diff --git a/kitty/wcswidth.c b/kitty/wcswidth.c
index 940cc1a97..f75915dfb 100644
--- a/kitty/wcswidth.c
+++ b/kitty/wcswidth.c
@@ -118,6 +118,15 @@ wcswidth_step(WCSState *state, const char_type ch) {
     return ans;
 }
 
+size_t
+wcswidth_string(const char_type *s) {
+    WCSState state;
+    initialize_wcs_state(&state);
+    size_t ans = 0;
+    while (*s) ans += wcswidth_step(&state, *(s++));
+    return ans;
+}
+
 PyObject *
 wcswidth_std(PyObject UNUSED *self, PyObject *str) {
     if (PyUnicode_READY(str) != 0) return NULL;
diff --git a/kitty/wcswidth.h b/kitty/wcswidth.h
index 05bea98bb..016574daa 100644
--- a/kitty/wcswidth.h
+++ b/kitty/wcswidth.h
@@ -20,3 +20,4 @@ typedef struct {
 void initialize_wcs_state(WCSState *state);
 int wcswidth_step(WCSState *state, const char_type ch);
 PyObject * wcswidth_std(PyObject UNUSED *self, PyObject *str);
+size_t wcswidth_string(const char_type *s);