The only thing better than a nice mechanical key, is one that also can glow any color of the rainbow - and that's what the Adafruit NeoKey Breakout will let you do! This little 0.75" x 0.95" PCB can fit one Kailh CHOC or compatible switch and make it easy to use with a breadboard or perfboard.

The breakout has a Kailh CHOC socket, which means you can plug in any CHOC-compatible switch instead of soldering it in. You may need a little glue to keep the switch in place; hot glue or a dot of epoxy worked fine for us. We also place a 1N4148 signal diode in series with the switch, so you can create key-grid matrices without worrying about ghosted keys.

Each breakout also has a single reverse-mount NeoPixel pointing up through the spot where many switches would have an LED to shine through. The input and output of the pixel are broken out so you can 'chain' these boards together and control them as one NeoPixel strand.

There's plenty of flexibility for any kind of use; each board has the following pinout:

• VDD (+) The power pin for the NeoPixel; provide 3 to 5VDC
• GND (-) The ground power pin for the NeoPixel, connect to ground
• In (I) and Out (O) The input and output to/from the NeoPixel, for chaining
• Switch Anode (A) - The 'positive' side of the switch+diode. If you're using the switch with a pull-up resistor, connect this pin to your microcontroller. If you're using a pull-down, connect this pin to your logic-level power pin.
• Switch Cathode (C) - The 'negative' side of the switch+diode. If you're using the switch with a pull-up resistor, connect this pin to ground. If you're using a pull-down, connect this pin to your microcontroller.
• Product Dimensions: 24.0mm x 19.0mm x 3.6mm / 0.9" x 0.7" x 0.1"
• Product Weight: 1.5g / 0.1oz