CLP keycaps: printable low-profile MX caps with saddle, dish and tilt variants
MX compatible low profile ergonomic keycaps
At a glance
- What is it?
- The clp-keycaps repository is a set of 3D printable, MX compatible low-profile ergonomic keycap designs, published as Fusion 360 sources and STL models for a contoured layout with homing bumps and several row tilts. It suits a builder who wants to print their own caps, and the assembly files exist mainly to work around print shop minimum charges.
- Who is it for?
- The CLP keycaps repository is worth downloading if you build in MX and want a low-profile contoured layout, because the design family is small enough to understand, with a plain dished cap as the base and everything else derived from it, and because the models are published both as editable CAD and as ready-to-slice STL. It is the wrong tool if you are not going to print, and it is the wrong tool if you want a prebuilt keyboard.
- Can I use it commercially?
- Yes, with conditions. GPL-3.0 is a copyleft licence: if you distribute software that includes it, you must release that software's source code under the same licence. Running it internally without distributing it does not trigger that obligation.
- Is it still maintained?
- Yes. The repository last received commits 18 days ago.
- What is it written in?
- GitHub does not report a main language for this repository.
Answers come from the project's GitHub data, last synced on October 22, 2026, and from our analysis. They are not legal advice.
Editorial analysis
What the repository holds, and why the assemblies exist
The clp-keycaps repository is a set of CLP, contoured low-profile, MX compatible keycap designs, and the tree is arranged around the fact that most people will not open a CAD package.
There are five top-level directories. The fusion360/ directory holds the source files for Autodesk Fusion 360, and inside it an assemblies/ subdirectory with the combined source files of a maximum of ten keycaps. The stl/ directory holds 3D models for any CAD or slicer software, again with an assemblies/ subdirectory. The assets/ directory contains images and actual photos of the keycaps. The step/ directory holds STEP files, and the repository description of the model set is accompanied by a topic list that names STL and FreeCAD, so the interchange formats are a deliberate part of the offering.
The assemblies are the interesting part, and the reason is spelled out in the documentation. Combining models into one file is a good way to save money on printing, as printing services often charge a minimum price per model. A cap is a small part, and a print shop with a per-model minimum would charge a fixed amount for each of a hundred tiny caps, which makes printing a full set from the individual files disproportionately expensive. Merging ten caps into one file amortises the minimum across them, and the user can make other combinations from the assembly sources in the fusion360/assemblies folder.
That is a small piece of engineering pragmatism that tells you something about who the project is for. The person who wants one cap for a prototype is served by the individual STL files, and the person who wants a full set is served by the assemblies, and the naming of the versions, with a v number on each file, suggests the models are iterated rather than frozen.
The model family, and what each variant changes
There are currently 19 different keycap models available, and they are variations on a small set of ideas rather than 19 unrelated shapes.
The two base profiles are the saddle and the dished cap. The Saddle is described as a saddle-shaped keycap similar to the Chicago Steno keycaps, and the Saddle Homing is the same shape with three little bumps, commonly used for the home row index fingers. The Dished is a normal dished keycap, and the Dished Homing is that cap with the three little bumps.
The homing bumps are the ergonomic core of the design. A contoured keyboard puts a physical landmark under the index fingers so the hands can find the home row without looking, and the bumps are that landmark rendered at low profile. It is the feature that makes the caps worth printing rather than buying, and it is also the feature that a printer has to get right.
On top of the base shapes come the tilt variants. Tilted 7° is the same as the Dished but the top profile has a 7 degree tilt and the front is lowered, and Tilted 14° is the same with a 14 degree tilt. Then the dished versions of those, Tilted 7° Dished and Tilted 14° Dished, which combine the tilt with a dished top, and the R4 variants, Tilted 7° Dished R4 and Tilted 14° Dished R4, which are the same but with a higher profile for the top row.
So the axes are: saddle or dished as the surface, with or without homing bumps, a tilt angle of none, 7 or 14 degrees, and an optional raised top row. The R4 row is the one with a functional reason, since the top row of a contoured board is set higher than the others, and a cap that ignores that is a cap that will not sit level.
The download formats, and what a slicer needs from you
Each model is published twice, once as an STL and once as the Fusion 360 source, and the table gives the file names with the version numbers in them, so the same model at different revisions is distinguishable.
The STL files are for any CAD or slicer software, and the assemblies in the stl/assemblies folder are the ones aimed at print services, with the documentation naming JLCPCB and PCBWay as examples of the kind of service that takes them. The Fusion 360 files are the editable sources, and the assembly sources there are what you open to build a different combination.
The split is the standard one for a hardware project and it is worth stating what each is for. The STL is a triangle mesh, which is what a slicer needs, and it carries no parametric history, so a model that needs changing has to be changed in Fusion 360 and re-exported. The Fusion 360 file is the parametric model, which is what you edit, and it is a commercial format tied to one vendor, which is why the STEP directory and the mention of FreeCAD in the topic list exist as a neutral alternative.
The practical workflow is therefore: pick the variants that match the board, download the STLs, slice them, print, and if the shape is wrong, open the Fusion 360 source, change the parameters, export again, and make your own assembly.
The one thing the repository does not tell you is which print settings to use, and for a design with a three-bump feature that is the information a user most needs. The assets folder with actual photographs of the caps is there to compensate for that.
The version numbers, and which models took the most work
The file names carry version numbers, and they are the only record of the project's iteration history. A handful of them read like this:
CLP_Saddle v2
CLP_Dished v3
CLP_Dished_Homing v6
CLP_Tilt7 v8
CLP_Tilt14 v10
CLP_Dished_Tilt7 v3
CLP_Dished_Tilt7_R4 v8The pattern is informative without any extra documentation. The plain Saddle is on its second revision and the plain Dished on its third, which is what you would expect of a shape that is essentially a surface with a stem hole. The Dished Homing is on its sixth, which says the three bumps on an already curved cap are the hard part. The Tilted 7 degree is on its eighth and the Tilted 14 degree on its tenth, which says a tilted top is harder still, and the number rises with the angle, which is what you would expect if the difficulty comes from balancing the front height against the tilt.
The dished tilt variants are back down at a third revision, and the R4 variant of the 7 degree is on its eighth, so the raised top row is its own line of work.
None of this is documented in prose, and that is the point. The numbers are the documentation, and they tell a user two useful things. The first is which models are settled and which are still moving, since a model on its tenth revision is probably closer to right than a model on its second. The second is that the bumps and the tilts are where the effort went, which is the same conclusion the geometry gives you, arrived at from the file names.
The practical consequence for a printer is that the model you want is a moving target, and a cap you printed from the 14 degree v8 is not the same object as the v10 in the tree. There are no release tags in the repository, so there is no version to pin to, and the assets folder with photographs of the caps is the only check on what a given revision actually looks like.
Where CLP keycaps are the wrong tool
The first limit is that this is a design repository, not a product. There is no kit, there is no injection-moulded set, and there is no keycap for every key in a full layout that is documented here. The models are individual caps in a family, and a builder assembling a keyboard is expected to work out which cap goes on which key, and to print the pieces that are not standard sizes.
The second is the printing reality. These are low-profile caps, and a low-profile cap is thin, which means layer lines are a large fraction of the surface, and a homing bump is smaller still. A printer that is not well set up will produce caps that look right and feel wrong, with bumps too soft to find and a dish that is not smooth, and the failure is only visible in the hand.
The third is the MX compatibility claim, which is narrower than it sounds. MX compatible means the mount fits an MX stem, and low profile means the stem and cap are shorter than a standard Cherry profile, which is why these caps are low and why they are called CLP. That compatibility is with the mount and partly with the feel, because a very short cap changes the travel and the sound of a board, and a builder mixing these with standard caps on the same board will get an inconsistent feel unless the switches and springs are chosen to suit.
The fourth is the iteration and version history. The file names carry version numbers, which means the models have changed over time, and the repository has no release tags, so there is no published version to point at and no changelog to read. A user arriving now gets whatever is in the tree, and a user who printed an earlier version has a differently shaped cap with no record of what changed.
And the fifth is the licensing, which is unusual for a hardware design and is worth reading before you print and sell the caps. The repository is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3, which is a strong copyleft licence, and a personal set of keys to type on is not the case it was written for. A builder who wants to print caps and give them away, or to sell them, is in territory where the licence text matters, and it is not the licence a mechanical keyboard designer would usually reach for.
Editorial conclusion
The CLP keycaps repository is worth downloading if you build in MX and want a low-profile contoured layout, because the design family is small enough to understand, with a plain dished cap as the base and everything else derived from it, and because the models are published both as editable CAD and as ready-to-slice STL. It is the wrong tool if you are not going to print, and it is the wrong tool if you want a prebuilt keyboard. Before you start, check three things: that your board takes MX stems, since that is the compatibility claim the repository makes and low-profile means a short stem and a thin cap, not a standard Cherry profile; that you can print in a material and at a scale where the homing bumps actually work, since the three little bumps that tell your index finger which key it is on are the smallest feature in the design and the first thing a bad print loses; and that you pick the right row variant, because the R4 versions have a higher profile for the top row and the tilt variants are built around a 7 degree or a 14 degree angle, so the wrong one will not sit correctly against a contoured board.
Frequently asked questions
What are the CLP keycaps and what shapes do they come in?
They are low-profile, MX compatible, contoured ergonomic keycap designs published as 3D printable models. There are 19 models covering a saddle profile similar to the Chicago Steno keycaps, a normal dished cap, and homing variants of each with three little bumps for the index fingers, plus tilted versions at 7 and 14 degrees, their dished counterparts, and R4 variants with a higher profile for the top row.
In which formats are the CLP keycap models published?
As Fusion 360 source files, as STL models for any CAD or slicer software, and as STEP files, with the repository topics naming STL and FreeCAD as well. Combined assembly files of up to ten keycaps are provided for both the Fusion 360 and the STL side, so that a print service charging a minimum price per model can be used without paying that minimum for every small cap.
Why does the CLP keycap design include homing bumps?
The three little bumps are the ergonomic landmark of a contoured layout, and the project says the homing variants are commonly used for the home row index fingers, which is where the hands rest and need to find the home row without looking. They are also the smallest feature in the design, and therefore the part most sensitive to print quality.
Official sources
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