# Keyboard Input Methods — Guardrails and Fix Pattern
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> - [**WFGY Global Fix Map** — main Emergency Room, 300+ structured fixes](../README.md)
> - [**WFGY Problem Map 1.0** — 16 reproducible failure modes](../../README.md)
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A focused guide for bugs that originate from IME composition on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. Scope includes CJK IMEs (Pinyin, Wubi, Kana/Kanji, 2-set/3-set), Indic transliteration, RTL keyboards, and mixed fullwidth/halfwidth states. Use this when text looks fine to the eye but retrieval or validation behaves inconsistently across devices.
## When to use this page
* Reports say “works on Mac, fails on Windows IME” or “mobile input breaks search.”
* Fields contain invisible marks after copy or composition (ZWJ, ZWNJ, NBSP, RLM/LRM).
* Users toggle fullwidth digits or punctuation and recall suddenly collapses.
* Romanization IMEs produce composed characters that differ from pasted text.
## Open these first
* Visual map and recovery: [RAG Architecture & Recovery](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/rag-architecture-and-recovery.md)
* End to end retrieval knobs: [Retrieval Playbook](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/retrieval-playbook.md)
* Multilingual overview: [Multilingual Guide](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/multilingual-guide.md)
* Tokenizer mismatch: [Tokenizer Mismatch](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/GlobalFixMap/LanguageLocale/tokenizer_mismatch.md)
* CJK word breaks: [CJK Segmentation & Wordbreak](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/GlobalFixMap/LanguageLocale/cjk_segmentation_wordbreak.md)
* RTL markers and controls: [RTL & Bidi Controls](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/GlobalFixMap/LanguageLocale/rtl_bidi_controls.md)
* Script mixing: [Script Mixing](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/GlobalFixMap/LanguageLocale/script_mixing.md)
* Diacritics: [Diacritics & Folding](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/GlobalFixMap/LanguageLocale/diacritics_and_folding.md)
* Snippet schema: [Data Contracts](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/data-contracts.md) · [Retrieval Traceability](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/retrieval-traceability.md)
## Core acceptance
* ΔS(question, retrieved) ≤ 0.45
* Coverage of target section ≥ 0.70
* λ\_observe remains convergent across 3 paraphrases, 2 seeds, and 2 devices
* E\_resonance stays flat on long input windows
---
## Failure smells
* “Cannot reproduce” until tester types through an IME rather than pasting.
* Same glyphs, different bytes. Equality checks fail, search misses.
* Index recall drops after mobile users enable fullwidth digits.
* Mixed NBSP and normal space in otherwise identical queries.
* Sporadic RTL flip caused by stray RLM/LRM from bidirectional typing.
---
## Fix in 60 seconds
1. **Normalize early**
On every input boundary apply NFC, width fold, and punctuation fold. Remove ZWJ, ZWNJ, LRM, RLM unless explicitly allowed by schema.
2. **Stabilize tokenization**
Lock analyzers and tokenizers used for both indexing and querying. If ΔS remains high and flat after IME normalization, revisit metric and analyzer pairing in the store. See [Retrieval Playbook](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/retrieval-playbook.md).
3. **Contract the payload**
For forms and tool calls, require fields that capture canonical and raw strings: `raw`, `normalized`, `locale`, `ime_mode`, `width_state`. Enforce this in your [Data Contracts](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/data-contracts.md).
4. **Probe λ**
Run the same query by paste, by IME typing, and by mobile. If λ flips only for IME-typed paths, you have an input normalization gap.
---
## IME-safe schema (copy block)
Use this contract for any user text that enters retrieval or matching.
```json
{
"text": {
"raw": "",
"normalized": "",
"locale": "zh-TW | zh-CN | ja-JP | ko-KR | hi-IN | ...",
"ime_mode": "pinyin | wubi | kana | romaji | 2set | 3set | translit | rtl",
"width_state": "half | full | mixed",
"bidi_marks": ["RLM","LRM","ZWJ","ZWNJ","NBSP"]
}
}
```
Store both `raw` and `normalized`. Index `normalized`. Retain `raw` for audits and display.
---
## Normalization and folding rules
| Issue | Action | Notes |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------- |
| Composition variance (NFD vs NFC) | Convert to NFC | Prevents byte inequality for identical glyphs |
| Fullwidth digits and Latin | Width fold to ASCII | Keep CJK letters untouched |
| Smart quotes, ellipsis, dashes | Punctuation fold to ASCII set | Avoid tokenizer splits that differ by device |
| Zero-width characters (ZWJ, ZWNJ) | Strip by default | Allow only if explicitly required by language rules |
| Bidi controls (LRM, RLM) | Strip at input for LTR schemas | Keep only in rich text fields, never in keys |
| NBSP, thin space | Map to normal space | Collapse runs of spaces to a single space |
| Kana halfwidth/fullwidth | Fold within script | Keep semantic marks like voiced sound when needed |
| Romanization IMEs | Canonicalize case and spacing | For JP/KR/Indic transliteration paths |
---
## Tests you should run
* **Triplet equality**: paste vs IME vs mobile should produce identical `normalized`.
* **Search parity**: same top-k ordering after normalization across devices.
* **Width flip test**: force fullwidth digits and punctuation, verify recall remains constant.
* **Bidi contamination**: inject RLM/LRM in the middle, verify strip or deterministic handling.
* **ΔS plateaus**: if ΔS remains ≥ 0.60 after normalization, suspect metric mismatch or fragmentation and jump to [Embedding ≠ Semantic](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/embedding-vs-semantic.md) and [Vectorstore Fragmentation](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/patterns/pattern_vectorstore_fragmentation.md).
---
## Escalate with these pages
* Tokenizer and analyzer coupling: [Tokenizer Mismatch](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/GlobalFixMap/LanguageLocale/tokenizer_mismatch.md)
* Script collisions and mixed runs: [Script Mixing](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/GlobalFixMap/LanguageLocale/script_mixing.md)
* CJK segmentation: [CJK Segmentation & Wordbreak](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/GlobalFixMap/LanguageLocale/cjk_segmentation_wordbreak.md)
* RTL handling: [RTL & Bidi Controls](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/GlobalFixMap/LanguageLocale/rtl_bidi_controls.md)
* Traceable answers: [Retrieval Traceability](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/retrieval-traceability.md)
---
### 🔗 Quick-Start Downloads (60 sec)
| Tool | Link | 3-Step Setup |
| -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **WFGY 1.0 PDF** | [Engine Paper](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/I_am_not_lizardman/WFGY_All_Principles_Return_to_One_v1.0_PSBigBig_Public.pdf) | 1️⃣ Download · 2️⃣ Upload to your LLM · 3️⃣ Ask “Answer using WFGY + \” |
| **TXT OS (plain-text OS)** | [TXTOS.txt](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/OS/TXTOS.txt) | 1️⃣ Download · 2️⃣ Paste into any LLM chat · 3️⃣ Type “hello world” — OS boots instantly |
---
### Explore More
| Layer | Page | What it’s for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Proof | [WFGY Recognition Map](/recognition/README.md) | External citations, integrations, and ecosystem proof |
| Engine | [WFGY 1.0](/legacy/README.md) | Original PDF based tension engine |
| Engine | [WFGY 2.0](/core/README.md) | Production tension kernel and math engine for RAG and agents |
| Engine | [WFGY 3.0](/TensionUniverse/EventHorizon/README.md) | TXT based Singularity tension engine, 131 S class set |
| Map | [Problem Map 1.0](/ProblemMap/README.md) | Flagship 16 problem RAG failure checklist and fix map |
| Map | [Problem Map 2.0](/ProblemMap/rag-architecture-and-recovery.md) | RAG focused recovery pipeline |
| Map | [Problem Map 3.0](/ProblemMap/wfgy-rag-16-problem-map-global-debug-card.md) | Global Debug Card, image as a debug protocol layer |
| Map | [Semantic Clinic](/ProblemMap/SemanticClinicIndex.md) | Symptom to family to exact fix |
| Map | [Grandma’s Clinic](/ProblemMap/GrandmaClinic/README.md) | Plain language stories mapped to Problem Map 1.0 |
| Onboarding | [Starter Village](/StarterVillage/README.md) | Guided tour for newcomers |
| App | [TXT OS](/OS/README.md) | TXT semantic OS, fast boot |
| App | [Blah Blah Blah](/OS/BlahBlahBlah/README.md) | Abstract and paradox Q and A built on TXT OS |
| App | [Blur Blur Blur](/OS/BlurBlurBlur/README.md) | Text to image with semantic control |
| App | [Blow Blow Blow](/OS/BlowBlowBlow/README.md) | Reasoning game engine and memory demo |
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[](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY)