The search bar might be what you want. There is an option to turn it on in the settings.
this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2024
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I was able to enable it on stable by toggling browser.urlbar.showSearchTerms.featureGate
Edit: Nevermind, it doesn't work for custom engines, which suggests that it's a separate implementation from mobile?
it doesn’t work for custom engines
It's working with Kagi for me; added it as a custom engine as their docs recommend.
I'm not sure I fully understand your requirement so this may not be what you're looking for but CTRL+k brings you straight to search and puts the cursor in the URL bar. The engine is to the left and can be selected.