Zed inputs incorrect character when I use meta key on keyboard

[dsgallups]

Summary

I have layers on an ergodox ez. Only in zed, if I press a macro key too quickly, will Zed output the wrong character (the shifted variant of a character)

Description

I am using an ergodox ez with this keymap: https://configure.zsa.io/ergodox-ez-st/layouts/xdv63/9DQLL3/0 (Edit: I moved the Escape key up one key. It originally was bound to the same key as the layer 1 shift:

When I hold the Escape key on the left hand side, that key shifts my keyboard to the Symbols layer. So, when I type a character with this pressed, I expect to see the character pressed. However, if I don't wait >100ms to second to press the key, I will get the shifted form of that special character.

This is SPECIFIC only to Zed. I have tried various other text input methods (browser, notepad, terminal). None of them cause this behavior.

Expected vs Actual

Note: I am holding the Escape key and pressing the expected key. The actual key is the result.

Expected (Layer shift 1)	Actual
{	[
:	;
}	]
=	=
|	\

...

As I'm typing...I'm realizing that something is anticipating a shift. I have no clue what this is.

This is a difficult one, because it's specific to my workflow. I thought I was going nuts, but once this occurred on two different ErgoDox EZ on both linux and macOS (4 scenarios tested), I realized this is an input bug specific to Zed. I am totally unsure what went wrong, and I will investigate what version I encountered this issue. This is destroying my speed.

Please let me know how I can provide relevant details/if there's an efficient way for me to revert back to an older zed version 😄

Zed Version and System Specs

Zed: v0.197.5 (Zed)
OS: Linux X11 ubuntu 24.04
Memory: 60.4 GiB
Architecture: x86_64
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 || NVIDIA || 570.172.08

[dsgallups]

So I've since moved my Escape key up. This fixes the problem, though now I gotta develop a stronger pinky.

Note: I can't replicate this behavior by pressing Escape and key. Only when they are bound together does this occur. This might or might not be worthwhile to look into.

I couldn't find a relevant issue to link to, so feel free to close this if no immediate answer jumps out to y'all. I'm not going to close it, because I would highly appreciate another set of eyes to see if there's something more afoul here. If there's some program that can help you debug what the actual input through the OS -> Zed looks like, please let me know! And if not, but you want to see it, I'm happy to write a little input-deconstructed keylogger to do this.

Thank you for looking!

Love the editor, thank y'all for your hard work!

[notpeter]

From the command palette, dev: open key context view may be of help.

I think I have a ergodox ez somewhere, so I might be able to try and reproduce. But you are right, this is pretty niche and I'm not immediately sure where to start. That said, our Linux keybind handling has some major issues (re: localization/internationalization) so it may be possible you are being caught up in related bugs. We are intending to try and prioritize improving that in the coming months, but no timeline/promises.

Thanks for reporting.

[AndreRoelofs]

From the command palette, dev: open key context view may be of help.

I think I have a ergodox ez somewhere, so I might be able to try and reproduce. But you are right, this is pretty niche and I'm not immediately sure where to start. That said, our Linux keybind handling has some major issues (re: localization/internationalization) so it may be possible you are being caught up in related bugs. We are intending to try and prioritize improving that in the coming months, but no timeline/promises.

Thanks for reporting.

Hi I played around and was able to reproduce the issue with a python script on Ubuntu 22.04 x11. Please find the script attached. It simulates { input every 2 seconds. The default key holding timings are a bit extreme, but it works every time to make { in VSCode and [ in Zed. I ran it by:

1. Running sudo python3 -m pip install evdev --break-system-packages
2. Running sudo python3 zed_shift_brace_replayer.py

zed_shift_brace_replayer.py

[AndreRoelofs]

At --hold=0.01 it prints in Zed sometimes [ and sometimes {. At --hold=0.1 it correctly inputs {. So it seems there is an issue with timings in between.

[blasnier]

I too can reproduce with your script, thanks! I have shared your post in #40678 which looks related.

[finostro]

I have an issue which may be the same or very related.
I have a custom keyboard running qmk and when a layer uses a shifted character zed sometimes gets the unshifted character ( ; instead of : in the example below) .
This somehow only happens when I press the layer key quickly. This is weird because even when I hold my layer key, the keyboard does not hold the shift key , it produces the same 4 events (press shift > press ; > release ; > release shift).
In other words the output of showkey is always consistent, and other programs don't seem to have this issue.
showkey always reports the keyboard events as follows:

:keycode  42 press
keycode  39 press
keycode  39 release
keycode  42 release

I've used the editor for about 5 minutes and it otherwise looks incredible.

Edit: changing to wayland fixes the issue

[AndreRoelofs]

I have the same problem on Glorious Engrammer layout on Glove 80. The issue is due to timing and when pressing "symbol layer + y" I expect "{" to appear which is shift + [ on a normal keyboard. However if pressed too fast I get "[" instead. I am able to reliably reproduce the issue based on timings and can confirm this to be a Zed specific bug. Chrome and VSCode don't have the typing issue. I also used keyboard tester website and no matter how hard I tried, I could not get the pressed combination to show up as "[". It was always "shift + [".