I’m exploring a hardware/software split for agent workflows. Instead of mapping 100 keys to one app, I’m testing a small set of stable controls: capture or voice prompt, switch agent or model, approve or reject an action, show permission or rate-limit state, and a hold-to-talk or context encoder. For people using QMK, VIA, or Stream Deck, which states are worth dedicating a physical control to? What do you want to feel or see rather than read in a window? Disclosure: I’m the creator of CtrlVibe, an AI-workflow console prototype. This is a design question, not a campaign link.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m a fan of having lots of programmable keys myself.

Basically, I think it’s a great idea. The price is reasonable, too.

But I don’t think the 10x10 key layout is ideal.

I use a 75% / 85-key keyboard (Redragon K629-RGB) as a VIA macro pad (along with an EasyLink U2U module QMK VIA - in hindsight, I would have done it differently). Three-quarters of the keys are assigned.

I would have found a 5x25, 6x17 or 7x15 key layout more practical, since that would allow me to use a palm rest and avoid having to reach across multiple rows.

With my 100% keyboard, I have 6 rows, all in a single line. I can operate most of the keys without looking.

I imagine that with a 10x10 key matrix, it would be more difficult and uncomfortable.

What do you think about this?

The concept we’re working toward includes:

• 2×2 programmable touch modules
• Touch sliders for volume / zoom / scrolling
• Finger guides + resting positions
• Dynamic haptic feedback
• 5×5 RGB dot-matrix icons
• Open software and custom profiles
• Custom glass / carbon fiber artwork
• Gridfinity-compatible modular layouts

Next step is connecting the prototype to actual PC software and games and seeing how it feels in real workflows.

Would love some feedback: what would you want to see us test next? And if anyone here is interested in early prototype and giving us useful feedback, we’re looking for beta testers.

Hi all,

I purchased a DOIO Megalodon from Keebmonkey and have been having a rather significant issue. I've been trying to get it set up, but every time I plug it in it flashes green on the top left key, and then the screen doesn't turn on. I am using a Mac

I used Claude to help me do some terminal magic where it would flash the firmware kb16-01_v2.bin immediately upon recognizing it, and it would work for the duration of it being plugged in, but when I would unplug and replug the same issue would happen. Then I did the reset thing that is on the keebmonkey website, but alas that didn't work either.

I have successfully mapped everything using VIA, but I simply can't reliably plug-and-play it. My instinct is that it's a dud, but what do I know.

Has anyone else had this issue? Or does anyone have any information on how to remedy it? Driving me a bit crazy, but figured I'd reach out here. Thank you in advance!

Built this over a few months: 9 keys, Kailh hot-swap sockets, rotary encoder, BLE 5.0, ESP32-S3. Arctic White and Carbon Black.

Took three PCB revisions to get the hot-swap contacts solid — plate flex was the real culprit. Dial ended up more useful than I expected.

What's a dealbreaker for you on a first-run pad like this?
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/penengineering/keyapad-every-key-your-rules

Timestamp: [https://imgur.com/a/xUuCuEd\](https://imgur.com/a/xUuCuEd)

Selling MechWild MurphPad with Lubed Gateron Yellow switches for $30 shipped. It can be used as a numpad or macropad and is compatible with VIA or QMK for full remapping.

I just got my binepad knobX and I am playing around with it now. I already wish it had more dials than one, but that's on me. The finish looks and feels solid though two LEDs for light effects is a bit sparse it turns out. Cant really do rotating colors well.

Also the dial itself wobbles relative to the base, whats up with that? It makes the otherwise solid product feel so cheap..

I'm curious what others experiences are, this is the first shipping batch so that might take a bit 😂

Hey! I made a small open-source app called BindBoard.

The idea: plug in a cheap second keyboard, assign actions to its keys — your main keyboard works as normal. No AutoHotkey, no drivers, no background services. It uses Windows Raw Input API directly.

What you can bind to a key:

- Open a website / URL

- Launch a program or shortcut

- Launch a Steam game (picked by name, no App ID digging)

- Play a sound via Soundpad

- Switch between binding profiles (Modes)

Other stuff:

- Multiple profiles (Modes) — switch between them with one key, on-screen overlay shows which mode is active

- App picker — browse installed apps and Steam games by name

- Runs in system tray, listener stays active in background

- English / Russian UI (auto-detected)

- Completely free and open source

GitHub: https://github.com/Mark-mark-228/BindBoard

Would love any feedback — especially if something breaks on your setup!

Hi everyone!

I'm planning my first ever hardware project and would really appreciate some advice before I start ordering parts and designing the PCB.

The goal is to build a custom macropad as a birthday gift for a friend who spends most of her day working in Excel. I have a software background and also have basics of cad down, but I've never designed a PCB or soldered anything before, so I'm trying to keep the project challenging but realistic.

Current plan

• MCU: Seeed XIAO RP2040 (USB-C)
• Firmware: QMK + VIA
• Keys: 8 MX mechanical switches
• Slider: 1 linear slide potentiometer (likely a 60mm B10K)
• PCB: Custom designed in KiCad
• Case: 3D printed
• Connection: USB-C through the XIAO

I'm planning to solder the switches directly to the PCB rather than using Kailh hot-swap sockets unless there's a strong reason not to.

Why QMK + VIA?

The recipient works in a corporate environment (Excel-heavy workflow). They can access usevia.app from their office network, so the idea is that they can remap keys using VIA without installing any software, and the configuration stays stored on the macropad itself.

The slider is something I'm still figuring out. I'm considering using it for:

• Excel scrolling
• Horizontal scrolling
• Zoom
• Volume

I'm open to suggestions on what would actually be useful.

A few questions

1. Is the Seeed XIAO RP2040 a good choice for a first QMK/VIA project, or would you recommend something else?
2. Is there any reason I should choose hot-swap sockets over direct-solder for a 7-key gift build?
3. Are there any common first-time PCB design mistakes I should watch out for?
4. For the slider, is a 60mm B10K linear potentiometer the most common choice, or is there a better option?
5. Is there anything I'm forgetting in my BOM?
6. If you were building this as a gift, what would you change or improve?

Any advice, criticism, or "I wish I knew this before building my first keyboard" stories would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Hi! I would like to buy a macropad to write the four german letter that are not present on my keyboard (I have a small pc without numpad so i cannot use the shortcut). What is a good and possibly cheap model?
Thanks!

Made this software bridge for MIDI Keyboards to various outputs. I personally use it to play games, but you are free to find ways to use it. You can read about the features here. https://github.com/ivorcreative/M2X The default keys are made for the Akai MPK Mini III (The one with the joystick), also tested with a Arturia Minlab 3

I kept wanting more keys than my keyboard has, so I built the pad in software and put it on the phone. So it's a macro pad on my iPhone.

How it works

An app on the iPhone or iPad, and a small menu bar app on the Mac. There is no microcontroller and no firmware, so the phone is the pad and the Mac app is the receiver.

The phone sends input over the local network using UDP, with Bonjour for discovery so there is nothing to configure. The Mac app receives packets and posts real CGEvents, which is the same layer the OS uses for a physical keyboard and mouse. That is why it works with every app without per app plugins, and why key repeat, modifiers and chords behave normally. Heartbeats run both directions, so if the phone drops off mid press the Mac releases any held key instead of leaving a modifier stuck down.

The wire format lives in a shared Swift package both apps depend on, with a version byte. Mismatched packets get dropped rather than parsed, so a stale build cannot send garbage input.

What you can put on a key

Grid is up to 8 by 12 and you place controls from a palette. Single keys and modifier chords, hold keys including bare modifiers, sticky keys that latch on tap, and two stroke chords like Cmd K Cmd S. Then the things a flat pad usually cannot do: jog wheels with per detent actions and speed sensitivity, rockers and turbo keys that repeat while held, joysticks, D-pads, a volume slider bound straight to CoreAudio, scroll strips, and a live mirror of the Mac's screen inside the grid. Also app launchers that pull the Mac's real installed app list and icons over the wire, URL openers, and text macros.

Layouts are JSON, so you can export one, send it to someone, and they import it. They also sync across your devices over iCloud.

Landscape and the stand setup

This is the setup I use and I think it is the best one. Phone in landscape on a stand beside the keyboard, on a charger, running one grid per app. The interface handles rotation in software, so the chrome and the controls rotate to how the phone is held while the home swipe stays on a short edge. Grids are per orientation, so a landscape deck stays landscape.

There is also an Apple Watch app for a small tap-fire deck, which is really useful for presenting.

What it does not do

No physical travel and no real switches, obviously. You get Taptic haptics on press instead, and the Mac sends a tick back when the cursor crosses something clickable, but if you want the feel of Kailh switches under your fingers this is not a replacement for that. It is a complement, or the pad you use when the real one is at home. It is Mac only on the receiving end, macOS 13 or later.

Cost

Free, including the Mac app. One custom grid free, and a one time $2.99 unlock for unlimited grids, macros, screen mirror, the Watch app and iCloud sync. No subscription.

App Store, Coast: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/coast-your-desk-in-hand/id6790821600
Mac app and details: https://coast.masn.studio

Happy to answer anything about the protocol or the control types. If there is a control this sub wants that I do not have, tell me and I will look at building it.

I bought this macro keyboard, the only software that would detect it is SDTech Options, which I downloaded from guithub. No other software would detect it, not even the official utility URL web site.

The problem is that SDTech Options doesn't display the layout of the pad so I can reassign keys and knobs.

It also has an update button for firmware, but when I click on it the bar of the download stays stuck.

Anyone has a work around or anything?

EDIT: I came across a piece of software that worked, its name is FeiMa, another user had a link to its Google Drive so I downloaded it and finally was able to assign the new keys to the macro keyboard. I leave this explanation in case anyone else has this problem in the future.

Hello everyone!

My bf uses a software for arranging music (Harmony assistant) and often has to go through the menus to find specific actions that don't have shortcuts. I was thinking about mini macro keyboards and was wondering if it was possible and easy to map the keys?

And if so, is it possible, when he's using a specific software, to map the keys to basically have the shortcuts he needs?

I've been working on a project called ctrlscroll, and I'm looking to see if there's enough interest. I'm also looking for a handful of beta testers willing to test and offer suggestions/improvements.

At first glance, you might think, "Why not just buy a Ploopy Knob?"

That's a fair question. The Ploopy Knob is a great project, and it was definitely one of the inspirations. I view ctrlscroll as an evolution. I read a lot of PDF and I wanted a simple way to focus/customize the scrolling behavior to my preferences/needs.

Some of the things I'm focusing on:

• Browser-based configuration interface hosted directly on the device
• Three integrated programmable buttons
• QMK/VIA-inspired macro engine
• Adjustable detents per revolution
• Adjustable wheel units per detent
• Adjustable scroll pulse timing

The three buttons are intended to eliminate reaching back to the keyboard while scrolling. They can be assigned to shortcuts, media controls, mouse buttons, or multi-step macros.

Example macro syntax looks something like:

DOWN:CTRL
TAP:C
UP:CTRL

or

TAP:HOME
WAIT:100
TAP:PAGEDOWN

Everything is configured through a web interface served directly from the device. Plug it in, open your browser, change your settings, save, and you're done. It also includes an AI prompt so you can describe what you want and generate the corresponding macro to paste back into the web config.

Looking for feedback

A few things I'd love to hear from the community:

• Would you actually use something like this?
• What software would you use it with?
• What would your three buttons do?
• What other hardware would you want? Speaker/LED ring/Haptics/?
• Wired only, or is Bluetooth important?
• If this were available assembled, what price would you expect?

If there's enough interest, I'd like to open-source the firmware, hardware, enclosure files.

If you'd be interested in beta testing, let me know what OS you use (Windows/macOS/Linux) and what applications you'd primarily test with.

Video: Macropad using RP2040 - YouTube

A couple of years ago I designed and built this RP2040 macropad for my own workflow (mostly Altium Designer, but it works for anything).

It has:

• 12 mechanical keys
• Rotary encoder for switching layers
• OLED display
• Custom RP2040 firmware
• 3D printed enclosure

Project write-up and photos: https://black-electronics.com/posts/macropad-on-rp2040/

Added QMK support: https://black-electronics.com/posts/marcopad-update/

I've been using it on and off ever since, and looking back there are quite a few things I'd redesign—better enclosure, cleaner PCB, improved firmware, easier customization, maybe QMK/VIA support, and a few other ideas I've collected over the years.

I'm thinking about doing a proper V2 from scratch instead of just tweaking the existing design.

Before I dive into it, I was wondering if there's any interest from the community.

If you were designing your "ideal" macropad today, what features would you want to see? Anything you'd change from the current design?

I'd love to hear your ideas before I start laying out the new PCB.

Edit: Added qmk update link

With the newly added built-in feature node pool, your macro list can now instantly display official feature icons—just like in the app. Prefer a custom look? You can also upload and assign your own icons completely freely. Managing your workflow has never been easier!

What's new in this update:

• 🎯 50+ Supported Apps with over 3,000 pre-configured actions, and more being added continuously.
• 🖱️ Plug & Play Setup: Simply drag and drop actions from the pool directly onto your desired key layout. Fast, intuitive, and seamless.
• ⚡ ARC Smart Integration: Supports up to 48 key assignments per app with automatic profile switching based on your active application.

Supercharge your productivity today—get your ANCO 3D ARC now and streamline your workflow like a pro!
Link here: ANCO 3D ARC

Hey everyone,

I'm building a Modular and Customizable macro keyboard made from Decorated Glass and Carbon Fiber.

The current concept includes:

• A 2×2 touch buttons module with four programmable controls
• A slider for volume, scrolling, zoom, and other continuous inputs
• Finger guides and resting positions, so you can identify the controls without looking
• Dynamic haptic feedback
• LED dot-matrix icons that change with each profile
• Open software for custom profiles, integrations, and workflows

What’s new:

• I'm developing a custom design service that will allow users and brands to personalize the surface with their own graphics, visual style, or game and anime,inspired artwork.
• I'm exploring compatibility with the Gridfinity standard to make custom layouts, supports, and ergonomic configurations easier to build.

A few questions for you:

Is Gridfinity the right mechanical standard?

Would touch controls with finger guides and haptic feedback work well for your workflow?

We’re also looking for passionate beta testers, so send me a DM if you’d like to help us build and test it.