kbswitch

A command line utility for Windows that helps you switch keyboard layouts, especially designed for vim users.

Usage

• --list or -l

Lists all installed keyboard layouts with their index, KLID (Keyboard Layout ID), layout name and active status.

• --current

Shows the currently active keyboard layout.

• --activate <KLID> or -a <KLID>

Activates the keyboard layout specified by KLID.

• Example output of --list:

 Index        KLID          Layout Name                  Status
 -----        ----          -----------                  ------
   1        00000409        US
   2        00060409        Colemak
   3        00000411        Japanese
   4        00000804        Chinese (Simplified) - US   *Active*

Examples:

• kbswitch --activate 00000409: Activate the US keyboard
• kbswitch --activate 00060409: Activate the Colemak keyboard
• kbswitch --activate 00000411: Activate the Japanese keyboard
• kbswitch --activate 00000804: Activate the Chinese (Simplified) keyboard

• --cache or -c

Saves the current keyboard layout to a temporary file for later restoration.

• --restore or -r

Restores the previously cached keyboard layout.

• --version or -v

Shows the current version of kbswitch.

How to use it in Neovim

1. Make sure kbswitch.exe is in your PATH.
2. Add the following lines to your init.lua:

local kb_switch_group = vim.api.nvim_create_augroup("KBSwitch", { clear = true })

vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd("InsertLeave", {
  pattern = "*",
  group = kb_switch_group,
  callback = function()
    vim.fn.jobstart("kbswitch --cache && kbswitch --activate 00000409") -- Replace with your preferred layout KLID
  end
})

vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd("InsertEnter", {
  pattern = "*",
  group = kb_switch_group,
  callback = function()
    vim.fn.jobstart("kbswitch --restore")
  end
})

Note: This setup allows Neovim to automatically:

1. Cache your current keyboard layout and switch to a specified layout when leaving insert mode
2. Restore your previous layout when entering insert mode

Requirements and Permissions

• This program requires read access to the Windows registry to query keyboard layouts.
• This program writes to the %TEMP% directory to store cached keyboard layout information.

Compatibility

Compatible with modern Windows systems (Windows 8+). Tested on Windows 11 64-bit.

LICENSE

MIT