Add import/export for VIA JSON keymaps

[karava]

Users should be able to:

• Import existing VIA keymap JSON files
• Export keymaps in VIA-compatible format
• This ensures interoperability with VIA and other tools

[AayushM0]

Hi, I’d like to work on this issue if it’s still available.

Current state

From what i can see the project already has the import and export functionality but not in the VIA format

• Import expects a structure like:

  { "name": "...", "keyboard": "...", "layers": [...] }

• Export generates the same format.

but it differs from the VIA format

{ "version": 1, "layers": [...] }

The issue that arises is users cannot import or export in VIA format

Desired behavior

Users should be able to:

• Import VIA-compatible keymap JSON files
• Export their current keymap in VIA-compatible format

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Proposed approach

I plan to extend the existing import/export logic with minimal disruption:

Import:

• Parse the JSON and detect format:

  • If { version, layers } → treat as VIA format
  • Otherwise → fallback to existing app format

• Normalize the layers and load into state

Export:

• Generate a VIA-compatible JSON:

  { "version": 1, "layers": [...] }

• Use existing download logic to export the file

---

Expected result

• Users can import both app-format and VIA-format keymaps
• Exported keymaps can be directly used in VIA
• No regression in current functionality

---

Please let me know if this approach aligns with the project direction, and I’ll start implementing it.

[karava]

Hey @AayushM0, thanks for the detailed proposal — this looks great! 🎉

The approach makes a lot of sense: auto-detecting VIA vs app format on import and supporting VIA-compatible export is exactly what we need. Keeping backward compatibility with the existing format is important, so glad you've thought about that.

Go ahead and start implementing it. A few notes:

• Feel free to open a draft PR early so we can follow along
• Adding a couple of tests for the format detection logic would be awesome
• If you run into any questions about the codebase, just ask here or on the PR

Looking forward to seeing it come together!

[AayushM0]

Hey i have progressed on the issue and fixed the import issue....refer to draft PR #26

[AayushM0]

I was wondering what should i do with the export.....should the export be only VIA format

or the UI needs to be changed to allow the user to choose from both?

[karava]

Good question! Let's go with this approach:

Default export = VIA format ({ "version": 1, "layers": [...] }) since that's the standard and the whole point of this issue.

But let's keep the app format as a secondary option — our format includes name and keyboard metadata that VIA doesn't carry, which is useful for re-importing into Keylab later.

For the UI, simplest approach: add a small dropdown or two buttons — "Export VIA" (primary) and "Export Keylab" (secondary). Don't overthink the UI, keep it clean.

Also a few notes on the PR so far:

• Could you move the layer normalization logic (padding/trimming) from page.tsx into keymap.ts? Keeps the import logic self-contained.
• The old importKeymap() can be removed since importAnyKeymap replaces it.
• Minor formatting — try to match the existing code style (spacing around :, if ( with space, etc.)

Looking great so far though!

[karava]

By the way — you might see a Vercel bot comment on your PR about needing deploy authorization. You can ignore that, it's a limitation of our current plan. Just test locally with npm run dev and we'll review the code on GitHub. Once merged to main it'll deploy automatically.

[AayushM0]

Addressed feedback and added export support. Ready for review.