cli_dev_configuration.md

QMK CLI Configuration

This document explains how qmk config works.

Introduction

Configuration for the QMK CLI is a key/value system. Each key consists of a subcommand and an argument name separated by a period. This allows for a straightforward and direct translation between config keys and the arguments they set.

Simple Example

As an example let's look at the command qmk compile --keyboard clueboard/66/rev4 --keymap default.

There are two command line arguments that could be read from configuration instead:

• compile.keyboard
• compile.keymap

Let's set these now:

$ qmk config compile.keyboard=clueboard/66/rev4 compile.keymap=default
compile.keyboard: None -> clueboard/66/rev4
compile.keymap: None -> default
Ψ Wrote configuration to '/Users/example/Library/Application Support/qmk/qmk.ini'

Now I can run qmk compile without specifying my keyboard and keymap each time.

Setting User Defaults

Sometimes you want to share a setting between multiple commands. For example, multiple commands take the argument --keyboard. Rather than setting this value for every command you can set a user value which will be used by any command that takes that argument.

Example:

$ qmk config user.keyboard=clueboard/66/rev4 user.keymap=default
user.keyboard: None -> clueboard/66/rev4
user.keymap: None -> default
Ψ Wrote configuration to '/Users/example/Library/Application Support/qmk/qmk.ini'

CLI Documentation (qmk config)

The qmk config command is used to interact with the underlying configuration. When run with no argument it shows the current configuration. When arguments are supplied they are assumed to be configuration tokens, which are strings containing no spaces with the following form:

<subcommand|general|default>[.<key>][=<value>]

Setting Configuration Values

You can set configuration values by putting an equal sign (=) into your config key. The key must always be the full <section>.<key> form.

Example:

$ qmk config default.keymap=default
default.keymap: None -> default
Ψ Wrote configuration to '/Users/example/Library/Application Support/qmk/qmk.ini'

Reading Configuration Values

You can read configuration values for the entire configuration, a single key, or for an entire section. You can also specify multiple keys to display more than one value.

Entire Configuration Example

qmk config

Whole Section Example

qmk config compile

Single Key Example

qmk config compile.keyboard

Multiple Keys Example

qmk config user compile.keyboard compile.keymap

Deleting Configuration Values

You can delete a configuration value by setting it to the special string None.

Example:

$ qmk config default.keymap=None
default.keymap: default -> None
Ψ Wrote configuration to '/Users/example/Library/Application Support/qmk/qmk.ini'

Multiple Operations

You can combine multiple read and write operations into a single command. They will be executed and displayed in order:

$ qmk config compile default.keymap=default compile.keymap=None
compile.keymap=skully
compile.keyboard=clueboard/66_hotswap/gen1
default.keymap: None -> default
compile.keymap: skully -> None
Ψ Wrote configuration to '/Users/example/Library/Application Support/qmk/qmk.ini'

User Configuration Options

Key	Default Value	Description
user.keyboard	None	The keyboard path (Example: clueboard/66/rev4)
user.keymap	None	The keymap name (Example: default)
user.name	None	The user's github username.

All Configuration Options

Key	Default Value	Description
compile.keyboard	None	The keyboard path (Example: clueboard/66/rev4)
compile.keymap	None	The keymap name (Example: default)
hello.name	None	The name to greet when run.
new_keyboard.keyboard	None	The keyboard path (Example: clueboard/66/rev4)
new_keyboard.keymap	None	The keymap name (Example: default)