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Boards, Shields, and Keymaps

Architecture Overview​

The foundational elements needed to get a specific keyboard working with ZMK can be broken down into:

  • A KSCAN driver, which uses compatible="zmk,kscan-gpio-matrix" for GPIO matrix based keyboards, or uses compatible="zmk,kscan-gpio-direct" for small direct wires.
  • An optional matrix transform, which defines how the KSCAN row/column events are translated into logical "key positions". This is required for non-rectangular keyboards/matrices, where the key positions don't naturally follow the row/columns from the GPIO matrix.
  • A keymap, which binds each key position to a behavior, e.g. key press, mod-tap, momentary layer, in a set of layers.

These three core architectural elements are defined per-keyboard, and where they are defined depends on the specifics of how that keyboard works. For an overview on the general concepts of boards and shields, please see the FAQs on boards and shields.

Self-Contained Keyboard​

For a self-contained keyboard that includes the microprocessor, all of the above architecture components are included in the Zephyr board definition. You can see an example for the Planck V6 board directory.

With this type of keyboard, the full ZMK definition for the keyboard exists in the app/boards/${arch}/${board_name} directory, e.g. app/boards/arm/planck/. In that directory, you'll have the following:

  • A Kconfig.board file that defines the toplevel Kconfig item for the board, including which SoC Kconfig setting it depends on.
  • A Kconfig.defconfig file that sets some initial defaults when building this keyboard. This usually includes:
    • Setting ZMK_KEYBOARD_NAME to a value, for the product name to be used for USB/BLE info.
    • Setting ZMK_USB and/or ZMK_BLE for the default values for which HID transport(s) to enable by default
  • A ${board_name}_defconfig file that forces specific Kconfig settings that are specific to this hardware configuration. Mostly this is SoC settings around the specific hardware configuration.
  • ${board_name}.dts which contains all the devicetree definitions, including:
    • An #include line that pulls in the specific microprocessor that is used, e.g. #include <st/f3/stm32f303Xc.dtsi>.
    • A chosen node named zmk,kscan which references the configured KSCAN driver (usually a GPIO matrix)
    • (Optional) A chosen node named zmk,matrix_transform that defines the mapping from KSCAN row/column values to the logical key position for the keyboard.
  • A board.cmake file with CMake directives for how to flash to the device.
  • A keymap/keymap.overlay file that includes the default keymap for that keyboard. Users will be able to override this keymap in their user configs.

Pro Micro Compatible Keyboard​

Labelled Pro Micro pins

For keyboards that require a (usually Pro Micro compatible) add-on board to operate, the ZMK integration pieces are places in the shield definition for that keyboard, allowing users to swap in different Pro Micro compatible boards (e.g. Proton-C, or nice!nano) and build a firmware the matches their actual combination of physical components.

With this type of keyboard, the partial definition for the keyboard exists in the app/boards/shields/${board_name} directory, e.g. app/boards/shields/clueboard_california/. In that directory, you'll have the following:

  • A Kconfig.shield that defines the toplevel Kconfig value for the shield, which uses a supplied utility to function to default the value based on the shield list, e.g. def_bool $(shields_list_contains,clueboard_california).
  • A Kconfig.defconfig file to set default values for things like ZMK_KEYBOARD_NAME
  • A ${shield_name}.overlay file, which is a devicetree overlay file, that includes:
    • A chosen node named zmk,kscan which references the configured KSCAN driver (usually a GPIO matrix). For these keyboards, to be compatible with any Pro Micro compatible boards, the KSCAN configuration should reference the nexus node that ZMK has standardized on. In particular, the &pro_micro aliases can be used to reference the standard digital pins of a Pro Micro for shields.
    • (Optional) A chosen node named zmk,matrix_transform that defines the mapping from KSCAN row/column values to the logical key position for the keyboard.
  • A keymap/keymap.overlay file that includes the default keymap for that keyboard. Users will be able to override this keymap in their user configs.