diff --git a/helix-term/src/application.rs b/helix-term/src/application.rs
index 6206e6f2d..dbd8755d8 100644
--- a/helix-term/src/application.rs
+++ b/helix-term/src/application.rs
@@ -199,6 +199,11 @@ impl Application {
                     self.jobs.handle_callback(&mut self.editor, &mut self.compositor, callback);
                     self.render();
                 }
+                _ = &mut self.editor.idle_timer => {
+                    self.editor.clear_idle_timer();
+                    println!("idle!")
+                 // idle timeout
+                }
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs b/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
index 0605e2c7c..aa2d66360 100644
--- a/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
+++ b/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
@@ -901,6 +901,7 @@ impl Component for EditorView {
                 EventResult::Consumed(None)
             }
             Event::Key(key) => {
+                cxt.editor.reset_idle_timer();
                 let mut key = KeyEvent::from(key);
                 canonicalize_key(&mut key);
                 // clear status
diff --git a/helix-view/src/editor.rs b/helix-view/src/editor.rs
index b08a2df20..5362acc81 100644
--- a/helix-view/src/editor.rs
+++ b/helix-view/src/editor.rs
@@ -9,10 +9,12 @@ use crate::{
 use futures_util::future;
 use std::{
     path::{Path, PathBuf},
+    pin::Pin,
     sync::Arc,
-    time::Duration,
 };
 
+use tokio::time::{sleep, Duration, Instant, Sleep};
+
 use slotmap::SlotMap;
 
 use anyhow::Error;
@@ -91,6 +93,8 @@ pub struct Editor {
     pub status_msg: Option<(String, Severity)>,
 
     pub config: Config,
+
+    pub idle_timer: Pin<Box<Sleep>>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone)]
@@ -125,10 +129,24 @@ impl Editor {
             registers: Registers::default(),
             clipboard_provider: get_clipboard_provider(),
             status_msg: None,
+            idle_timer: Box::pin(sleep(Duration::from_millis(500))),
             config,
         }
     }
 
+    pub fn clear_idle_timer(&mut self) {
+        // equivalent to internal Instant::far_future() (30 years)
+        self.idle_timer
+            .as_mut()
+            .reset(Instant::now() + Duration::from_secs(86400 * 365 * 30));
+    }
+
+    pub fn reset_idle_timer(&mut self) {
+        self.idle_timer
+            .as_mut()
+            .reset(Instant::now() + Duration::from_millis(500));
+    }
+
     pub fn clear_status(&mut self) {
         self.status_msg = None;
     }