Input Architect

Archived

This project has been merged into Framework Deck. All features are now part of Framework Deck's Keyboard module. The standalone repository is archived for historical reference.

Input Architect was a lightweight desktop and web application for configuring Framework Laptop 16 input modules — the ANSI Keyboard and RGB Macropad. Developed by community member ToySnail (GitHub: enkode), it provided key remapping, per-key RGB control, config snapshots, and firmware flashing via the VIA protocol¹².

Built with Tauri 2 (React + TypeScript), the app was approximately 2 MB and communicated with hardware over WebHID².

Features

Key Remapping

• Full key remapping via VIA protocol (V2 and V3) across all 6 programmable layers²
• 100+ QMK keycodes organized by category (Basic, Function, Navigation, Modifiers, Media, Layers)²
• Layer switching keycodes: MO (momentary), TG (toggle), TO (switch and stay), OSL (one-shot), TT (tap-toggle), DF (default layer) — layers 0–9¹²
• Live readback — real-time display of what is programmed on each key²

RGB Lighting

• Global effects: Off, Solid Color, Breathing²
• Per-key RGB control with nucleardog's custom firmware²
• Shift+click range selection, Ctrl+click multi-select²
• Built-in key group presets: Letters, Numbers, F-Keys, WASD, FPS Kit, MOBA, Arrows, Modifiers²
• Custom user presets — save and name your own key selections²
• HSV and RGB color pickers with live preview²

Config Management

• Unified save to EEPROM, localStorage, and named snapshots — one button²
• Named config snapshots with restore and export as JSON²
• Full backup/restore of all 6 keymap layers + RGB settings + per-key colors²
• Auto-reconnect after sleep/wake with RGB settings re-application²

Firmware

• Guided 5-step flash workflow (Select, Download, Bootloader, Flash, Reconnect)²
• UF2 file validator checking magic bytes, RP2040 family ID, and block integrity²
• One-click build script for nucleardog's per-key RGB firmware²
• Firmware detection showing currently installed firmware type²

Diagnostics

• LED test sequence (white/red/green/blue flash) with auto-troubleshooting²
• Health check: HID connection, protocol version, RGB read/write, EEPROM, per-key support²
• Centralized HID command logging with timestamps²

Supported Devices

Module	PID	Keys	LEDs	Per-Key RGB
Framework 16 ANSI Keyboard	0x0012	78	97	With nucleardog firmware
Framework 16 RGB Macropad	0x0013	24	24	With nucleardog firmware

Custom Firmware

Per-key RGB control requires nucleardog's QMK fork, which adds a custom rgb_remote protocol over VIA raw HID (command prefix 0xFE). The stock Framework QMK firmware supports key remapping and global RGB effects via VIA but does not support per-key RGB²³.

The app included an automatic build script that cloned the firmware source, installed QMK MSYS, compiled, and delivered the UF2 file².

Bootloader Safety

The Framework 16 input modules use the RP2040 microcontroller. As confirmed by Framework's Kieran Levin, both keyboard and macropad support entering the RP2040 hardware bootloader via a two-key combo (both Alt keys on keyboard, keys 2+6 on macropad) held during power-up¹. This works at the hardware/electrical level — a PCB circuit pulls the flash chip-select line low — meaning recovery is possible even with completely corrupted firmware¹².

Installation

The last standalone release was v0.15.0 (March 9, 2026). It has since been superseded by Framework Deck²⁴.

Desktop App (Windows, Linux)

Windows installer (~2 MB) and Linux builds (AppImage + .deb) were available from the GitHub releases page².

On Linux, WebKitGTK rendering workarounds were built in to handle black screen issues on NVIDIA, Wayland, and tiling window managers¹².

Browser App

The app could also run directly in Chrome or Edge (WebHID required)²:

git clone https://github.com/enkode/input-architect.git
cd input-architect
npm install
npm run dev

Technical Details

Detail	Value
Language	TypeScript (98.5%)
Framework	React 19 + TypeScript 5.9
Desktop runtime	Tauri 2 (Rust + WebView2/WebKitGTK)
Build tool	Vite 7
Styling	Tailwind CSS v4
Hardware interface	WebHID API
Protocol	VIA V2/V3 + nucleardog rgb_remote
License	MIT
Latest release	v0.15.0 (March 9, 2026)
Total releases	1
Commits	42
Contributors	1 (enkode)
Status	Archived — merged into Framework Deck

Community Feedback

The project thread on the Framework Community forum received feedback from early testers including Per_Magnus_Tveten (first macropad tester, identified need for layer switching) and MJ1 (Linux build testing, bootloader safety analysis)¹. Framework's Kieran Levin also clarified the hardware bootloader mechanism¹.

Related Projects

Project	Description
Framework Deck	Successor app — merged Input Architect features plus telemetry, fan control, LED matrix, and more4
keyboard.frame.work	Framework's official VIA fork for keyboard configuration5
nucleardog/qmk_firmware_fw16	Custom QMK fork adding per-key RGB via rgb_remote protocol
FrameworkComputer/qmk_firmware	Official QMK firmware for Framework Laptop 16 input modules3

Footnotes

1. Input Architect — Open-Source Keyboard & Macropad Configurator — Framework Community ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. enkode/input-architect — GitHub ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸ ↩²⁹ ↩³⁰

3. FrameworkComputer/qmk_firmware — GitHub ↩ ↩²

4. enkode/FrameworkDeck — GitHub ↩ ↩²

5. FrameworkComputer/the-via-app — GitHub ↩