# Thock or Clack

> A mechanical-keyboard sound tuner. Pick the parts of the keyboard you type on, describe the sound you wish it
> made and where you type, and get a reading of how it likely sounds now plus the fewest changes - mods, a switch or
> keycap swap, or a rebuild - that move it toward that sound within the room's noise limit.

URL: https://thock-or-clack.skillsafe.ai/
API docs: https://thock-or-clack.skillsafe.ai/api.html
Built on the SkillSafe skill @guia-matthieu/ux-sound-design (https://skillsafe.ai/skill/@guia-matthieu/ux-sound-design):
designing a product's sound so it works, pleases and fits where it is heard - here pointed at a keyboard.

## Free, in the browser

- Twelve parts, each with a "not sure" option: layout, switches (linear, tactile, clicky, silent linear, silent
  tactile), keycap plastic (ABS, PBT), keycap shape (low, medium, tall, flat), case (plastic, aluminium, wood), plate
  (steel, aluminium, brass, polycarbonate, FR4, POM, none), mount (tray, top, gasket), foam, tape mod, switch lube,
  stabilisers, switch sockets (hot-swap or soldered).
- A top-down drawing of the board in its layout, case and keycap shape.
- A pitch strip from deep thock to bright clack and a loudness meter against the room's limit (none alone, moderate
  in a shared room, quiet on open-mic calls, hushed next to someone sleeping). Both come from the page's rules of
  thumb per part - estimates for comparing, not measurements.
- A synthesised typing preview (Web Audio) shaped by the estimate - an impression, not a recording.
- Exports: Markdown, CSV of the changes, JSON.

## Metered: one task, `tune`

Input (all strings): task "tune", board (JSON of the twelve parts, "unknown" where not given), wish, bother
(optional), room (alone, shared, calls, sleeper), page_facts (the page's estimate, word reading, room limit, tiers,
allowed values and verdict rule).

Reply: one JSON object - title, now_sound, changes (up to five: part, to, effect, why; mods first, then swaps, then
a rebuild), verdict, verdict_reason, room_note, listen_for.

Verdict rule: keep it (no changes); tune it (only foam, tape, lube, stabilisers); swap parts (a switch or keycap
change); rebuild (a case, plate or mount change). The room wins over the wish: no clicky switches or tall keycaps
for open-mic calls or next to someone sleeping.

The page re-checks every reply: real parts and options, nothing changed to what the board already has, the verdict
rule, the direction of the changes against the words, the room limit, desoldering and new-case notes, word limits,
and no brands, prices, scale numbers, weekdays, he or she, furniture or internal field names in the text.

## Why this app

Keyboard sound is a lively hobby: people argue "thock" against "clack" and spend on foam, tape, lube and new
switches to chase a sound. This app reads the sound from the parts and suggests the fewest changes toward a wish,
so the cheap mods are tried before the expensive swaps.