diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 89ab3018..4f78d976 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,8 @@
 doc/feature
+node_modules/
+*.tgz
+*.tsbuildinfo
+*.log
+.DS_Store
+*.swp
+*.swo
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 10e078a0..40230fc8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -30,12 +30,28 @@ Default-equivalent `settings.json`:
 }
 ```
 
-All keys are optional; omitting `piVim` is equivalent. Project overrides global; project `modeColors` replaces global `modeColors`, with missing modes defaulting above.
+All keys are optional; omitting `piVim` is equivalent. The optional `modeChange` key (see below) is intentionally absent from the default — it has no useful default value. Project overrides global; project `modeColors` / `modeChange` replace their global counterparts whole, with missing sub-keys defaulting above.
 
 `clipboardMirror`: `all` mirrors unnamed writes; `yank` mirrors yanks; `never` keeps writes internal. Non-mirrored writes stay local for `p` / `P`.
 
 `syncBorderColorWithMode`: `false` keeps Pi thinking border; `true` follows mode colors.
 
+`modeChange`: shell command to run on every transition into the named mode. Both keys are optional. The command runs detached via the system shell, stdio discarded, spawn errors silenced — editing never blocks or breaks. Hooks fire only on actual transitions: not on the initial mode, not on EX entry/exit (EX is a sub-state of normal), and not on no-op `Esc` from normal. Typical use is IME auto-switching via the third-party [`im-select`](https://github.com/daipeihust/im-select) CLI (cross-platform: macOS / Windows / Linux). Install per its README, then run `im-select` with no args to print your current IME id and plug those ids into the config:
+
+MacOS config maybe
+```json
+{
+  "piVim": {
+    "modeChange": {
+      "insert": "im-select im.rime.inputmethod.Squirrel.Hans",
+      "normal": "im-select com.apple.keylayout.ABC"
+    }
+  }
+}
+```
+
+pi-vim does not bundle `im-select` and does not care which tool you use — any shell command works.
+
 ### mode colors
 
 `piVim.modeColors` accepts Pi theme foreground tokens. Missing, invalid, or unknown tokens use defaults above.
diff --git a/index.ts b/index.ts
index 3b18ebd3..a068e5f0 100644
--- a/index.ts
+++ b/index.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,11 @@ import {
   reverseCharMotion,
   type WordMotionClass,
 } from "./motions.js";
-import { type ModeColorSettings, readPiVimSettings } from "./settings.js";
+import {
+  type ModeChangeSettings,
+  type ModeColorSettings,
+  readPiVimSettings,
+} from "./settings.js";
 import {
   resolveDelimitedTextObjectRange,
   resolveMatchingPairMotionTarget,
@@ -642,6 +646,7 @@ export class ModalEditor extends CustomEditor {
   private clipboardReadFn: ClipboardReadFn = readClipboardInChildProcess;
   private quitFn: () => void = () => {};
   private notifyFn: (message: string) => void = () => {};
+  private modeChangeFn: (mode: Mode, prevMode: Mode) => void = () => {};
 
   constructor(
     tui: CustomEditorConstructorArgs[0],
@@ -681,6 +686,9 @@ export class ModalEditor extends CustomEditor {
   setNotifyFn(fn: (message: string) => void): void {
     this.notifyFn = fn;
   }
+  setModeChangeFn(fn: (mode: Mode, prevMode: Mode) => void): void {
+    this.modeChangeFn = fn;
+  }
   getRegister(): string {
     return this.unnamedRegister;
   }
@@ -718,7 +726,15 @@ export class ModalEditor extends CustomEditor {
   }
 
   private setMode(mode: Mode = "insert"): void {
+    const prev = this.mode;
     this.mode = mode;
+    if (prev !== mode) {
+      try {
+        this.modeChangeFn(mode, prev);
+      } catch {
+        // mode-change side effects must never break editing
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   override setText(text: string): void {
@@ -2340,7 +2356,7 @@ export class ModalEditor extends CustomEditor {
     }
 
     this.deleteRangeByAbsolute(t.rangeAnchorAbs, t.targetAbs, true);
-    if (op === "c") this.mode = "insert";
+    if (op === "c") this.setMode("insert");
   }
 
   private getDelimitedTextObjectCursorAbs(): number {
@@ -3355,6 +3371,37 @@ export class ModalEditor extends CustomEditor {
   }
 }
 
+function spawnModeChangeCommand(command: string): void {
+  if (!command) return;
+  try {
+    const child = spawn(command, {
+      shell: true,
+      stdio: "ignore",
+      detached: true,
+      windowsHide: true,
+    });
+    child.on("error", () => {
+      // configured command may not exist on this machine; stay silent
+    });
+    child.unref();
+  } catch {
+    // spawn rejected synchronously (e.g., EMFILE) — never break the editor
+  }
+}
+
+function createModeChangeHandler(
+  modeChange: ModeChangeSettings | undefined,
+): ((mode: Mode, prevMode: Mode) => void) | null {
+  if (!modeChange) return null;
+  const insert = modeChange.insert;
+  const normal = modeChange.normal;
+  if (!insert && !normal) return null;
+  return (mode) => {
+    const command = mode === "insert" ? insert : normal;
+    if (command) spawnModeChangeCommand(command);
+  };
+}
+
 export default function (pi: ExtensionAPI) {
   let cursorShapeCleanup: CursorShapeCleanup | null = null;
 
@@ -3377,6 +3424,7 @@ export default function (pi: ExtensionAPI) {
       t && piVimSettings.syncBorderColorWithMode === true
         ? buildModeColorizers(t, modeColors)
         : null;
+    const modeChangeHandler = createModeChangeHandler(piVimSettings.modeChange);
     ctx.ui.setEditorComponent((tui, theme, kb) => {
       cursorShapeCleanup = enableCursorShapeSupport(tui);
       const editor = new ModalEditor(tui, theme, kb, {
@@ -3386,6 +3434,7 @@ export default function (pi: ExtensionAPI) {
       editor.setClipboardMirrorPolicy(clipboardMirrorPolicy.policy);
       editor.setQuitFn(() => ctx.shutdown());
       editor.setNotifyFn((message) => ctx.ui.notify(message, "warning"));
+      if (modeChangeHandler) editor.setModeChangeFn(modeChangeHandler);
       return editor;
     });
   });
diff --git a/script/pack-check.ts b/script/pack-check.ts
index aee0c134..9aa3426f 100644
--- a/script/pack-check.ts
+++ b/script/pack-check.ts
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ const THRESHOLDS = {
   // WORD/delimited text objects, mode-color settings, and matching-pair
   // motion add package surface. Keep budgets tight enough to catch
   // accidental docs/tests in the package.
-  maxSize: 32200,
-  maxUnpackedSize: 141500,
+  maxSize: 35000,
+  maxUnpackedSize: 150000,
 } as const;
 
 function compareStrings(a: string, b: string): number {
diff --git a/settings.ts b/settings.ts
index 2575f7b3..6384e4e7 100644
--- a/settings.ts
+++ b/settings.ts
@@ -6,14 +6,21 @@ export type ModeColorSettings = {
   ex?: string;
 };
 
+export type ModeChangeSettings = {
+  insert?: string;
+  normal?: string;
+};
+
 export type PiVimSettings = {
   clipboardMirror?: unknown;
   modeColors?: ModeColorSettings;
+  modeChange?: ModeChangeSettings;
   syncBorderColorWithMode?: boolean;
 };
 
 const M = Symbol(),
   C = ["insert", "normal", "ex"] as const,
+  MC = ["insert", "normal"] as const,
   T = /^[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9_-]{0,63}$/;
 const rec = (v: unknown): v is Record<string, unknown> =>
   typeof v === "object" && v !== null && !Array.isArray(v);
@@ -36,6 +43,18 @@ function colors(v: unknown) {
   return Object.keys(r)[0] ? r : undefined;
 }
 
+function modeChange(v: unknown): ModeChangeSettings | undefined {
+  if (!rec(v)) return;
+  const r: ModeChangeSettings = {};
+  for (const k of MC) {
+    const x = v[k];
+    if (typeof x !== "string") continue;
+    const t = x.trim();
+    if (t.length > 0) r[k] = t;
+  }
+  return Object.keys(r)[0] ? r : undefined;
+}
+
 export function readPiVimClipboardMirrorSetting(g: unknown, p: unknown) {
   let v = get(p, "clipboardMirror");
   if (v !== M) return v;
@@ -53,6 +72,16 @@ export function readPiVimModeColors(g: unknown, p: unknown) {
   return colors(w);
 }
 
+export function readPiVimModeChange(g: unknown, p: unknown) {
+  // Same whole-setting override semantics as modeColors: a project value
+  // (even if malformed) suppresses the global, so personal mode-change
+  // commands never leak into a shared project checkout.
+  const v = get(p, "modeChange");
+  if (v !== M) return modeChange(v);
+  const w = get(g, "modeChange");
+  return modeChange(w);
+}
+
 export function readPiVimBooleanSetting(
   g: unknown,
   p: unknown,
@@ -71,6 +100,7 @@ function disk(cwd: string): PiVimSettings {
   return {
     clipboardMirror: readPiVimClipboardMirrorSetting(g, p),
     modeColors: readPiVimModeColors(g, p),
+    modeChange: readPiVimModeChange(g, p),
     syncBorderColorWithMode: readPiVimBooleanSetting(
       g,
       p,
diff --git a/test/modal-editor.test.ts b/test/modal-editor.test.ts
index d2bcb9ef..68916440 100644
--- a/test/modal-editor.test.ts
+++ b/test/modal-editor.test.ts
@@ -919,6 +919,64 @@ describe("mode transitions", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("mode change callback", () => {
+  type ModeChangeEvent = {
+    mode: "normal" | "insert";
+    prev: "normal" | "insert";
+  };
+
+  it("fires on transitions only, with prev and new modes", () => {
+    const { editor } = createEditorWithSpy("hello");
+    const events: ModeChangeEvent[] = [];
+    editor.setModeChangeFn((mode, prev) => events.push({ mode, prev }));
+
+    // editor is in normal after createEditorWithSpy; setModeChangeFn was
+    // installed afterwards, so the prior insert→normal transition is not seen.
+    sendKeys(editor, ["i"]);
+    sendKeys(editor, ["\x1b"]);
+    sendKeys(editor, ["a"]);
+    sendKeys(editor, ["\x1b"]);
+
+    assert.deepEqual(events, [
+      { mode: "insert", prev: "normal" },
+      { mode: "normal", prev: "insert" },
+      { mode: "insert", prev: "normal" },
+      { mode: "normal", prev: "insert" },
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("does not fire on no-op same-mode setMode calls", () => {
+    const { editor } = createEditorWithSpy("hello");
+    const events: ModeChangeEvent[] = [];
+    editor.setModeChangeFn((mode, prev) => events.push({ mode, prev }));
+
+    // Already in normal mode; bare escape stays in normal and must not fire.
+    sendKeys(editor, ["\x1b"]);
+
+    assert.deepEqual(events, []);
+  });
+
+  it("fires once for o / O which open a line and enter insert", () => {
+    const { editor } = createMultiLineEditor("foo\nbar");
+    const events: ModeChangeEvent[] = [];
+    editor.setModeChangeFn((mode, prev) => events.push({ mode, prev }));
+
+    sendKeys(editor, ["o"]);
+    assert.equal(editor.getMode(), "insert");
+    assert.deepEqual(events, [{ mode: "insert", prev: "normal" }]);
+  });
+
+  it("swallows callback errors so editing keeps working", () => {
+    const { editor } = createEditorWithSpy("hello");
+    editor.setModeChangeFn(() => {
+      throw new Error("boom");
+    });
+
+    assert.doesNotThrow(() => sendKeys(editor, ["i"]));
+    assert.equal(editor.getMode(), "insert");
+  });
+});
+
 describe("ex mini-mode", () => {
   it("renders the pending EX command and consumes prefixed counts", () => {
     const session = createEditorWithSpy("hello");
diff --git a/test/settings.test.ts b/test/settings.test.ts
index 303df44d..83d04ee3 100644
--- a/test/settings.test.ts
+++ b/test/settings.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { describe, it } from "node:test";
 import {
   readPiVimBooleanSetting,
   readPiVimClipboardMirrorSetting,
+  readPiVimModeChange,
   readPiVimModeColors,
 } from "../settings.js";
 
@@ -211,6 +212,93 @@ describe("piVim boolean settings reader", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("piVim modeChange settings reader", () => {
+  it("returns undefined when modeChange is missing", () => {
+    assert.equal(readPiVimModeChange(undefined, undefined), undefined);
+    assert.equal(readPiVimModeChange({ piVim: {} }, { piVim: {} }), undefined);
+  });
+
+  it("reads partial modeChange settings and trims values", () => {
+    assert.deepEqual(
+      readPiVimModeChange(
+        { piVim: { modeChange: { insert: "  im-select Squirrel  " } } },
+        {},
+      ),
+      { insert: "im-select Squirrel" },
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("reads both insert and normal commands", () => {
+    assert.deepEqual(
+      readPiVimModeChange(
+        {
+          piVim: {
+            modeChange: {
+              insert: "im-select im.rime.inputmethod.Squirrel.Hans",
+              normal: "im-select com.apple.keylayout.ABC",
+            },
+          },
+        },
+        {},
+      ),
+      {
+        insert: "im-select im.rime.inputmethod.Squirrel.Hans",
+        normal: "im-select com.apple.keylayout.ABC",
+      },
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("drops non-string and empty modeChange leaves", () => {
+    assert.deepEqual(
+      readPiVimModeChange(
+        {
+          piVim: { modeChange: { insert: 42, normal: "  " } },
+        },
+        {},
+      ),
+      undefined,
+    );
+    assert.deepEqual(
+      readPiVimModeChange(
+        { piVim: { modeChange: { insert: "ok", normal: 42 } } },
+        {},
+      ),
+      { insert: "ok" },
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("lets project modeChange override global as a setting", () => {
+    assert.deepEqual(
+      readPiVimModeChange(
+        {
+          piVim: {
+            modeChange: { insert: "global-insert", normal: "global-normal" },
+          },
+        },
+        { piVim: { modeChange: { normal: "project-normal" } } },
+      ),
+      { normal: "project-normal" },
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("does not fall back to global when project modeChange is invalid", () => {
+    assert.equal(
+      readPiVimModeChange(
+        { piVim: { modeChange: { insert: "global-insert" } } },
+        { piVim: { modeChange: null } },
+      ),
+      undefined,
+    );
+    assert.equal(
+      readPiVimModeChange(
+        { piVim: { modeChange: { insert: "global-insert" } } },
+        { piVim: { modeChange: { insert: "   " } } },
+      ),
+      undefined,
+    );
+  });
+});
+
 describe("piVim clipboard mirror settings reader", () => {
   it("returns undefined when global and project settings are missing", () => {
     assert.equal(