For the sake of completeness, I figured this out. Needed to add some "setxkbmap" directives to the i3 config.
``` ~/.config/i3/config exec_always "setxkbmap -model apple_laptop -layout us -variant mac -option compose:ralt" ``` This works :) On Wed, 22 Oct 2025 18:42:27 +0100 "requiem." <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear misc@, > > I'm struggling to get my compose keys to work in things outside of > xterm. I can type all the nice special characters I want there using > AltGr, but for whatever reason they do not work anywhere else. > > Everything is "stock" in my keyboard settings, haven't modified > anything with xkbdmap or other things. > > I'm using i3, here are a few configuration settings I think might be > relevant: > > ``` > $ cat ~/.xsession > #!/bin/sh > > . ~/.profile > > export ENABLE_WASM=1 > export TERMINAL=alacritty > export TERM=xterm-256color > export LC_CTYPE=en_GB.UTF-8 > export LC_ALL=en_GB.UTF-8 > export XCOMPOSEFILE=$HOME/.XCompose > sh $HOME/.config/background/fehbg > exec /usr/local/bin/i3 > > $ cat ~/.XCompose > include "%L" > > $ cat ~/.config/i3/config > # This file has been auto-generated by i3-config-wizard(1). > # It will not be overwritten, so edit it as you like. > [...] > set $mod Mod4 > [...] > bindcode $mod+40 exec "rofi -modi drun,run -show drun" > bindcode $mod+117 exec rofimoji > # The rest is default > ``` > > Any hints? Would love to be able to actually type things like "£"... > > Thanks > > requiem >
