evil mode: switch back to normal mode automatically after inaction

Question

I was wondering if anyone has ever looked at a way to switch back to normal mode automatically after inaction? In Vim, there are several methods to do that, such as:

http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/To_switch_back_to_normal_mode_automatically_after_inaction

Answer 1

The following function and idle timer will force evil back into normal state in all buffers after an idle delay of 30 seconds (which you can adjust as you like):

(defun evil-normalize-all-buffers ()
  "Force a drop to normal state."
  (unless (eq evil-state 'normal)
    (dolist (buffer (buffer-list))
      (set-buffer buffer)
      (unless (or (minibufferp)
                  (eq evil-state 'emacs))
        (evil-force-normal-state)))
    (message "Dropped back to normal state in all buffers")))

(defvar evil-normal-timer
  (run-with-idle-timer 30 t #'evil-normalize-all-buffers)
  "Drop back to normal state after idle for 30 seconds.")