XCreateIC ICValues default XNFocusWindow to XNClientWindow if not specified, it can be omitted since it is the same. From the documentation https://www.x.org/releases/current/doc/libX11/libX11/libX11.html > Focus Window > > The XNFocusWindow argument specifies the focus window. The primary > purpose of the XNFocusWindow is to identify the window that will receive > the key event when input is composed. > > When this XIC value is left unspecified, the input method will use the > client window as the default focus window.master