If SolidCraft on Linux opens fine but no key does anything, not in the dimension boxes, not in text fields, not even Backspace or paste, the cause is usually your desktop's input-method setting, not SolidCraft itself. The fix is to launch the app with input methods switched off:
XMODIFIERS="@im=none" ./solidcraft-linux-x86_64.AppImage
If you just need to get some modelling done right now, the browser version at the top of this page is not affected.
This fix comes from a reader
This page exists thanks to a SolidCraft user on Linux who wrote to us in October 2026 and tested every step below on their own machine. They reported the problem, tried our first suggestion, found it only lasted one session, and worked out the launcher script that fixed it for good. Thank you!
The symptoms
Their report is a textbook case, so here is what they saw:
- Drawing a line or rectangle works, but you can't enter a value in the dimension box.
- You can highlight text in a field with the mouse, but no keyboard input works, including Backspace.
- Pasting text copied from another app does nothing either.
- Running SolidCraft from a terminal shows no error message.
- It happens with the AppImage and the .deb alike, and with older versions too (0.19 and 0.20 in this case, still in 0.23.1).
- The browser version works perfectly on the same machine.
The setup: Loc-OS 23 on an older laptop, running X11, not Wayland. Since the in-app bug report also needs the keyboard, it couldn't be used to report the problem.
If that list matches what you see, read on.
Why it happens
On X11, the XMODIFIERS environment variable tells programs which input-method server to send keystrokes through, for example @im=ibus or @im=fcitx. Input methods are what let you type Chinese, Japanese or accented characters. When that hand-off doesn't work for a particular app, the keystrokes disappear on the way and the app never sees them.
Setting XMODIFIERS="@im=none" tells SolidCraft not to use an input method at all, so keys go straight to the app. It only changes the environment for that one program: the rest of your desktop keeps its input method.
Step 1: test the fix from a terminal
Open a terminal in the folder with the AppImage and run:
chmod +x solidcraft-linux-x86_64.AppImage
XMODIFIERS="@im=none" ./solidcraft-linux-x86_64.AppImage
Use your file's real name: release files can include the version number, such as solidcraft-0.23.1-linux-x86_64.AppImage. If you installed the .deb, run XMODIFIERS="@im=none" solidcraft instead.
Open a sketch, draw a rectangle and type a dimension. If the numbers appear, you have found the cause.
Step 2: make it permanent with a launcher script
This is the step that matters. When our reader first tried the variable, it worked, but the next time they started SolidCraft normally, the problem came back: they could save their work, but after reopening SolidCraft they couldn't type anything again. The variable only lasts for the launch where you type it.
Their solution was a small launcher script. Save this as solidcraft.sh in your home folder, changing the folder and file name to match yours (in this example the AppImage lives in ~/soft):
#!/usr/bin/env bash
cd "$HOME/soft" || exit 1
XMODIFIERS="@im=none" exec ./solidcraft-0.23.1-linux-x86_64.AppImage "$@"
Make it executable and use it to start SolidCraft from now on:
chmod +x ~/solidcraft.sh
~/solidcraft.sh
The "$@" at the end passes any file you open with the script through to SolidCraft, so ~/solidcraft.sh bracket.sc still works. With this in place, every text field works, every time.
Tip: to start it from your applications menu instead, point the menu entry's Exec= line at the script. When you update SolidCraft, remember to change the file name in the script, since a new AppImage has a new name.
Still not working?
- Try the newest release. SolidCraft ships very often; get the latest from the SolidCraft download page.
- Check whether you're on Wayland. This case was on X11. Run
echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPEto see which one you have. - Report it to the developers. The developers take bug reports on the SolidCraft GitHub issues page. Include your distro, X11 or Wayland, your input method (
echo $XMODIFIERS) and the SolidCraft version.
Once you can type again, our SolidCraft tutorial walks you through your first part.