If you're getting into custom mechanical keyboards, using QMK Firmware is a great way to customize your layout. Here's a quick guide to get started, especially if you have your own keymap repository.

1. Install QMK with Homebrew

First, make sure you have Homebrew installed. Then run:

brew install qmk/qmk/qmk

This will install the QMK CLI tool.

2. Set Up QMK with Your Custom Repository

If you maintain your own fork of the QMK firmware (for example, with a custom keymap), you can initialize your environment like this:

qmk setup krsntn/qmk_firmware -b keymap

This tells QMK to use your GitHub repo and the keymap branch.

3. Configure Your Default Keyboard and Keymap

Set up your default keyboard and keymap so you don’t need to specify them every time:

qmk config user.keyboard=crkbd/rev4_1/standard
qmk config user.keymap=krsntn

Now when you compile, QMK knows what to build by default.

4. Compile Your Firmware

With everything set, you can now simply run:

qmk compile

If needed, you can still specify other boards or keymaps manually.

That's it! You’re now ready to compile and flash your custom firmware with ease.