diff --git a/user/kakoune/colors.nix b/user/kakoune/colors.nix
index a0917d4..ae3f2a8 100644
--- a/user/kakoune/colors.nix
+++ b/user/kakoune/colors.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ let
     orange = color.normal.orange;
     brown = color.normal.brown;
   };
+
+  cursorNormalSpec = "${colors.accent_fg},${colors.accent_color}+fg";
+  cursorInsertSpec = "black,bright-green+b";
 in
 with colors;
 ''
@@ -49,8 +52,11 @@ with colors;
   # builtin faces
   face global Default default,default
 
-  face global PrimaryCursor      ${accent_fg},${accent_color}+fg
+  face global PrimaryCursor      ${cursorNormalSpec}
   face global PrimaryCursorEol   PrimaryCursor
+
+  declare-option str cursor_normal_face '${cursorNormalSpec}'
+  declare-option str cursor_insert_face '${cursorInsertSpec}'
   face global PrimarySelection   default,${bg_light}+f
 
   face global SecondaryCursor    default,default+rfg
diff --git a/user/kakoune/hooks.kak b/user/kakoune/hooks.kak
index 5bc243e..c1f55ad 100644
--- a/user/kakoune/hooks.kak
+++ b/user/kakoune/hooks.kak
@@ -2,6 +2,16 @@ set global idle_timeout 500
 
 enable-auto-pairs
 
+hook -group tell-mode global ModeChange push:.*:insert %{
+    set-face window PrimaryCursor %opt{cursor_insert_face}
+    set-face window PrimaryCursorEol %opt{cursor_insert_face}
+}
+
+hook -group tell-mode global ModeChange pop:insert:.* %{
+    set-face window PrimaryCursor %opt{cursor_normal_face}
+    set-face window PrimaryCursorEol %opt{cursor_normal_face}
+}
+
 hook global NormalIdle .* %{ evaluate-commands %sh{
     hex_with_size() {
         for i in  3 4 6 8; do