~jonashietala.se

The current Cybershard layout ★

Published:
Revised: in 1bf77ea
Contents

This is the keyboard layout I’m using for my custom keyboard that I generated, printed, and hand-wired. It’s a minimalistic keyboard of 35 keys and features an integrated trackball on the right-hand side.

The keyboard layout started out as a direct copy of the T-34 keyboard layout, with some small modifications from the 34-key keyboard T-34 was designed for:

While the layout has diverged since then, the design philosophy from original T-34 post still holds true and I recommend it as it may explain why the layout looks like it does.

Legend

Shift / Layer highlight Layer (one shot / down) Modifier (one shot / down) Dead key Management Layer (down) Modifier (down) Special Active key for layer Layer (toggle) Modifier (implicit)

I use quite a number of special features for the keys and I’ve tried to color code according to the above legend.

Layers

Layers are super important for smaller keyboards and I use them a ton.

Base

J C Y F P X W O U . R S T H K M N A I Repeat , ARROW V G D B / L ( ) _ _MOUSE F2 F12 FUN Space NAV E
  • The repeat key is used to output the last pressed key.
  • I shift keys using auto shift (see long press) and CAPSWORD.
  • The letters Z and Q, together with a bunch of other keys, are on combos.
  • The keys for F2, F12 and FUN are just extras and aren’t in a comfortable enough position to warrant anything more common.

Swedish overlay

Å Ä Ö
Swedish overlay.

When I want to write Swedish I activate this layer that replaces ()_ with åäö, or I use combos from any layer.

Symbols

~ + * # @ ^ . | { } - \ ` ? [ ] Repeat , < > ! / & ( ) _
Symbols layer.

I typically use combos to output symbols (following the same layout pattern as the symbols layer). The symbols layer is mostly used to roll symbol pairs like {} or #[.

Some common symbol sequences (like ->, != , or ```) exists as combos and others as long press.

Numbers

J + * F P X W @u Repeat . 6 4 0 2 K M 3 1 5 7 , V Shift G 8 B / 9 ( ) _ Space NAV
Numbers layer. The browner keys (like J) turn off NUMWORD.

While I can activate the number layer persistently (using leader sequences) I typically use combos for single digits (like 0), or NUMWORD for larger numbers (like 1984).

NUMWORD makes the number layer smart, so it will deactivate when certain keys are pressed. It’s used to type numbers in text or code and for relative movement in Neovim, where 17J would move 17 lines down and then turn off the number layer. Jumping directly to a line in Neovim with 12G is also made convenient.

If I want to enter the layer without it turning off I can either use leader sequences to activate it persistently or hold the NUMWORD combo (hold both thumbs). The layer won’t release until both thumb keys are released, so Space can be tapped with the left thumb without leaving the number layer.

@u is there to easily activate macros in Neovim. For example 7@u in the number layer would run the u macro 7 times and then turn off NUMWORD.

Function keys

F6 F4 F10 F2 F12 F11 F3 F1 F5 F7 F8 F9 Lower DPI Raise DPI FUN
Function keys.
  • The function keys follow the same layout as the numbers layer.
  • The trackball DPI can be lowered and raised at runtime.

Workspace layer

J C W E R Gui . 6 4 0 2 K 3 1 5 7 Gui , 8 9 H L Space WNAV
Workspace layer. All keys have an implicit Gui modifier.

This is used for all window and workspace management in xmonad. Some common operations are also on the navigation layer. Auto shift works and can used to send a window to another workspace (Gui + Shift + 2).

Windows layer

Shift Tab Tab
Windows layer. All keys have an implicit Alt modifier.

This is purely to enable window switching using Alt-Tab and Ctrl-Alt-Tab, without releasing Alt.

Mouse layer

Middle Mouse Left Mouse Right Mouse _ _MOUSE
The mouse layer for right-hand only usage.

I generally prefer to use the navigation layer, where the mouse buttons are on the left side, but in some cases I’d like to only use my right hand.

Special characters

~ © ^ ¨ ™ ´ ` €
Specials layer.

The dead keys add diacritic to any letter. For example, to get é you can use the dead key ´ then e, and the operating system will merge them together. (É also exists as a combo.)

Modifiers

Gui Ctrl Shift Alt Right Alt
Modifiers.

I typically use long press for shift and combos for other modifiers, this layer is a fallback for when those aren’t enough (the layer is mostly used for Right Alt).

Gaming layer

2 Q W E R Shift A S D F Ctrl Z X C V 1 0 Space
A simple gaming layer.

I’m not a heavy gamer by any means but this layer allows me to play Core Keeper with my kid. By necessity this layer disables auto shift.

Combos

Combos is another fantastic tool that I (ab)use a lot. Simply put it allows you to press multiple keys at once and acts as another key—very useful for smaller layouts.

Neighbour combos

These combos are made by keys next to each other, either horizontally (pressed with two fingers) or vertically (pressed with one finger in the middle of two keys).

J C Y F P X W O U . R S T H K M N A I Repeat , ARROW V G D B / L ( ) _ _MOUSE F2 F12 FUN Space NAV E Q QU Z Clear #{} = Bspc Ctrl Esc SYM Del : SYM Ctrl vsplit Gui Shift Shift Gui $ Ctrl Shift M <- <= => -> |> hsplit Mid Mouse >=
2-key neighboring combos.
  • Some combos have a separate hold behaviour; for instance holding Escape activates the symbols layer, allowing me to output [] easily.
  • vsplit splits a window vertically in Neovim and hsplit splits it horizontally, and Close Window closes a window in Neovim (<C-w>q).
  • Clear resets all states; sets the base layer, releases modifiers, stops CAPSWORD and NUMWORD, and clears other persistent states.
  • Ctrl + Shift + M is the shortcut to mute/unmute in Teams.
J C Y F P X W O U . R S T H K M N A I Repeat , ARROW V G D B / L ( ) _ _MOUSE F2 F12 FUN Space NAV E Ctrl W Ctrl W Tab MOD Enter Close Window SWE
3-key horizontal combos.
  • SWE activates the Swedish layer, and if prefixed with ()_ it will replace that with åäö and vice versa. So for example if I typed hall( I would press SWE to get hallå, with the Swedish layer activated.
  • Ctrl W is used to close tabs in Firefox.
N A I Repeat Save Vim
A 4-key horizontal combo.
  • Save Neovim is a 4-key combo that saves the buffer in Neovim.

Split combos

These split combos uses the ring and index finger.

S H N I " '
Combos for the quotes " and '.
T A D L ; %
Combos don’t have to be on the same row, these angled combos are fairly comfortable.
C F W U Alt WIN
One-shot Alt on the left combo and holding the right combo activates the windows layer (with implicit Alt).
L ) Leader Key
Leader key on the bottom row.

Combos over keyboard halfs

T A Space NAV E CAPSWORD NUMWORD
  • Tapping T + A once activates CAPSWORD, tapping again makes it persistent (CAPS LOCK), and a third tap to deactivate CAPS LOCK.
  • Tapping Space + E activates NUMWORD and tapping them again activates the number layer persistently.

The repeat key works with the above, making them easier to double-tap.

H N Swap _ and -
  • Swaps _ and -.
S I SPEC
  • Access the specials layer with the ring fingers.

Thumb key combos

I have a bunch of 2-key thumb + key combos:

~ + * | { } - \ 3 1 5 7 < > ! https:// 9 Å Ä Ö Space NAV NUM WORD
Combos using Space and another key.
# @ ^ 6 4 0 2 É ` ? [ ] 8 & ( ) _ NUM WORD E
Combos using E and another key.

The logic here is that same-side thumb + key = symbol and opposite-side thumb + key = digit, following the placements of the numbers, symbols and swedish layers. They’re used if I want to just type a single character, without having to activate a layer first.

F6 F4 F10 F2 F12 F11 F3 F1 F5 F7 F8 F9 FUN
Combos using FUN and another key.

I have similar combos for the function keys.

QMK boot

, ARROW V G D L ( ) _ _MOUSE Space NAV E QMK Boot QMK Boot

The keycode QMK_BOOT enters boot mode for the microcontroller connected via USB, making it easy to update the keymap on the keyboard. These two 5-key combos (one for each half) are almost impossible to trigger accidentally while being easily accessible.

Additional features

While layers and combos are the two main features I use, QMK has a lot of other nifty features (and you roll your own implementation of them too).

Long press

Most keys have a different behaviour when tapped compared to a long press. Most commonly I use this to produce shifted keys (called auto shift). So tapping the A key will output a as normal and if it it A will appear instead.

There are a bunch of special cases as well (many on top of combos):

Tap Long press
_ < > / \ # Double, e.g __
" ' = ` 0 . Triple, e.g """
| & = Double with spaces, e.g  || 
!  !=  (with spaces)
? {:?}
# {:#?}
% %{}
( [ { Close and move cursor between
@ @u (paired with qu combo for Neovim macro execution)

Leader sequences

I use the combo l + ) as the leader key. This will wait for a sequence of key presses (in contrast to combos where keys must be pressed at the same time). I use this with mnemonics for rarely used outputs:

Leader sequence Action
l + ), c Caps lock
l + ), s Swedish input in Linux (mapped in xmonad)
l + ), t, n Toggle Number layer
l + ), t, s Toggle Symbols layer
l + ), t, f Toggle Function layer
l + ), t, c Toggle Caps lock escape swap
l + ), Esc Ctrl Shift Escape

CAPSWORD

CAPSWORD is a “smart caps lock”. It works like a regular caps lock, except it automatically turns off after certain keys are typed (most commonly space).

It will not turn off on letters, numbers, _ - Backspace and the Repeat keys.

NUMWORD

NUMWORD is a “smart layer”. It’s similar to CAPSWORD, except it activates and then turns off the numbers layer instead of caps lock.

It will not turn off on these keys: 0-9 % / + * - _ . , : = x Backspace Enter and the Repeat keys.

Repeat key

The repeat key simply repeats the previous key. So to type fall I can type f a l Repeat, using four different fingers instead of pressing l twice. It can also repeat things like Ctrl-c or Delete, and unlike regular keys that use auto shift the Repeat key can be held.

Trackball

The trackball is normally configured to move the mouse as a regular trackball.

There are different modes that alters the behavior of the trackball:

  1. Lower the DPI when Space or _ are held (the mouse moves slower when the navigation layer or the mouse layer are active).
  2. Raise the DPI when the MOD combo is held (the mouse moves faster).
  3. Scroll instead of moving the mouse when the SYM combo is held.

More info

  • Read the T-34 series for the design process and motivations of my other keyboard layout (it’s the same layout with minor refinements and additions).

  • See the post Building my ultimate keyboard for how I designed and built the keyboard I’m using this layout with.

  • For implementation details and the most up-to-date reference check out the layout’s QMK source code.

  • Copied the T-34 layout and adapted it for the new keyboard by adding a mouse layer, remove the shortcut layer, and changed the activation of the specials layer.

  • Moved - to an angled combo, moving the WIN key to the top row, and move % to the home-row and ! to the bottom row.

  • Reworked the mouse layer and use a more advanced triggering mechanism to be more explicit about when the layer is turned on and off.

  • Added double-tap functionality to NUMWORD and CAPSWORD combos.

    1. Moved - back to it’s original position and placed % on the angled combo.
    2. Experimental functionality to swap - and _ for the languages that use kebab-case.
    3. Removed the mouse layer and placed mouse buttons on the navigation layer.

  • Reworked the navigation layer to keep the original positions for PgUp, PgDn, and Tabs. To allow this I moved the mouse click to index finger and demoted the up/down to the top row.

    1. Reworked the navigation layer to be more focused on two hands on the board. The idea is to use better placed keys on the right-hand side instead of cramming in too much on the left. Moved PgUp and Home to the right side and it’s enough to use the arrow keys on the right. (The secondary navigation layer exists to enable arrow keys on the left side.)

    2. Added mouse button combos on the right-hand side so in a pinch I can operate the mouse with one hand.

    1. Removed mouse button combos from the right-side and place them on a separate layer instead (to keep the shift combo in the regular place).

    2. Add Gui + ,/. for xmonad master window management to the navigation layer, moving Ctrl + A to the home-row once again.

  • Added the gaming layer.

Published:
Revised: in 1bf77ea