconfirmed or partial CJK text
Most browser automation 'type text' helpers insert Latin text as literal key events and don't genuinely emulate an IME composition session, so tests passing against them can still break for real CJK input
Physical key codes vary by OS keyboard layout, so automation asserting on specific key codes rather than resulting characters can behave differently on machines with a non-US layout
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