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Clint Rutkas af45c3ec7c Add press-and-hold activation mode to Quick Accent (#48937) 
## Summary of the Pull Request

Adds an opt-in **press-and-hold** activation mode to Quick Accent, like
iOS / macOS: hold an accent-capable letter (e.g. `a`) and after a short,
configurable delay the accent picker opens automatically — no separate
trigger key (Space/arrows) required.

This is purely additive. The existing trigger-key modes (`Left/Right
arrow`, `Space`, `Both`) and all serialized settings values are
unchanged.


https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/faec298c-e42c-4fd1-84bd-6e74d1b481a0


### What it does

- Holding a letter types the base letter immediately, then arms the
picker. After the **Hold duration** (default **500 ms**) the toolbar
appears.
- Navigate the options with the arrow keys / Space, then **release the
letter** to insert the selected accent (it replaces the base letter).
- A quick tap types just the letter. Holding and releasing without
selecting leaves the base letter as-is.
- `Ctrl` / `Alt` / `AltGr` / `Win` + letter combinations are left
untouched, so shortcuts like `Ctrl+A` still work.

## PR Checklist

- [ ] **Closes:** N/A — feature enhancement (happy to link a tracking
issue if one is preferred)
- [x] **Communication:** Discussed direction with maintainers;
coordinated with #48891 (see below)
- [ ] **Tests:** No automated tests added — the activation decision
lives in the C++ low-level keyboard hook and isn't reachable from the
existing managed unit-test project. Validated manually (steps below).
Open to guidance on the preferred test surface.
- [x] **Localization:** All new end-user strings are in
`Settings.UI/Strings/en-us/Resources.resw` with translator comments.
- [x] **Dev docs:** `doc/devdocs/modules/quickaccent.md` updated with
the new mode.
- [x] **New binaries:** None.
- [x] **Documentation updated:** Dev docs updated; public Learn docs can
follow once shipped.

## Detailed Description of the Pull Request / Additional comments

- **`PowerAccentKeyboardService` (C++ hook):**
- Append `PressAndHold` to the internal `PowerAccentActivationKey` enum
(value `3`, appended to preserve serialized `0/1/2`).
- Add a `holdDuration` setting and `UpdateHoldDuration(Int32)` to the
WinRT projection (`.idl`).
- In `OnKeyDown`, arm the picker on the held letter itself; the base
letter still types on first press and auto-repeat is swallowed (reuses
the existing `m_toolbarVisible` repeat guard from #36853).
- In `OnKeyUp`, use the hold duration as the minimum-hold release
threshold for this mode (trigger modes keep using `inputTime`).
  - Modifier guard: Ctrl/Alt/AltGr/Win do not arm the mode.
- **Settings model (`Settings.UI.Library`):** append `PressAndHold` to
`PowerAccentActivationKey`; add `hold_duration_ms` (`IntProperty`,
default 500). Existing `settings.json` without the field falls back to
the 500 ms default.
- **`PowerAccent.Core`:** read and forward the hold duration to the
hook, and use it as the popup delay when `PressAndHold` is active.
- **Settings UI:** add the **"Press and hold the letter"** activation
option and a **"Hold duration (ms)"** control that is shown only when
that mode is selected.

### Enum sync note

`PowerAccentActivationKey` exists in both the C++ hook and the managed
settings library and is kept in sync by integer value. `PressAndHold`
was **appended** (never reordered) so existing serialized settings
(`0/1/2`) keep their meaning.

### Coordination with #48891 (Quick Accent WinUI migration)

This lands as its own atomic change on `main`. The overlap with the
in-progress WinUI migration (#48891) is tiny: only `PowerAccent.cs`'s
mode-aware popup delay (a single `Task.Delay` line). The C++ hook,
settings enum/model, and Settings UI are not touched by #48891, so it
can rebase onto this with minimal effort.

## Validation Steps Performed

- Built the full chain in `Debug|x64`:
- `PowerAccent.UI.csproj` → rebuilds the C++
`PowerAccentKeyboardService` projection (incl. `UpdateHoldDuration`) +
`PowerAccent.Core` + `Settings.UI.Library`. **0 errors.**
- `PowerToys.Settings.csproj` → Settings UI XAML / ViewModel / `.resw`
(XamlIndexBuilder search index regenerated). **0 errors.**
- Manual trial of the running module (`PowerToys.PowerAccent.exe`) with
`activation_key = 3`:
- Hold `a` → base letter types immediately; picker opens after ~500 ms;
arrows/Space navigate; releasing inserts the accent (replacing the base
letter).
- Quick tap → base letter only. Hold + release without selecting → base
letter remains.
  - `Ctrl+A` / `Alt`+letter unaffected.

---------

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
2026-07-03 03:43:37 +00:00
..
common
[DevDocs] More content and restructure (#40165)
2025-07-01 14:27:34 +02:00
core
Improve dev docs (#45534)
2026-02-11 22:59:53 +01:00
development
Add CmdPal debugging information (#48108)
2026-05-25 17:32:57 +00:00
images
Shortcut Guide V2 (#40834)
2026-05-21 17:27:52 +02:00
modules
Add press-and-hold activation mode to Quick Accent (#48937)
2026-07-03 03:43:37 +00:00
processes
Resolve spelling check noise (#40433)
2025-07-07 13:08:48 +08:00
tools
[Chore] Remove outdated clean up tool (#48992)
2026-07-02 12:52:27 +02:00
akaLinks.md
[VCM]Deprecate the Video Conference Mute utility (#36772)
2025-01-16 15:17:34 +00:00
cli-conventions.md
Add standard CLI support for Image Resizer (#44287)
2025-12-26 12:54:47 +08:00
commands.md
Add documentation of bot commands and fix some devdocs (#43399)
2025-12-05 14:55:45 +01:00
disk-usage-footprint.md
[devdocs] Add disk usage footprint doc (#23248)
2023-01-25 18:36:25 +01:00
embedded-msix.md
[Docs] Add msix embedding instructions (#13489)
2021-09-30 14:29:05 +03:00
events.md
Add developer documentation for implementing telemetry events in PowerToys modules. (#44912)
2026-02-10 11:22:51 -08:00
guidance.md
Fix broken style.md links in devdocs (#44457)
2026-01-04 12:23:45 +08:00
logging.md
Centralize c# logger (#22760)
2023-03-21 10:27:29 +01:00
readme.md
Adding CmdPal Extensions doc links (#45632)
2026-02-23 06:24:00 -06:00
run-as-admin-detection.md
Create run-as-admin-detection.md
2020-07-29 17:43:43 -07:00

readme.md

PowerToys Developer Documentation

Welcome to the PowerToys developer documentation. This documentation provides information for developers who want to contribute to PowerToys or understand how it works.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

  1. Windows 10 April 2018 Update (version 1803) or newer
  2. Visual Studio 2026 (recommended) or Visual Studio 2022 17.4+ with the following workloads/components:
    • Desktop Development with C++
    • WinUI application development
    • .NET desktop development
    • Windows 10 SDK (10.0.22621.0)
    • Windows 11 SDK (10.0.26100.3916)
  3. .NET 8 SDK
  4. Enable long paths in Windows (see Enable Long Paths for details)

Tip: You can install Visual Studio with all required workloads automatically using the WinGet configuration files in the repository:

winget configure .config\configuration.winget

Pick the file that matches your VS edition (e.g., configuration.vsProfessional.winget or configuration.vsEnterprise.winget).

Fork, Clone, and Set Up

  1. Fork the repo on GitHub if you haven't already
  2. Clone your fork locally
  3. Run the automated setup script (recommended):
.\tools\build\setup-dev-environment.ps1

This script will:

  • Enable Windows long path support (requires administrator privileges)
  • Enable Windows Developer Mode (requires administrator privileges)
  • Guide you through installing required Visual Studio components from .vsconfig
  • Initialize git submodules

Run with -Help to see all available options.

Manual setup (if you prefer not to use the script)

Install Visual Studio dependencies

  1. Open the PowerToys.slnx file.
  2. If you see a dialog that says install extra components in the solution explorer pane, click install

Alternatively, import the .vsconfig file from the repository root using Visual Studio Installer to install all required workloads.

Initialize submodules

This is a one-time step required before you can compile most parts of PowerToys.

  1. Open a terminal
  2. Navigate to the folder you cloned PowerToys to.
  3. Run git submodule update --init --recursive

Building

Using Visual Studio

  • Open PowerToys.slnx in Visual Studio.
  • In the Solutions Configuration drop-down menu select Release or Debug.
  • From the Build menu choose Build Solution, or press Control+Shift+b on your keyboard.
  • The build process may take several minutes depending on your computer's performance. Once it completes, the PowerToys binaries will be in your repo under x64\Release\.
    • You can run x64\Release\PowerToys.exe directly without installing PowerToys, but some modules (i.e. PowerRename, ImageResizer, File Explorer extension etc.) will not be available unless you also build the installer and install PowerToys.

Using Command Line

You can also build from the command line using the provided scripts in tools\build\:

# Build the full solution (auto-detects platform)
.\tools\build\build.ps1

# Build with specific configuration
.\tools\build\build.ps1 -Platform x64 -Configuration Release

# Build only essential projects (runner + settings) for faster iteration
.\tools\build\build-essentials.ps1

# Build everything including the installer (Release only)
.\tools\build\build-installer.ps1

Debugging

See Debugging for detailed debugging techniques, including Visual Studio setup, attaching to child processes, and troubleshooting build errors.

Creating a New PowerToy

See Creating a New PowerToy for an end-to-end guide covering module architecture, settings integration, installer packaging, and testing.

Building Command Palette Extensions

If you want to build your own extensions for Command Palette, check out the Command Palette extensibility documentation. It covers how to create, package, and distribute custom extensions that integrate with Command Palette.

Development Guidelines

Rules

  • Follow the pattern of what you already see in the code.
  • Coding style.
  • Try to package new functionality/components into libraries that have nicely defined interfaces.
  • Package new functionality into classes or refactor existing functionality into a class as you extend the code.
  • When adding new classes/methods/changing existing code, add new unit tests or update the existing tests.

GitHub Workflow

  • Before starting to work on a fix/feature, make sure there is an open issue to track the work.
  • Add the In progress label to the issue, if not already present. Also add a Cost-Small/Medium/Large estimate and make sure all appropriate labels are set.
  • If you are a community contributor, you will not be able to add labels to the issue; in that case just add a comment saying that you have started work on the issue and try to give an estimate for the delivery date.
  • If the work item has a medium/large cost, using the markdown task list, list each sub item and update the list with a check mark after completing each sub item.
  • Before opening a PR, ensure your changes build successfully locally and functionality tests pass. This is especially important for AI-assisted (vibe coding) contributions—always verify AI-generated code works as intended. Exploratory PRs or draft PRs for discussion are exceptions.
  • When opening a PR, follow the PR template.
  • When you'd like the team to take a look (even if the work is not yet fully complete) mark the PR as 'Ready For Review' so that the team can review your work and provide comments, suggestions, and request changes. It may take several cycles, but the end result will be solid, testable, conformant code that is safe for us to merge.
  • When the PR is approved, let the owner of the PR merge it. For community contributions, the reviewer who approved the PR can also merge it.
  • Use the Squash and merge option to merge a PR. If you don't want to squash it because there are logically different commits, use Rebase and merge.
  • Close issues automatically when referenced in a PR. You can use closing keywords in the body of the PR to have GitHub automatically link your PR to the issue.

Core Architecture

Common Components

  • Context Menu Handlers - How PowerToys implements and registers Explorer context menu handlers
  • Monaco Editor - How PowerToys uses the Monaco code editor component across modules

Tools

Processes

Other Resources

Building the Installer

Our installer is two parts, an EXE and an MSI. The EXE (Bootstrapper) contains the MSI and handles more complex installation logic.

  • The EXE installs all prerequisites and installs PowerToys via the MSI. It has additional features such as the installation flags (see below).
  • The MSI installs the PowerToys binaries.

The installer can only be compiled in Release mode; steps 1 and 2 must be performed before the MSI can be compiled.

  1. Compile PowerToys.slnx. Instructions are listed above.
  2. Compile BugReportTool.sln tool. Path from root: tools\BugReportTool\BugReportTool.sln (details listed below)
  3. Compile StylesReportTool.sln tool. Path from root: tools\StylesReportTool\StylesReportTool.sln (details listed below)
  4. Compile PowerToysSetup.slnx Path from root: installer\PowerToysSetup.slnx (details listed below)

See Installer for more details on building and debugging the installer.

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