diff --git a/bin/omarchy-restart-xcompose b/bin/omarchy-restart-xcompose
index c0676b1c..db65bd4e 100755
--- a/bin/omarchy-restart-xcompose
+++ b/bin/omarchy-restart-xcompose
@@ -2,4 +2,9 @@
 
 # omarchy:summary=Restart the XCompose input method service (fcitx5) to apply new compose key settings.
 
-omarchy-restart-app fcitx5 --disable notificationitem
+# A fcitx5 running outside the unit owns org.fcitx.Fcitx5, so the unit's
+# instance would exit on arrival and the stale process would keep serving the
+# old ~/.XCompose -- a restart that reports success and changes nothing.
+systemctl --user stop omarchy-fcitx5.service
+pkill -x fcitx5 >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+systemctl --user start omarchy-fcitx5.service
diff --git a/default/hypr/autostart.lua b/default/hypr/autostart.lua
index dc192b0a..7d180a46 100644
--- a/default/hypr/autostart.lua
+++ b/default/hypr/autostart.lua
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ hl.on("hyprland.start", function()
   hl.exec_cmd("dbus-update-activation-environment --systemd --all")
 
   hl.exec_cmd("quickshell -n -p $OMARCHY_PATH/shell")
-  hl.exec_cmd(o.launch("fcitx5 --disable notificationitem"))
   hl.exec_cmd("omarchy-first-run")
   hl.exec_cmd("omarchy-powerprofiles-init")
   hl.exec_cmd(o.launch("omarchy-hyprland-monitor-watch"))
diff --git a/default/systemd/user/omarchy-fcitx5.service b/default/systemd/user/omarchy-fcitx5.service
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..672c67bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/default/systemd/user/omarchy-fcitx5.service
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Fcitx5 input method (XCompose sequences)
+# fcitx5 turns the CapsLock compose sequences in ~/.XCompose into text for
+# Wayland clients.
+#
+# Wait for the compositor: fcitx5 needs WAYLAND_DISPLAY and DISPLAY, which uwsm
+# imports into the user manager before it reaches graphical-session.target.
+After=graphical-session.target
+# The wayland connection dies with the compositor, so follow the session rather
+# than linger against a socket that is gone.
+PartOf=graphical-session.target
+# After= is ordering only -- it does not stop anything from starting this unit
+# while the target is inactive. An `omarchy update` over SSH has a live user
+# manager (pam_systemd) and no graphical session, and a fcitx5 started there
+# comes up with no WAYLAND_DISPLAY and no way to reach any client. Worse, it
+# stays active, so the later graphical-session.target activation won't pull in a
+# working one -- Wants= does not restart what is already running. Skip the start
+# instead; the unit stays enabled and starts for real at graphical login.
+ConditionEnvironment=WAYLAND_DISPLAY
+
+[Service]
+Type=simple
+# notificationitem duplicates the tray entry omarchy already renders itself.
+ExecStart=/usr/bin/fcitx5 --disable notificationitem
+# always, not on-failure: fcitx5 exits 0 when it detects another instance owning
+# its bus name, and a clean exit still leaves the user with no input method.
+Restart=always
+RestartSec=2
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=graphical-session.target
diff --git a/docs/file-layout.md b/docs/file-layout.md
index 4f09cab0..f481d229 100644
--- a/docs/file-layout.md
+++ b/docs/file-layout.md
@@ -228,7 +228,8 @@ systemd instance:
   Voxtype post-update hook.
 - `install/user/first-run/enable-user-units.sh` — `systemctl --user enable`
   the shipped user units (`bt-agent`, `omarchy-sleep-lock`,
-  `omarchy-recover-internal-monitor`, `omarchy-migrate-notify.service`).
+  `omarchy-recover-internal-monitor`, `omarchy-migrate-notify.service`,
+  `omarchy-fcitx5.service`).
   Done here, not at finalize, because
   the user manager isn't reachable from the ISO chroot; `ConditionPath*`
   in the unit files keeps services inert when they don't apply.
diff --git a/install/user/first-run/enable-user-units.sh b/install/user/first-run/enable-user-units.sh
index a5d7cb8e..2af44e88 100755
--- a/install/user/first-run/enable-user-units.sh
+++ b/install/user/first-run/enable-user-units.sh
@@ -16,4 +16,5 @@ systemctl --user enable --now \
   bt-agent.service \
   omarchy-recover-internal-monitor.service \
   omarchy-sleep-lock.service \
-  omarchy-migrate-notify.service
+  omarchy-migrate-notify.service \
+  omarchy-fcitx5.service
diff --git a/migrations/1785167800.sh b/migrations/1785167800.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1c755e97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/1785167800.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+echo "Supervise fcitx5 so CapsLock compose sequences can't silently die"
+
+# fcitx5 was launched fire-and-forget from Hyprland's autostart. Nothing
+# restarted it and nothing noticed when it went away, so a single lost start
+# left every ~/.XCompose sequence (CapsLock m s -> emoji) dead for the rest of
+# the session. It's a systemd user service with Restart=always now.
+
+systemctl --user daemon-reload >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+
+# Enable without --now, and start by hand further down only when there is a
+# session to start into. `systemctl enable` needs a live user manager, which an
+# `omarchy update` from a TTY does not have, so fall back to writing exactly the
+# symlink it would have written rather than silently leaving this unenabled.
+if ! systemctl --user enable omarchy-fcitx5.service >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  wants_dir="$HOME/.config/systemd/user/graphical-session.target.wants"
+  mkdir -p "$wants_dir"
+  ln -sfn /usr/lib/systemd/user/omarchy-fcitx5.service \
+    "$wants_dir/omarchy-fcitx5.service"
+fi
+
+# Outside a graphical session -- an update over SSH -- there is nothing to hand
+# over: no autostart-launched fcitx5 to kill, and the unit's own
+# ConditionEnvironment would skip the start anyway. The enablement above is the
+# whole job; the next graphical login starts it.
+if systemctl --user is-active --quiet graphical-session.target; then
+  # The service and the autostart-launched process can't coexist: a second
+  # fcitx5 sees the first owning org.fcitx.Fcitx5 and exits 0, which
+  # Restart=always would turn into a restart loop. Drop the stray first.
+  pkill -x fcitx5 >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+
+  # Report what systemctl actually said. This kills a fcitx5 that was working a
+  # moment ago, so a start failure here has to be loud instead of leaving the
+  # session with no input method and a migration marked complete.
+  if ! error=$(systemctl --user start omarchy-fcitx5.service 2>&1); then
+    echo "Could not start omarchy-fcitx5.service: $error"
+    echo "Compose sequences (CapsLock m s) will not work until the next login."
+  fi
+fi
diff --git a/test/shell.d/config-test.sh b/test/shell.d/config-test.sh
index 14ab4b30..566af035 100755
--- a/test/shell.d/config-test.sh
+++ b/test/shell.d/config-test.sh
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ package_defaults = [
   ("default/systemd/user/omarchy-recover-internal-monitor.service", "/usr/lib/systemd/user/omarchy-recover-internal-monitor.service", "systemd/user/omarchy-recover-internal-monitor.service"),
   ("default/systemd/user/omarchy-migrate-notify.service", "/usr/lib/systemd/user/omarchy-migrate-notify.service", "systemd/user/omarchy-migrate-notify.service"),
   ("default/systemd/user/omarchy-tailscale-receive.service", "/usr/lib/systemd/user/omarchy-tailscale-receive.service", "systemd/user/omarchy-tailscale-receive.service"),
+  ("default/systemd/user/omarchy-fcitx5.service", "/usr/lib/systemd/user/omarchy-fcitx5.service", "systemd/user/omarchy-fcitx5.service"),
   ("default/systemd/zram-generator.conf.d/90-omarchy.conf", "/usr/lib/systemd/zram-generator.conf.d/90-omarchy.conf", "systemd/zram-generator.conf.d/90-omarchy.conf"),
   ("default/fonts/omarchy/omarchy.ttf", "/usr/share/fonts/omarchy/omarchy.ttf", "omarchy.ttf"),
   ("default/snapper/root", "/etc/snapper/config-templates/omarchy", "snapper/root"),
diff --git a/test/shell.d/systemd-test.sh b/test/shell.d/systemd-test.sh
index af1654d7..7bce6240 100755
--- a/test/shell.d/systemd-test.sh
+++ b/test/shell.d/systemd-test.sh
@@ -46,3 +46,33 @@ grep -F 'omarchy-migrate-notify.service' "$first_run_units" >/dev/null ||
 grep -F 'omarchy-update-user-notify' "$first_run_units" >/dev/null &&
   fail "first-run still enables the retired notifier units"
 pass "first-run enables the login-only migration notifier"
+
+fcitx_service="$ROOT/default/systemd/user/omarchy-fcitx5.service"
+grep -Fx 'ExecStart=/usr/bin/fcitx5 --disable notificationitem' "$fcitx_service" >/dev/null
+grep -Fx 'Restart=always' "$fcitx_service" >/dev/null ||
+  fail "fcitx5 exits 0 on a duplicate bus name, so on-failure would leave the user with no input method"
+grep -Fx 'After=graphical-session.target' "$fcitx_service" >/dev/null ||
+  fail "fcitx5 needs WAYLAND_DISPLAY, which uwsm imports before it reaches graphical-session.target"
+grep -Fx 'PartOf=graphical-session.target' "$fcitx_service" >/dev/null ||
+  fail "fcitx5 must stop with the compositor instead of lingering against a dead wayland socket"
+grep -Fx 'WantedBy=graphical-session.target' "$fcitx_service" >/dev/null ||
+  fail "fcitx5 is never pulled in at login without a WantedBy"
+grep -Fx 'ConditionEnvironment=WAYLAND_DISPLAY' "$fcitx_service" >/dev/null ||
+  fail "an update over SSH has a live user manager and no display; starting fcitx5 there wedges the unit active-but-blind, and Wants= will not replace it at graphical login"
+
+fcitx_migration="$ROOT/migrations/1785167800.sh"
+grep -F 'is-active --quiet graphical-session.target' "$fcitx_migration" >/dev/null ||
+  fail "migration kills fcitx5 and starts the unit outside a graphical session"
+grep -F 'systemctl --user enable omarchy-fcitx5.service' "$fcitx_migration" >/dev/null ||
+  fail "migration must enable without --now; --now starts the unit before the session-gate check"
+grep -F 'Could not start omarchy-fcitx5.service' "$fcitx_migration" >/dev/null ||
+  fail "migration pkills a working fcitx5, so a failed handover must be reported instead of marked complete"
+
+grep -F 'pkill -x fcitx5' "$ROOT/bin/omarchy-restart-xcompose" >/dev/null ||
+  fail "restart-xcompose cannot reload a fcitx5 running outside the unit, so it silently keeps serving the old table"
+
+grep -F 'omarchy-fcitx5.service' "$first_run_units" >/dev/null ||
+  fail "first-run does not enable the input method, so ~/.XCompose sequences never resolve"
+grep -F 'fcitx5' "$ROOT/default/hypr/autostart.lua" >/dev/null &&
+  fail "fcitx5 is autostarted from Hyprland; an unsupervised launch dies silently and takes every compose sequence with it"
+pass "fcitx5 runs supervised, so a lost input method comes back instead of killing XCompose until logout"