OpenMicroKbd — The open-source keyboard built around your needs.

ROLL THE TAPE

THE FILM

The whole story, from a locked keyboard to a board you can compile.

Prefer it on YouTube? Watch it there.

CHAPTER I

THE $230 PARADOX

A company that built its name on open research shipped a keyboard you can't open. So we drew the blueprint instead.

THE RIVAL

Codex Micro Keyboard

$230

Closed hardware
Closed firmware
Closed software
Works only with Codex
You buy it. You don't own it.

Nice keycaps. Locked doors.

OURS

Open Micro Kbd

< $40

Open hardware — the schematic is code
Open firmware — flash it yourself
Open software — config app included
Works with any AI
Build it, fork it, sell it. It's yours.

A blueprint anyone can replicate.

CHAPTER II

A STICK AND SIX KEYS

Start with the stick nobody expects. Then six more ideas across thirteen keys and one knob — every one of them remappable.

The Stick

An analog joystick where you'd least expect one. Glide the mouse pointer, send arrow keys — or grade DaVinci Resolve color wheels by feel. Push it and see.

Pointer rests. Deflect to glide it.

Voice Key

Push-to-talk prompting. Hold the key, speak your mind, release — the whole prompt lands transcribed in one go. Typeless prompting for AI agents.

HOLD · SPEAK · SHIP

The Knob

Turn it to dial reasoning effort — quick answers on the left, deep thinking on the right. Not talking to an agent? It's a volume wheel.

FAST ↔ DEEP

Multi-Task Keys

Assign a key to each running task. Tap to jump between them while the work keeps churning in the background. Your agents never wait on you.

SWITCH · NEVER STOP

Permission Key

When an agent stops to ask for permission, one press pulls up exactly what needs your attention. No more hunting through terminals.

ONE PRESS · FULL CONTEXT

Macros

Every repeated ritual of your day — the same five commands, the same paste, the same push — compressed into a single satisfying click.

MANY → ONE

Fully Customizable

Keys, knob, stick, pad — 24 keymap slots, every one remappable in the config app. Changes land live and persist on the board. Build profiles and flip between them instantly.

24 SLOTS · PROFILES

CHAPTER III

TRY IT

A working replica of the real layout, right here in the page. Click the keys — or use your real keyboard: 1–6 and Q–U. Drag or scroll the knob, flick the stick, tap the pad.

13 keys · encoder · joystick · touch pad · 21 RGB LEDs · black PCB

OPEN MICRO KBD · READY v0.6

Press a key to begin.

Six of these thirteen keys are mapped for this demo.
The rest — and the stick, and the pad — are yours.

VOICE KEY · PUSH TO TALK

LISTENING…

▮

THE KNOB · REASONING EFFORT

FASTDEEP

BALANCED

Turn the knob. Not talking to an agent? Same wheel, now it's volume.

THE STICK · MOUSE MODE

Proportional pointer glide — the push switch is left click. Press the stick to cycle modes.

TOUCH PAD · TAP

TAP

Tap to trigger anything. Two swipe slots are already reserved in the protocol for a future multi-zone pad.

MULTI-TASK KEYS · 3 RUNNING

T1refactor/auth-serviceRUNNING

T2write e2e testsRUNNING

T3migrate db schemaQUEUED

Tap again to switch. Work continues in the background.

PERMISSION KEY

One press brings up exactly what needs your attention.

MACRO KEY · "SHIP IT"

git add -A
git commit -m "ship"
npm run build
npm test
git push origin main

Five steps. One press.

PROFILES · TAP TO CYCLE

CODE EDIT COLOR GAME

CODE

13 keys remapped. Same hardware, different life.

UNASSIGNED SLOT

— — —

Open the config app and make it whatever you need.
What it becomes is entirely up to you.

THE HAPPY KEY

:)

Not every key needs a purpose. This one just makes us smile.

—

CHAPTER IV

TALKS TO ANY AI

No handshake with a single vendor. If it takes keystrokes, it takes Open Micro Kbd.

AGENTS

Claude Codeterminal agent

Codexyes, that one too

Conolagent runner

+ any agentit can talk to any AI

AND EVERYTHING ELSE

Premierecut faster

DaVinci Resolvegrade by joystick

Lightroomexposure wheel

Even gameshotkeys, obviously

What it becomes is entirely up to you.

CHAPTER V

THE BLUEPRINT

Not a product you wait for — a repository you clone. The schematic is source code in open-source CoHDL, and the compiler checks it. Gerbers, firmware, config app: all of it, in the open.

INVENTORY · openmicrokbd MIT LICENSE

openmicrokbd/ The whole thing. Clone it and go.
hw/v1/src/ The schematic — written in CoHDL, typed and compiler-checked. The PCB is a program.
hw/v1/out/ What the compiler emits: netlist, BOM, footprints, layout constraints.
hw/v1/pcb/ The routed board, ready to open in KiCad.
hw/v1/fab/ Gerbers, BOM, pick-and-place — upload straight to a fab.
fw/ Rust firmware on embassy: key matrix, twin RGB chains, USB HID, one-click updates.
app/ The config app — Rust + GPUI. Remap live, save to the board, flash firmware.
README.md Every step, every part, every price.

A blueprint anyone can replicate — compile it, solder it, flash it, fork it. Under $40 in parts, and no permission required.

CoHDL is open source. The language and compiler behind this schematic are public at cohdl.org, with source on GitHub.

★ Get the Blueprint on GitHub ▼ Download the App Join the Discord

The config app runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux. Every release ships notarized macOS disk images — Apple Silicon and Intel — and portable Windows ZIPs — Arm64 and x64 — next to the firmware binaries; Linux builds from source out of app/.

CHAPTER VI

THE REAL THING

Pixel art is fun. Here's the one on our desk — tap the stack, swipe it, or use the arrows.

The finished OpenMicroKbd: dark PCB face in a white case, engraved keycaps, a knurled knob, a joystick, a yellow smiley key and a round gold touch pad — THE CURRENT BUILD Engraved keycaps, a real knob, and the happy key that survived every revision.

THE CURRENT BUILD Engraved keycaps, a real knob, and the happy key that survived every revision.

The board surrounded by loose engraved keycaps, each carrying a different legend — EVERY LEGEND ENGRAVED Caps are engraved in-house — the laser jig that does it is in the repo too.

EVERY LEGEND ENGRAVED Caps are engraved in-house — the laser jig that does it is in the repo too.

The board seated in its printed box beside a printed keycap tray — IN THE BOX Case, keycap tray and packaging — all printed, all in `hw/v1/mechanical/`.

IN THE BOX Case, keycap tray and packaging — all printed, all in `hw/v1/mechanical/`.

The board in front of a laptop running the config app, showing rotation and press bindings for the encoder — REMAP ANYTHING Every input is editable in the app. Changes land live, then persist on the board.

PROTOTYPE #001 Hand-soldered on the kitchen table, naked keycaps, a knob borrowed from a drawer. It worked.

1 / 5

PCBBlack, hand-soldered, written in CoHDL
CASE3D-printed, single piece
SWITCHESLow-profile Choc V2 linears — quiet enough for a call
LIGHTS13 per-key + 8 underglow RGB
BRAINSTM32F072 running Rust on embassy
UPDATESFlashed over USB from the app — no buttons held
STATUSWorking prototype · v0.6 · still improving
COSTUnder $40 in parts, one afternoon of time