For a lot of people a custom keyboard is about more than sending button presses to your computer. You want to be able to do things that are more complex than simple button presses and macros. QMK has hooks that allow you to inject code, override functionality, and otherwise customize how your keyboard behaves in different situations.
This page does not assume any special knowledge about QMK, but reading Understanding QMK will help you understand what is going on at a more fundamental level.
We have structured QMK as a hierarchy:
- Core (
_quantum)- Keyboard/Revision (
_kb)- Keymap (
_user)
- Keymap (
- Keyboard/Revision (
Each of the functions described below can be defined with a _kb() suffix or a _user() suffix. We intend for you to use the _kb() suffix at the Keyboard/Revision level, while the _user() suffix should be used at the Keymap level.
When defining functions at the Keyboard/Revision level it is important that your _kb() implementation call _user() before executing anything else- otherwise the keymap level function will never be called.
By far the most common task is to change the behavior of an existing keycode or to create a new keycode. From a code standpoint the mechanism for each is very similar.
The first step to creating your own custom keycode(s) is to enumerate them. This means both naming them and assigning a unique number to that keycode. Rather than limit custom keycodes to a fixed range of numbers QMK provides the SAFE_RANGE macro. You can use SAFE_RANGE when enumerating your custom keycodes to guarantee that you get a unique number.
Here is an example of enumerating 2 keycodes. After adding this block to your keymap.c you will be able to use FOO and BAR inside your keymap.
enum my_keycodes {
FOO = SAFE_RANGE,
BAR
};When you want to override the behavior of an existing key, or define the behavior for a new key, you should use the process_record_kb() and process_record_user() functions. These are called by QMK during key processing before the actual key event is handled. If these functions return true QMK will process the keycodes as usual. That can be handy for extending the functionality of a key rather than replacing it. If these functions return false QMK will skip the normal key handling, and it will be up to you to send any key up or down events that are required.
These function are called every time a key is pressed or released.
This example does two things. It defines the behavior for a custom keycode called FOO, and it supplements our Enter key by playing a tone whenever it is pressed.
bool process_record_user(uint16_t keycode, keyrecord_t *record) {
switch (keycode) {
case FOO:
if (record->event.pressed) {
// Do something when pressed
} else {
// Do something else when release
}
return false; // Skip all further processing of this key
case KC_ENTER:
// Play a tone when enter is pressed
if (record->event.pressed) {
PLAY_NOTE_ARRAY(tone_qwerty);
}
return true; // Let QMK send the enter press/release events
default:
return true; // Process all other keycodes normally
}
}- Keyboard/Revision:
bool process_record_kb(uint16_t keycode, keyrecord_t *record) - Keymap:
bool process_record_user(uint16_t keycode, keyrecord_t *record)
The keycode argument is whatever is defined in your keymap, eg MO(1), KC_L, etc. You should use a switch...case block to handle these events.
The record argument contains information about the actual press:
keyrecord_t record {
keyevent_t event {
keypos_t key {
uint8_t col
uint8_t row
}
bool pressed
uint16_t time
}
}This allows you to control the 5 LED's defined as part of the USB Keyboard spec. It will be called when the state of one of those 5 LEDs changes.
USB_LED_NUM_LOCKUSB_LED_CAPS_LOCKUSB_LED_SCROLL_LOCKUSB_LED_COMPOSEUSB_LED_KANA
void led_set_user(uint8_t usb_led) {
if (usb_led & (1<<USB_LED_NUM_LOCK)) {
PORTB |= (1<<0);
} else {
PORTB &= ~(1<<0);
}
if (usb_led & (1<<USB_LED_CAPS_LOCK)) {
PORTB |= (1<<1);
} else {
PORTB &= ~(1<<1);
}
if (usb_led & (1<<USB_LED_SCROLL_LOCK)) {
PORTB |= (1<<2);
} else {
PORTB &= ~(1<<2);
}
if (usb_led & (1<<USB_LED_COMPOSE)) {
PORTB |= (1<<3);
} else {
PORTB &= ~(1<<3);
}
if (usb_led & (1<<USB_LED_KANA)) {
PORTB |= (1<<4);
} else {
PORTB &= ~(1<<4);
}
}- Keyboard/Revision:
void led_set_kb(uint8_t usb_led) - Keymap:
void led_set_user(uint8_t usb_led)
Before a keyboard can be used the hardware must be initialized. QMK handles initialization of the keyboard matrix itself, but if you have other hardware like LED's or i²c controllers you will need to set up that hardware before it can be used.
This example, at the keyboard level, sets up B1, B2, and B3 as LED pins.
void matrix_init_user(void) {
// Call the keymap level matrix init.
// Set our LED pins as output
DDRB |= (1<<1);
DDRB |= (1<<2);
DDRB |= (1<<3);
}- Keyboard/Revision:
void matrix_init_kb(void) - Keymap:
void matrix_init_user(void)
Whenever possible you should customize your keyboard by using process_record_*() and hooking into events that way, to ensure that your code does not have a negative performance impact on your keyboard. However, in rare cases it is necessary to hook into the matrix scanning. Be extremely careful with the performance of code in these functions, as it will be called at least 10 times per second.
This example has been deliberately omitted. You should understand enough about QMK internals to write this without an example before hooking into such a performance sensitive area. If you need help please open an issue or chat with us on Discord.
- Keyboard/Revision:
void matrix_scan_kb(void) - Keymap:
void matrix_scan_user(void)
This function gets called at every matrix scan, which is basically as often as the MCU can handle. Be careful what you put here, as it will get run a lot.
You should use this function if you need custom matrix scanning code. It can also be used for custom status output (such as LED's or a display) or other functionality that you want to trigger regularly even when the user isn't typing.
If the board supports it, it can be "idled", by stopping a number of functions. A good example of this is RGB lights or backlights. This can save on power consumption, or may be better behavior for your keyboard.
This is controlled by two functions: suspend_power_down_* and suspend_wakeup_init_*, which are called when the system is board is idled and when it wakes up, respectively.
This example, at the keyboard level, sets up B1, B2, and B3 as LED pins.
void suspend_power_down_user(void)
{
rgb_matrix_set_suspend_state(true);
}
void suspend_wakeup_init_user(void)
{
rgb_matrix_set_suspend_state(false);
}- Keyboard/Revision:
void suspend_power_down_kb(void)andvoid suspend_wakeup_init_user(void) - Keymap:
void suspend_power_down_kb(void)andvoid suspend_wakeup_init_user(void)
This runs code every time that the layers get changed. This can be useful for layer indication, or custom layer handling.
This example shows how to set the RGB Underglow lights based on the layer, using the Planck as an example
uint32_t layer_state_set_user(uint32_t state) {
switch (biton32(state)) {
case _RAISE:
rgblight_setrgb (0x00, 0x00, 0xFF);
break;
case _LOWER:
rgblight_setrgb (0xFF, 0x00, 0x00);
break;
case _PLOVER:
rgblight_setrgb (0x00, 0xFF, 0x00);
break;
case _ADJUST:
rgblight_setrgb (0x7A, 0x00, 0xFF);
break;
default: // for any other layers, or the default layer
rgblight_setrgb (0x00, 0xFF, 0xFF);
break;
}
return state;
}- Keyboard/Revision:
void uint32_t layer_state_set_kb(uint32_t state) - Keymap:
uint32_t layer_state_set_user(uint32_t state)
The state is the bitmask of the active layers, as explained in the Keymap Overview
This allows you to configure persistent settings for your keyboard. These settings are stored in the EEPROM of your controller, and are retained even after power loss. The settings can be read with eeconfig_read_kb and eeconfig_read_user, and can be written to using eeconfig_update_kb and eeconfig_update_user. This is useful for features that you want to be able to toggle (like toggling rgb layer indication). Additionally, you can use eeconfig_init_kb and eeconfig_init_user to set the default values for the EEPROM.
The complicated part here, is that there are a bunch of ways that you can store and access data via EEPROM, and there is no "correct" way to do this. However, you only have a DWORD (4 bytes) for each function.
Keep in mind that EEPROM has a limited number of writes. While this is very high, it's not the only thing writing to the EEPROM, and if you write too often, you can potentially drastically shorten the life of your MCU.
- If you don't understand the example, then you may want to avoid using this feature, as it is rather complicated.
This is an example of how to add settings, and read and write it. We're using the user keymap for the example here. This is a complex function, and has a lot going on. In fact, it uses a lot of the above functions to work!
In your keymap.c file, add this to the top:
typedef union {
uint32_t raw;
struct {
bool rgb_layer_change :1;
};
} user_config_t;
user_config_t user_config;
This sets up a 32 bit structure that we can store settings with in memory, and write to the EEPROM. Using this removes the need to define variables, since they're defined in this structure. Remember that bool (boolean) values use 1 bit, uint8_t uses 8 bits, uint16_t uses up 16 bits. You can mix and match, but changing the order can cause issues, as it will change the values that are read and written.
We're using rgb_layer_change, for the layer_state_set_* function, and use matrix_init_user and process_record_user to configure everything.
Now, using the matrix_init_user code above, you want to add eeconfig_read_user() to it, to populate the structure you've just created. And you can then immediately use this structure to control functionality in your keymap. And It should look like:
void matrix_init_user(void) {
// Call the keymap level matrix init.
// Read the user config from EEPROM
user_config.raw = eeconfig_read_user();
// Set default layer, if enabled
if (user_config.rgb_layer_change) {
rgblight_enable_noeeprom();
rgblight_sethsv_noeeprom_cyan();
rgblight_mode_noeeprom(1);
}
}
The above function will use the EEPROM config immediately after reading it, to set the default layer's RGB color. The "raw" value of it is converted in a usable structure based on the "union" that you created above.
uint32_t layer_state_set_user(uint32_t state) {
switch (biton32(state)) {
case _RAISE:
if (user_config.rgb_layer_change) { rgblight_sethsv_noeeprom_magenta(); rgblight_mode_noeeprom(1); }
break;
case _LOWER:
if (user_config.rgb_layer_change) { rgblight_sethsv_noeeprom_red(); rgblight_mode_noeeprom(1); }
break;
case _PLOVER:
if (user_config.rgb_layer_change) { rgblight_sethsv_noeeprom_green(); rgblight_mode_noeeprom(1); }
break;
case _ADJUST:
if (user_config.rgb_layer_change) { rgblight_sethsv_noeeprom_white(); rgblight_mode_noeeprom(1); }
break;
default: // for any other layers, or the default layer
if (user_config.rgb_layer_change) { rgblight_sethsv_noeeprom_cyan(); rgblight_mode_noeeprom(1); }
break;
}
return state;
}
This will cause the RGB underglow to be changed ONLY if the value was enabled. Now to configure this value, create a new keycode for process_record_user called RGB_LYR and EPRM. Additionally, we want to make sure that if you use the normal RGB codes, that it turns off Using the example above, make it look this:
bool process_record_user(uint16_t keycode, keyrecord_t *record) {
switch (keycode) {
case FOO:
if (record->event.pressed) {
// Do something when pressed
} else {
// Do something else when release
}
return false; // Skip all further processing of this key
case KC_ENTER:
// Play a tone when enter is pressed
if (record->event.pressed) {
PLAY_NOTE_ARRAY(tone_qwerty);
}
return true; // Let QMK send the enter press/release events
case EPRM:
if (record->event.pressed) {
eeconfig_init(); // resets the EEPROM to default
}
return false;
case RGB_LYR: // This allows me to use underglow as layer indication, or as normal
if (record->event.pressed) {
user_config.rgb_layer_change ^= 1; // Toggles the status
eeconfig_update_user(user_config.raw); // Writes the new status to EEPROM
if (user_config.rgb_layer_change) { // if layer state indication is enabled,
layer_state_set(layer_state); // then immediately update the layer color
}
}
return false; break;
case RGB_MODE_FORWARD ... RGB_MODE_GRADIENT: // For any of the RGB codes (see quantum_keycodes.h, L400 for reference)
if (record->event.pressed) { //This disables layer indication, as it's assumed that if you're changing this ... you want that disabled
if (user_config.rgb_layer_change) { // only if this is enabled
user_config.rgb_layer_change = false; // disable it, and
eeconfig_update_user(user_config.raw); // write the setings to EEPROM
}
}
return true; break;
default:
return true; // Process all other keycodes normally
}
}
And lastly, you want to add the eeconfig_init_user function, so that when the EEPROM is reset, you can specify default values, and even custom actions. For example, if you want to set rgb layer indication by default, and save the default valued.
void eeconfig_init_user(void) { // EEPROM is getting reset!
user_config.rgb_layer_change = true; // We want this enabled by default
eeconfig_update_user(user_config.raw); // Write default value to EEPROM now
// use the non noeeprom versions, to write these values to EEPROM too
rgblight_enable(); // Enable RGB by default
rgblight_sethsv_cyan(); // Set it to CYAN by default
rgblight_mode(1); // set to solid by default
}
And you're done. The RGB layer indication will only work if you want it to. And it will be saved, even after unplugging the board. And if you use any of the RGB codes, it will disable the layer indication, so that it stays on the mode and color that you set it to.
- Keyboard/Revision:
void eeconfig_init_kb(void),uint32_t eeconfig_read_kb(void)andvoid eeconfig_update_kb(uint32_t val) - Keymap:
void eeconfig_init_user(void),uint32_t eeconfig_read_user(void)andvoid eeconfig_update_user(uint32_t val)
The val is the value of the data that you want to write to EEPROM. And the eeconfig_read_* function return a 32 bit (DWORD) value from the EEPROM.