KiCad Hotkeys

Turn your Stream Deck into a physical control surface for KiCad. Eight Stream Deck + dials drive layer, zoom, track, via, grid, opacity, sheet, and undo, and 236 KiCad commands sit on real keys across 23 categories covering the Schematic Editor, the PCB Editor, the 3D Viewer, and Gerbview. The Stream Deck + XL adds a numeric pad with a live value console. Bundled profiles cover six Stream Deck models.

EASY LINK, BUILT IN

Nothing else to install: hold the key about a second while KiCad is in front and the deck binds that window to this plugin's profile, which switches in whenever KiCad takes focus and hands back your previous profile when you leave. A short press does nothing, so a stray tap never relinks. Easy Link sits on the top left key of every bundled profile.

STREAM DECK + DIALS

Eight dials span two profile pages, four to a page. Every dial turns to step and taps the strip either side; only Canvas Zoom turns at the pointer, like the mouse wheel. Presses: Active Layer flips the layer pair, Canvas Zoom fits the board, Track Width and Via Size open a custom size while routing, Grid jumps the fast grids, Layer Opacity cycles high contrast, Sheet Navigator goes up one hierarchy level (Schematic Editor only), Undo Scrub saves.

NUMPAD AND VALUE CONSOLE

The Stream Deck + XL opens on a numeric pad: type any dimension straight into KiCad on real pads, with a flash on every press. While you type, the touch strip becomes a value console that echoes your digits and flashes the entry when it commits. Leave mid-entry and come back; nothing strands.

LIVE ON THE STRIP

Two dials read KiCad back to you. While the PCB editor is open, the Active Layer dial shows the current copper layer by name and the Canvas Zoom dial shows the current zoom, updating by themselves. Otherwise each dial shows its own name, never a value it cannot read.

HOW THE KEYS WORK

Drop a category action onto any key and pick the command by its key face, which the key then wears. Press it and the shortcut lands in KiCad like a physical keyboard.

PER-KEY SOUNDS

Every key can play a press sound. 30 sounds ship in the box; pick one per key or leave it silent. Pairs with our free Sound Sampler: record any sound on your PC and play it from any key. Your recordings appear in the Key Sound picker automatically.

LIVE KICAD STATUS ON A KEY

The KiCad Status action turns a key into a live readout: active layer with zoom, open document with a truthful UNSAVED or SAVED marker, or the focused editor. An optional Follow KiCad toggle switches the deck to the matching category page by itself.

READY-MADE LAYOUTS

Six bundled profiles, one per device. The Stream Deck and Stream Deck XL open on a hub of 23 color-coded category keys, all 236 commands pre-wired. The Stream Deck + XL carries the numeric pad, the same hub, and six dials. The Stream Deck + places all eight dials and fifteen starter keys across its Board and Navigate pages. The Stream Deck Mini carries eight starter keys (undo, redo, save, zoom, copy, paste, delete, find), the Stream Deck Neo fifteen.

YOUR SHORTCUTS, NOT OURS

Every key ships with KiCad's stock default shortcut, and every key is remappable. If you customized shortcuts inside KiCad, give the key the same combination: type it in, or click Capture and press it once.

BUILT FOR KICAD 10 ON WINDOWS

KiCad scopes hotkeys per editor: the same key does different things in the Schematic Editor, PCB Editor, 3D Viewer, and Gerbview. The plugin never steals focus or targets a window; keys go to whatever app is active.

WHAT'S INCLUDED

- 23 remappable category actions covering 236 KiCad commands

- Easy Link, built in: hold one key to bind KiCad to this plugin's profile

- Per-key press sounds, 30 bundled, plus your own recordings through Sound Sampler

- Individual key art for every command, one two-tone style

- Custom-hotkey capture for remapped KiCad setups

KiCad Hotkeys 3.0.1.0: the missing GerbView commands, an easier command picker, Easy Link updates and reliability fixes. Still 236 commands in 23 categories, eight Stream Deck + dials and six bundled profiles, for KiCad 10 on Windows (tested on 10.0.6).

Fixed: the eight GerbView commands were missing from the plugin's command list in 3.0.0.0.

Pick by face: a category key's settings now show its commands as a grid of their key art, so you choose by what the key will show. The Edit & Clipboard category also gets a new pencil icon.

Easy Link: the linked key now shows the app's icon above its name when one can be read, and its settings show each link's face. A failed link plays a shorter chime. Easy Link is now a key action only and can no longer sit on a dial; if you put it on one, move it to a key. The bundled profiles always had it on a key.

Easy Link on more than one deck: the Stream Deck app installs one new profile at a time, so linking several decks at once could leave all but one on its old profile. Each extra deck now comes up about 12 seconds after the one before.

Fixed: a key pressed while the keystroke helper restarted after a slow start could fail. A refused profile switch from Open Category or Back no longer stops the plugin. Helper processes now start in your temp folder, so they cannot hold the plugin's folder open during an update. The Open Category settings now point to Home instead of a Back key the profiles do not carry.

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