--- name: aklofas/element14 source: https://app.decimal.ai/s/aklofas-element14@1/SKILL.md source_sha256: 61445df768a4 --- # element14 / Newark / Farnell — Component Search, Datasheets & Ordering ## Related Skills | Skill | Purpose | |-------|---------| | `kicad` | Schematic analysis — extracts MPNs for part lookup | | `bom` | BOM management — orchestrates sourcing across distributors | | `spice` | Uses element14 parametric data for behavioral SPICE models | One API covers three regional storefronts — same catalog, same datasheets, only pricing/stock vary by region: | Storefront | Region | Store ID | |------------|--------|----------| | **Newark** | North America | `www.newark.com` | | **Farnell** | UK / Europe | `uk.farnell.com` | | **element14** | Asia-Pacific | `au.element14.com` | For BOM management and export workflows, see `bom`. ## Key Differences from DigiKey/Mouser - **Simple auth** — API key as a query parameter, no OAuth flow - **Free API key** — register at partner.element14.com, courtesy usage allowance - **Global coverage** — same API covers US (Newark), EU (Farnell), APAC (element14) - **Unprotected PDFs** — datasheets hosted on farnell.com CDN, download freely with no bot protection - **Datasheet URL in API response** — `responseGroup=medium` includes `datasheets[].url` ## API Credential Setup 1. **Register** at [partner.element14.com/member/register](https://partner.element14.com/member/register) - Free account — just username, email, password. No credit card needed. - Provides a "courtesy usage allowance" (2 calls/sec, 1,000 calls/day — sufficient for normal use) 2. **Register an application** — after logging in, go to [My API Keys](https://partner.element14.com/apps/mykeys) and click "Get API Keys" - App name: anything (e.g., "kicad-happy") - Type: "Desktop application" - Users: "1-10" - Commercial: No - Advertising: No - Check "Issue a new key for Product Search API" → select "Basic" tier - Agree to Terms of Service and click "Register Application" 3. **Copy your API key** — a 24-character alphanumeric string shown on the My API Keys page 4. **Set the environment variable** `ELEMENT14_API_KEY` before running the scripts: ```bash export ELEMENT14_API_KEY=your_api_key_here ``` If credentials are stored in a central secrets file (e.g., `~/.config/secrets.env`), load them first: ```bash export $(grep -v '^#' ~/.config/secrets.env | grep -v '^$' | xargs) ``` ## Product Search API **Base URL:** `https://api.element14.com/catalog/products` All requests use GET with query parameters. Authentication is via `callInfo.apiKey`. ### Search Modes The `term` parameter supports three search types: | Mode | Format | Example | |------|--------|---------| | **Keyword** | `any:` | `term=any:100nF 0402 X7R` | | **MPN** | `manuPartNum:` | `term=manuPartNum:GRM155R71C104KA88D` | | **Distributor PN** | `id:` | `term=id:94AK6874` | ### Full Example ``` GET https://api.element14.com/catalog/products ?term=manuPartNum:GRM155R71C104KA88D &storeInfo.id=www.newark.com &resultsSettings.offset=0 &resultsSettings.numberOfResults=10 &resultsSettings.responseGroup=medium &callInfo.responseDataFormat=JSON &callInfo.apiKey=YOUR_KEY ``` ### Response Groups | Group | Fields | |-------|--------| | `small` | SKU, displayName, brandName, MPN, attributes | | `medium` | + datasheets[], prices[], stock | | `large` | + images, related products, country of origin | | `prices` | Tiered pricing only | | `inventory` | Stock levels by warehouse/region | ### Response Format With `responseGroup=medium`, the response looks like: ```json { "manufacturerPartNumberSearchReturn": { "numberOfResults": 5, "products": [ { "sku": "94AK6874", "displayName": "Murata GRM155R71C104KA88D", "translatedManufacturerPartNumber": "GRM155R71C104KA88D", "brandName": "Murata Electronics", "datasheets": [ { "type": "TechnicalDataSheet", "description": "Datasheet", "url": "https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/74273.pdf" } ], "prices": [ { "from": 1, "to": 9, "cost": 0.156 } ], "stock": { "level": 45000, "leastLeadTime": 0, "status": 4, "statusMessage": "In Stock" }, "attributes": [ {"attributeLabel": "Capacitance", "attributeUnit": "", "attributeValue": "100nF"}, {"attributeLabel": "Voltage Rating", "attributeUnit": "V", "attributeValue": "16"} ], "rohsStatusCode": "YES" } ] } } ``` Key fields: - `sku` — Newark/Farnell/element14 part number - `translatedManufacturerPartNumber` — MPN - `brandName` — manufacturer - `datasheets[].url` — **direct PDF URL** (farnell.com CDN, no bot protection) - `datasheets[].type` — usually `TechnicalDataSheet` - `prices[]` — tiered pricing with `from`, `to`, `cost` - `stock.level` — quantity in stock - `stock.statusMessage` — human-readable availability - `attributes[]` — parametric specs (label, unit, value) - `rohsStatusCode` — RoHS compliance (`YES`/`NO`) ### Store IDs Common store IDs for the `storeInfo.id` parameter: | Store ID | Region | |----------|--------| | `www.newark.com` | US (default) | | `uk.farnell.com` | UK | | `www.farnell.com` | EU | | `au.element14.com` | Australia | | `sg.element14.com` | Singapore | | `in.element14.com` | India | ### Rate Limits No documented rate limits beyond the courtesy usage allowance. Be respectful — use 0.5s delays between calls. ### Filters Add to query parameters: - `resultsSettings.refinements.filter=rohsCompliant` — RoHS parts only - `resultsSettings.refinements.filter=inStock` — in-stock only ### Pagination - `resultsSettings.offset` — starting index (0-based) - `resultsSettings.numberOfResults` — max 50 per page - Only the first 100 results are reliably pageable ## Datasheet Download & Sync element14's farnell.com CDN serves datasheet PDFs directly — no bot protection, no special headers needed. Datasheet URLs come from the API response (`datasheets[].url`). ### Datasheet Directory Sync Use `sync_datasheets_element14.py` to maintain a `datasheets/` directory alongside a KiCad project. Same workflow and `manifest.json` format as the DigiKey, Mouser, and LCSC skills. ```bash # Sync datasheets for a KiCad project python3 /scripts/sync_datasheets_element14.py # Preview what would be downloaded python3 /scripts/sync_datasheets_element14.py --dry-run # Retry previously failed downloads python3 /scripts/sync_datasheets_element14.py --force # Use a specific store (default: www.newark.com) python3 /scripts/sync_datasheets_element14.py --store uk.farnell.com # Custom output directory python3 /scripts/sync_datasheets_element14.py -o ./my-datasheets # Parallel downloads (3 workers) python3 /scripts/sync_datasheets_element14.py --parallel 3 # Batch mode — sync from a plain MPN list (no KiCad project required) python3 /scripts/sync_datasheets_element14.py --mpn-list mpns.txt --output ./datasheets ``` **MPN-list batch mode** (KH-312) — when you have a list of MPNs but no KiCad project to point at. One MPN per line; blank lines and `#` comments (full-line and inline) are skipped; generic values are filtered via `is_real_mpn()` and de-duplicated. Output defaults to `./datasheets/` in the current working directory when `--output` is omitted. Note: `ELEMENT14_API_KEY` is checked unconditionally at startup, so `--dry-run` still requires the env var to be set even though no network calls are made. The script: - **Runs the kicad schematic analyzer** to extract components, MPNs, and distributor PNs - **Accepts any identifier** — MPN, Newark/Farnell PN, or other distributor PNs from KiCad symbol properties - **Prefers MPN search** (`manuPartNum:`) for exact match — falls back to keyword search - **Downloads from farnell.com CDN** — direct PDF URLs, no bot protection - **Writes `manifest.json` manifest** — same format as DigiKey/Mouser/LCSC skills - **Verifies PDF content** — checks MPN, manufacturer, and description keywords - **Rate-limited** — 0.5s between API calls (configurable with `--delay`) - **Saves progress incrementally** — safe to interrupt ### Single Datasheet Download Use `fetch_datasheet_element14.py` for one-off downloads. ```bash # Search by MPN python3 /scripts/fetch_datasheet_element14.py --search "GRM155R71C104KA88D" -o datasheet.pdf # Search by Newark/Farnell part number python3 /scripts/fetch_datasheet_element14.py --search "94AK6874" -o datasheet.pdf # Direct URL download python3 /scripts/fetch_datasheet_element14.py "https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/74273.pdf" -o datasheet.pdf # JSON output python3 /scripts/fetch_datasheet_element14.py --search "GRM155R71C104KA88D" --json ``` The script: - **OS-agnostic** — uses `requests` → `urllib` → `playwright` fallback chain - **Validates PDF headers** — rejects HTML error pages - **Falls back to alternative manufacturer sources** when element14 URL fails - **Exit codes**: 0 = success, 1 = download failed, 2 = search/API error - **Dependencies**: - `pip install requests` (recommended; urllib fallback works fine for element14) - `pip install playwright && playwright install chromium` (optional; rarely needed) ## Web Search Fallback If the API is unavailable, search by fetching product pages directly: ``` https://www.newark.com/search?st= https://uk.farnell.com/search?st= ``` ## Tips - Use `responseGroup=medium` — includes datasheets and pricing without the overhead of `large` - Use `manuPartNum:` prefix for exact MPN matches; `any:` for keyword search - Cross-reference using `translatedManufacturerPartNumber` (MPN) across DigiKey/Mouser/LCSC - Useful for international users where DigiKey/Mouser shipping is expensive