---
name: bench-inventory
description: What parts, materials, machines and instruments are actually on the bench. Use before proposing any electronics, 3D printing, or fabrication design, before generating a BOM, and whenever choosing between components.
---

# Bench inventory

Read `@inventory.md` in this skill's directory before proposing a design, picking a
component, or writing a BOM.

## How to use it

1. **Design against what's in stock first.** A circuit built from parts in the drawers can
   be tested tonight; one that needs a Digi-Key order cannot. Prefer on-hand parts even at
   some cost in elegance, and say when you're doing so.
2. **Flag every part that must be ordered**, explicitly, in its own list. Never bury a
   to-order part in the middle of a BOM as though it were available.
3. **Respect the machine constraints.** Build volume, nozzle diameter, layer height, bed
   material, and instrument bandwidth are hard limits — check the design against them and
   say which constraint is closest to binding.
4. **Say when the inventory is stale or silent.** If a needed category isn't listed, ask
   rather than assuming it's absent — an empty section means "not recorded", not "not owned".

## Keeping it current

When the user mentions acquiring, using up, or breaking something, offer to update
`inventory.md`. Keep entries terse: part number, quantity, key spec, location.