v0.4.0

A configuration release: more orthography options, a self-documenting config
file, and a settings GUI that finally matches it.

Added

• Full orthography options — pick how tu renders (ト゚ / ツ゚ / トゥ / ツ),
  toggle small-kana codas for -y / -w / -n (ィ / ゥ / ㇴ) independently, and render
  wi / we / wo as ヰ / ヱ / ヲ. (#30)

Changed

• Self-documenting config.toml — every option is now written with an inline
  comment listing its allowed values, so the file explains itself. (#32)
• Settings GUI at parity with the file — the dialog is reorganized into
  Input / Orthography / Suggestions groups and exposes every option: a
  dropdown for the four tu styles, individual checkboxes for each small-kana and
  wi/we/wo flag, context-aware ranking, and a max-candidates field. Anything you
  can set in the file, you can now set in the GUI (and vice-versa). (#42)

Reach Settings from the Start-menu “ainuKey Settings” shortcut.

Full Changelog: v0.3.4...v0.4.0

v0.3.4

Fixes an upgrade-install failure. Input conversion, word suggestions, and the
settings GUI are unchanged from v0.3.3.

Fixed

• Upgrade no longer fails on the in-use DLL — when ainuKey is already
  registered, the old ainukey.dll is loaded by Windows text services and can't
  be replaced, so upgrading previously aborted with “DeleteFile error, code 5 /
  access denied” (and wrongly offered to skip the core DLL). The installer
  now schedules the replacement for the next reboot when the file is in use,
  so the upgrade completes — you’ll be asked to restart. First-time installs are
  unaffected (no reboot).

If you got stuck on a previous upgrade: cancel, uninstall the old ainuKey, sign
out/in, then install this.

Full Changelog: v0.3.3...v0.3.4

v0.3.3

Makes the settings GUI actually reachable on Windows 11, and makes every build
identifiable. Input conversion and word suggestions are unchanged since v0.3.2.

Fixed

• Reachable settings GUI — adds a Start-menu shortcut “ainuKey Settings”
  that opens the settings dialog directly. On Windows 11 the floating language bar
  is hidden by default, so the earlier langbar “設定 / Settings…” menu (v0.3.1)
  usually never appeared; the Start-menu shortcut works regardless. (#31)
• Identifiable builds — ainukey.dll now carries version info (right-click →
  Properties → Details shows 0.3.3), the installer reports its version, and the
  settings dialog title reads “ainuKey v0.3.3” — so you can confirm exactly
  which build is installed. (#39)

The v0.3.0 / v0.3.1 notes previously claimed the settings GUI was reachable via
the Options button / langbar menu; on Windows 11 it wasn't. Those notes have
been corrected.

Full Changelog: v0.3.2...v0.3.3

v0.3.2

A multi-language installer. Input conversion and word suggestions are unchanged
since v0.3.1.

Added

• Installer language picker — the setup wizard now offers English / 日本語 /
  Русский / 简体中文 / 한국어, and the final "switch input" instruction is localized
  for each. Chinese (Simplified) and Korean translations are bundled.

Ainu (Aynu itak) is coming as a separate, attested-only installer locale.

Full Changelog: v0.3.1...v0.3.2

v0.3.1

Input conversion and word suggestions are unchanged since v0.3.0.

Added

• Language-bar menu (#26) — the ainuKey language-bar button becomes a
  drop-down: カタカナ Katakana / ローマ字 Latin / 設定 Settings….
• Auto-created config file (#27) — a default %APPDATA%\ainuKey\config.toml
  is written on first activation, so settings are editable by hand.

⚠️ Correction (2026-06-27): the original notes claimed the langbar menu
made the settings GUI reachable. That is not reliable on Windows 11,
where the floating language bar is hidden by default, so the menu usually
doesn't appear. A Start-menu shortcut that opens Settings directly (independent
of the language bar) ships in v0.3.3. Until then, edit
%APPDATA%\ainuKey\config.toml by hand and re-activate ainuKey.

Internal

• Offline prediction benchmark + area-specialization tooling — no runtime change. (#25)

Full Changelog: v0.3.0...v0.3.1

v0.3.0

ainuKey v0.3.0 — configuration system

✨ New

• Settings GUI — a native settings dialog with checkboxes, replacing the old info box.
• Two-way TOML config — settings live in %APPDATA%\ainuKey\config.toml, editable by hand or via the GUI; either side stays in sync.
• Orthography / notation options — tu→ツ゚ (vs ト゚), small glides y/w→ィ/ゥ, and showing the = morpheme boundary.
• Input-behavior options — default kana/Latin mode, a romaji input mode (shows romaji, converts on commit), word-suggestions on/off, max candidates, context-aware on/off.

⚠️ Correction (2026-06-27): the original notes said the Options button
(Language settings → Japanese → ainuKey) opens the dialog. On Windows 11 the
Options button is not exposed for third-party IMEs, so the GUI is usually
unreachable there. Use the config file in the meantime; a Start-menu shortcut to
open Settings directly ships in v0.3.3.

🔧 Improved

• Smarter suggestions — blended trigram+bigram (stupid-backoff) ranking, so a strong bigram prediction still surfaces when the trigram is sparse.

Carried from v0.2.2

Romaji→katakana + voiced/loanword input, the na-crash fix, the per-keystroke COM leak fix. Registered under Japanese.

Install

Download ainuKey-0.3.0-x86_64-windows-setup.exe. If upgrading, sign out/in once so the old DLL unloads, then run it. Win+Space → ainuKey.

v0.2.2

ainuKey v0.2.2

✨ New

• Voiced / loanword input — zu→ズ, ga→ガ, ji→ジ, da→ダ, ba→バ (plus ゔ/ファ rows), so loanwords like アイヌタイムズ (aynutaimuzu) convert correctly.

🐛 Fixes

• Fixed a host-app crash when typing common words (e.g. na): a suggestion containing the glottal stop ’ triggered an ainconv panic across the TSF/COM boundary — now guarded.
• Fixed a per-keystroke COM resource leak — a leaked ITfRange on every preedit update and commit.
• The class factory now pins the module (COM unload-lifetime correctness); the embedded suggestion-table version is validated; assorted COM lifetime / error-propagation hardening.

🧪 Internal

• Comprehensive engine test suite (68 unit tests); CI hardened (GitHub Actions pinned to commit SHAs); build-tool robustness.

Recap (already in v0.2.x)

Romaji→katakana with correct final consonants (wakka→ワㇰカ, tumpu→ト゚ㇺプ), n-gram suggestion candidates, kana/Latin mode-switch + settings dialog, trilingual UI. Registered under Japanese (Win+Space → ainuKey).

Known limitations / next

• Shows under Japanese, not yet as Ainu; alternative katakana notations (t→ツ゚, glide y/w→ィ/ゥ) and = boundary display are planned.

Install

Download ainuKey-0.2.2-x86_64-windows-setup.exe (or the portable zip), then sign out/in once if upgrading so the old DLL unloads. Switch input with Win+Space → ainuKey.

Prerelease.

v0.1.0

ainuKey v0.1.0 — first working Rust IME

The initial Rust rewrite of the Ainu Text Services Framework (TSF) input processor for Windows — a minimal, working romaji → katakana IME.

Features

• Romaji → katakana via ainconv.
• Underlined preedit composition; Space/Enter commits, Backspace/Esc edits/cancels.
• A clean in-process COM DLL (windows-rs) registered as a TSF text-input processor.

Install

Run ainuKey-0.1.0-x86_64-windows-setup.exe (or the portable zip), then Win+Space → ainuKey and type romaji.

First release — built from the original v0.1.0 source (commit 82c52fb); only the build/packaging recipe was updated so the release could be produced.

v0.2.1

ainuKey v0.2.1

✨ New

• Word suggestions now work. The n-gram candidate table (aggregate counts from the ainu-corpora corpus) is now shipped, so the candidate window offers frequency-ranked completions and context-aware next-word prediction — e.g. after a=kor → ona / sapo, and ruwe ne → akusu. Uses trigram → bigram → unigram backoff.

Everything from v0.2.0

Romaji→katakana with correct final consonants, candidate window, kana/Latin mode-switch + settings dialog, trilingual UI, registered under Japanese.

Install

Run ainuKey-0.2.1-x86_64-windows-setup.exe (or the portable zip). If upgrading, sign out/in once so the old DLL unloads, then Win+Space → ainuKey.

Early development release.

v0.2.0

ainuKey v0.2.0 — first downloadable release

The Rust rewrite of the Ainu Text Services Framework (TSF) IME, packaged as a Windows installer.

Features

• Romaji → katakana input with robust normalization (ti→チ, chi→チ, shi→シ, macron/circumflex → acute) and correct final consonants — wakka→ワㇰカ, tumpu→ト゚ㇺプ — via ainconv.
• Candidate window — a suggestion popup rendered near the caret.
• Kana / Latin mode-switch language-bar button and a settings dialog.
• Trilingual UI (Ainu / 日本語 / English).
• Registered under Japanese (Win+Space → ainuKey); Windows has no Ainu locale.

Note

• The n-gram suggestion table is not shipped in this build, so the candidate window has no data yet — word suggestions arrive in v0.2.1.

Install

Run ainuKey-0.2.0-x86_64-windows-setup.exe (or unzip the portable build). Then Win+Space → ainuKey and type romaji.

Early development release.