The QMK CLI makes building and working with QMK keyboards easier. We have provided a number of commands to simplify and streamline tasks such as obtaining and compiling the QMK firmware, creating keymaps, and more.
The CLI requires Python 3.5 or greater. We try to keep the number of requirements small but you will also need to install the packages listed in [`requirements.txt`](https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware/blob/master/requirements.txt).
# Global CLI
QMK provides an installable CLI that can be used to setup your QMK build environment, work with QMK, and which makes working with multiple copies of `qmk_firmware` easier. We recommend installing and updating this periodically.
## Install Using Homebrew (macOS, some Linux)
If you have installed [Homebrew](https://brew.sh) you can tap and install QMK:
```
brew tap qmk/qmk
brew install qmk
export QMK_HOME='~/qmk_firmware' # Optional, set the location for `qmk_firmware`
qmk setup # This will clone `qmk/qmk_firmware` and optionally set up your build environment
```
## Install Using easy_install or pip
If your system is not listed above you can install QMK manually. First ensure that you have python 3.5 (or later) installed and have installed pip. Then install QMK with this command:
```
pip3 install qmk
export QMK_HOME='~/qmk_firmware' # Optional, set the location for `qmk_firmware`
qmk setup # This will clone `qmk/qmk_firmware` and optionally set up your build environment
```
## Packaging For Other Operating Systems
We are looking for people to create and maintain a `qmk` package for more operating systems. If you would like to create a package for your OS please follow these guidelines:
* Follow best practices for your OS when they conflict with these guidelines
* Instruct the user to set the environment variable `QMK_HOME` to have the firmware source checked out somewhere other than `~/qmk_firmware`.
# Local CLI
If you do not want to use the global CLI there is a local CLI bundled with `qmk_firmware`. You can find it in `qmk_firmware/bin/qmk`. You can run the `qmk` command from any directory and it will always operate on that copy of `qmk_firmware`.
This command formats C code using clang-format. Run it with no arguments to format all core code, or pass filenames on the command line to run it on specific files.
This command allows you to compile firmware from any directory. You can compile JSON exports from <https://config.qmk.fm>, compile keymaps in the repo, or compile the keyboard in the current working directory.
This command allows you to convert from raw KLE data to QMK Configurator JSON. It accepts either an absolute file path, or a file name in the current directory. By default it will not overwrite `info.json` if it is already present. Use the `-f` or `--force` flag to overwrite.
**Usage**:
```
qmk kle2json [-f] <filename>
```
**Examples**:
```
$ qmk kle2json kle.txt
☒ File info.json already exists, use -f or --force to overwrite.