# ruiqimao/keyboard-pcb-guide

Guide on how to design keyboard PCBs with KiCad

Repository: https://github.com/ruiqimao/keyboard-pcb-guide
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/keyboard-pcb-guide
License Family: other
Last push: 2024-07-02T01:32:39+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3518, "days_push": 793, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4940, forks 317 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:02.752871+00:00)

## What it is
A step-by-step tutorial on designing custom mechanical keyboard PCBs using KiCad, covering schematics, component placement, routing, and generating Gerber files for manufacturing. It is a written guide with images rather than software.

## Use cases
- design a custom keyboard pcb
- learn kicad for keyboard design
- how to route a keyboard pcb
- generate gerber files for a keyboard board
- beginner guide to pcb design for keyboards
- make a handwired keyboard into a pcb

## When to choose
- you want to learn keyboard PCB design from scratch with KiCad
- you need a beginner-friendly walkthrough from schematic to manufacturing
- you are building a custom mechanical keyboard

## When to avoid
- you need general PCB design guidance unrelated to keyboards
- you want software or tooling rather than a written tutorial
- you need up-to-date instructions for the latest KiCad version

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: maintenance
- function: documentation, developer-tools
- domain: hardware, tutorials, developer-tools
- platform: cross-platform
- tags: kicad, pcb-design, mechanical-keyboards, hardware-design, tutorial, electronics

## Member repositories
- ruiqimao/keyboard-pcb-guide (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:02.752871+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:17:55.667818+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/ruiqimao/keyboard-pcb-guide (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:02.752871+00:00, sha 0248ffe900ba)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.