labs.nl

Keypad Studio

Stable

Keypad Studio is a desktop configurator for MINI KeyBoard and other CH57x-family USB macro keypads. Remap every key, record macros, switch presets per application, and control RGB lighting from one place. No account, and the desktop application collects nothing about you.

Version
1.0.0
Updated
License
Proprietary

Download

1.0.0
All platforms

macOS

Windows

Linux

Raspberry Pi

Verify the file you receive before running it.

One preset per job. The pad is drawn in the middle with each keycap showing what it will send, and the panel on the right holds the layout, the layer's lighting and which applications switch to it.
Recording a macro. Keystrokes land in the shortcut field as they are pressed, and any key can carry its own delay instead of the layer default.

What it does

A macro keypad is only as good as the software that drives it. Keypad Studio turns a cheap CH57x-family pad into something you actually reach for.

  • Remap any key to a keystroke, a shortcut, a text snippet, or a media control.
  • Record macros — sequences with timing, held modifiers, and repeats.
  • Layers let one physical key do several things depending on the active layer.
  • Per-app presets switch the whole layout when you change application, so the same pad serves your editor, your video timeline, and your browser.
  • RGB lighting — per-key colors, brightness, and effects.
  • Host actions launch applications and open URLs directly from a key.
  • Plugins put third-party services on a key — Home Assistant, Hue, OBS Studio, MQTT and more.
  • Key library stores the assignments you reuse so you are not rebuilding them per profile.

Plugins

A key can trigger something on your network rather than on your machine. The desktop application manages these in Settings → Plugins, and they come in two kinds.

The first runs no code at all: a JSON manifest describing HTTP requests, carried out by the application’s own interpreter, which cannot reach any host but the one you configure.

  • Home Assistant — run a scene, flip a switch, dim a light.
  • Philips Hue and WLED — lighting directly, no hub in between.
  • Elgato Key Light — brightness and color temperature from a key.
  • Slack, Discord, or any webhook — post without leaving what you are doing.
  • ntfy — push a notification to your phone.
  • GitHub Actions — dispatch a workflow.

The manifest format is documented, so a service that speaks HTTP and is not on this list is a file you can write yourself rather than a feature request.

The second kind is a real program, for what an HTTP template cannot express:

  • OBS Studio — switch scene, toggle mute, start and stop recording or streaming.
  • MQTT — publish to any broker, for Zigbee2MQTT, Tasmota, or your own.

These stay inert until you approve that exact file, and approval is tied to its SHA-256 — change the file and it has to be approved again. An approved plugin runs with the application’s own permissions, so approve only what you trust. Tokens and passwords are kept in the operating system’s keychain, never in a config file and never in a preset you export.

Plugins are a desktop feature. The browser version cannot run them.

In your browser, or on your desktop

There is a browser version at keypad.rlabs.nl — it talks to the keypad over WebHID, so there is nothing to install. It needs Chrome, Edge or another Chromium-based browser; Safari and Firefox do not support WebHID.

In the browser Desktop app
Getting started Open the page, nothing to install Download and install
Runs on Chrome, Edge, other Chromium browsers macOS, Windows, Linux, Raspberry Pi
Remap keys and knobs — keystrokes, modifiers, media, mouse ✓ ✓
Record macros with per-key delays ✓ ✓
Layers, written independently ✓ ✓
RGB backlight — colors and lighting modes ✓ ✓
Read the configuration back off the pad ✓ ✓
Drag to copy, move or swap keys ✓ ✓
Saved presets, import and export your key maps — ✓
Key library of reusable assignments — ✓
Per-app switching — ✓
Host actions — launch an app, open a URL — ✓
Plugins — Home Assistant, Hue, OBS, MQTT and others — ✓
Runs in the system tray — ✓

The browser is the quicker route to a one-off change on a machine you do not own. The desktop application is the one to install if you keep configurations around and reuse them.

Supported hardware

Keypad Studio targets USB macro keypads built on the CH57x chip family, sold under the “MINI KeyBoard” name among many others. These are the inexpensive 3-, 6-, 9- and 12-key pads, usually with a rotary encoder or two.

Requirements

  • macOS on Apple Silicon, Windows 10 or later on x64, or a 64-bit Linux desktop
  • Raspberry Pi requires a 64-bit OS — the 32-bit builds are not supported
  • A free USB port; no drivers to install

Privacy

The desktop application collects no analytics and no telemetry. It does not phone home, it does not require an account, and your configuration stays on your machine and on the keypad itself.

The browser version at keypad.rlabs.nl is a website, and it is measured. Cookieless and with no account, no identifier and nothing that follows you between sites, it counts: page visits; whether your browser supports WebHID at all; that a keypad was connected and which model it is; how many writes were sent to it; and the name of any error the device returned.

That last group exists to answer one question — how often this actually works on real hardware — and it is the limit of what is collected. What you write to the keypad is never sent anywhere. Key assignments, macros, layers, lighting and presets are held in your own browser and go straight to the device over WebHID. The count of writes is recorded; their contents are not read and not transmitted.

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