eslint-plugin-ime-safe-form

ESLint plugin to enforce IME-safe key-event handling for users who type with an IME (Input Method Editor).

Quick Start

npm install --save-dev eslint-plugin-ime-safe-form

// eslint.config.js (ESLint 9)
import imeSafeForm from 'eslint-plugin-ime-safe-form';

export default [imeSafeForm.configs.recommended];

For ESLint 8 / .eslintrc setup and advanced configuration, see Usage.

Try it in the playground.

Why

When checking for the Enter key in keydown/keyup handlers to submit a form, users typing with an IME experience broken input: pressing Enter to confirm IME candidates accidentally triggers form submission before the composition is complete.

There are three correct approaches for Enter / form submission:

// ✅ Option 1: use the form's submit event (fires after composition ends — no guard needed)
form.addEventListener('submit', (e) => {
  e.preventDefault();
  submit();
});

// ✅ Option 2: require a modifier key — IME cannot be composing while Ctrl/Meta/Shift/Alt is held
input.addEventListener('keydown', (e) => {
  if (e.key === 'Enter' && (e.ctrlKey || e.metaKey)) submit();
});

// ✅ Option 3: guard with e.isComposing + e.keyCode === 229 (covers Safari)
input.addEventListener('keydown', (e) => {
  if (e.isComposing || e.keyCode === 229) return;
  if (e.key === 'Enter') submit();
});

// ❌ Bad — breaks IME input
input.addEventListener('keydown', (e) => {
  if (e.key === 'Enter') submit();
});

keypress is prohibited entirely as it is deprecated.

The same IME race condition applies to non-Enter keys too — Escape, ArrowDown, and others can fire while IME composition is active. For those cases, use require-ime-safe-key-events.

Safari note: In Safari, compositionend fires before keydown, so e.isComposing is false when Enter confirms IME. The e.keyCode === 229 check covers this gap. To require only e.isComposing (if Safari support is not needed), set { checkKeyCodeForSafari: false } in the rule options.

Custom guard functions: If you extract the isComposing check into a shared helper, use the guardFunctions option to register the function name so the rule recognises it as an IME guard:

const guardIsComposing = (e) => e.isComposing || e.keyCode === 229;

// eslint.config.js
rules: { 'ime-safe-form/require-ime-safe-submit': ['warn', { guardFunctions: ['guardIsComposing'] }] }

Usage

Flat config (eslint.config.js, ESLint 9)

import imeSafeForm from 'eslint-plugin-ime-safe-form';

export default [
  imeSafeForm.configs.recommended,
];

Note: The recommended config sets all three rules to "warn". To treat violations as errors, configure them manually:

rules: {
  'ime-safe-form/no-keypress-event': 'error',
  'ime-safe-form/require-ime-safe-submit': 'error',
  'ime-safe-form/require-ime-safe-key-events': 'error',
}

Manual configuration

All three rules are independent and complementary:

• no-keypress-event — flags any use of the deprecated keypress event; suggests keydown instead
• require-ime-safe-submit — Enter key only; also suggests the form's submit event as an alternative
• require-ime-safe-key-events — all non-Enter keys (Escape, ArrowDown, Tab, etc.)

import imeSafeForm from 'eslint-plugin-ime-safe-form';

export default [
  {
    plugins: { 'ime-safe-form': imeSafeForm },
    rules: {
      'ime-safe-form/no-keypress-event': 'warn',
      'ime-safe-form/require-ime-safe-submit': 'warn',
      'ime-safe-form/require-ime-safe-key-events': 'warn',
    },
  },
];

Legacy config (.eslintrc.js, ESLint 8)

module.exports = {
  plugins: ['ime-safe-form'],
  extends: ['plugin:ime-safe-form/recommended:legacy'],
};

Or manually:

module.exports = {
  plugins: ['ime-safe-form'],
  rules: {
    'ime-safe-form/no-keypress-event': 'warn',
    'ime-safe-form/require-ime-safe-submit': 'warn',
    'ime-safe-form/require-ime-safe-key-events': 'warn',
  },
};

TypeScript / TSX

Install @typescript-eslint/parser and set it as the parser for TypeScript files:

// eslint.config.js (ESLint 9)
import imeSafeForm from 'eslint-plugin-ime-safe-form';
import tsParser from '@typescript-eslint/parser';

export default [
  {
    files: ['**/*.{ts,tsx}'],
    languageOptions: { parser: tsParser },
  },
  imeSafeForm.configs.recommended,
];

// .eslintrc.js (ESLint 8)
module.exports = {
  parser: '@typescript-eslint/parser',
  plugins: ['ime-safe-form'],
  extends: ['plugin:ime-safe-form/recommended:legacy'],
};

Rules

| Rule | Description | Recommended | |---|---|---| | no-keypress-event | Flags any use of the deprecated keypress event and suggests keydown instead | ✅ | | require-ime-safe-submit | Flags Enter key checks in keydown/keyup without an e.isComposing guard; suggests the form's submit event as the primary alternative | ✅ | | require-ime-safe-key-events | Flags non-Enter key checks in keydown/keyup without an e.isComposing guard; use alongside require-ime-safe-submit for full key coverage | ✅ |

no-keypress-event

Flags any use of the keypress event — addEventListener('keypress', …), element.onkeypress = …, or JSX onKeyPress / onkeypress — and suggests replacing it with keydown. keypress is deprecated by the browser standard; it was always unreliable with IME input regardless of any e.isComposing guard.

See the full rule documentation.

Detected patterns

• element.addEventListener('keypress', handler) — always flagged, including named function references
• element.onkeypress = handler — property assignment
• JSX onKeyPress / onkeypress props — flagged on all element types

require-ime-safe-submit

Detects Enter key checks in keydown/keyup handlers that lack an e.isComposing guard and reports them with a suggestion to use the form's submit event or add an e.isComposing guard. Non-Enter key checks are not flagged by this rule.

See the full rule documentation for options, JSX support, and Safari handling.

Detected patterns

• element.addEventListener('keydown' | 'keyup', handler) where the handler checks e.key === 'Enter' (or e.keyCode === 13, e.code === 'Enter') without an e.isComposing guard or modifier key condition
• element.onkeydown / element.onkeyup assignments with Enter checks
• JSX onKeyDown / onKeyUp props on IME-capable elements with Enter checks

require-ime-safe-key-events

Detects non-Enter key checks in keydown/keyup handlers that lack an e.isComposing guard. Use alongside require-ime-safe-submit for full key coverage. The two rules cover different key patterns, so the same underlying issue is never reported twice. A handler that contains both an Enter check and a non-Enter check — each unguarded — will receive one report from each rule, pointing to the same fix: add an e.isComposing guard.

See the full rule documentation for options, JSX support, and Safari handling.

Detected patterns

• element.addEventListener('keydown' | 'keyup', handler) where the handler checks a non-Enter key (e.key === 'Escape', e.key === 'Tab', etc.) without an e.isComposing guard or modifier key condition
• element.onkeydown / element.onkeyup assignments with non-Enter key checks
• JSX onKeyDown / onKeyUp props on IME-capable elements with non-Enter key checks
• switch(e.key) { case 'Enter': ...; case 'Escape': ... } — a switch containing any non-Enter case is flagged even when an Enter case is also present

Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Sync generated source from package.json when needed
npm run sync-version

# Type-check
npm run typecheck

# Run tests (no build step needed)
npm test

# Build for publishing
npm run build

src/version.ts is auto-generated from package.json and committed to the repository. This keeps fresh clones and editor tooling working without a separate bootstrap step. build, test, and typecheck run npm run sync-version automatically to keep it in sync.

Project structure

src/
  index.ts              # Plugin entry point
  version.ts            # Auto-generated from package.json and committed
  rules/
    helpers.ts          # Shared AST helpers and detection logic
    key-event-rule.ts   # Shared rule factory (makeRuleCreate)
    no-keypress-event.ts
    require-ime-safe-submit.ts
    require-ime-safe-key-events.ts
scripts/
  sync-version.mjs      # Syncs src/version.ts from package.json
tests/
  no-keypress-event.test.ts
  require-ime-safe-submit.test.ts
  require-ime-safe-key-events.test.ts
docs/
  rules/
    no-keypress-event.md
    require-ime-safe-submit.md
    require-ime-safe-key-events.md
dist/                   # Built output (generated by npm run build)

License

MIT © Hiroya Uga