--- name: Element14 slug: element14 category: Automation description: Element14 searches Newark, Farnell, and element14 for electronic components by MPN or distributor part number. It returns pricing, stock, specs, and direct datasheet URLs for sourcing and local datasheet sync. github: "https://github.com/aklofas/kicad-happy/tree/main/skills/element14" language: Python stars: 991 forks: 82 install: "npx degit https://github.com/aklofas/kicad-happy/tree/main/skills/element14 ~/.claude/skills/element14" installs_to: ~/.claude/skills/element14 source_path: skills/element14/SKILL.md collection_size: 11 category_size: 1523 collection_url: "https://dirskills.com/collections/aklofas/kicad-happy" added: 2026-08-21T05:14:41.212Z last_synced: 2026-08-21T05:14:41.212Z canonical_url: "https://dirskills.com/skills/element14" --- # Element14 Element14 searches Newark, Farnell, and element14 for electronic components by MPN or distributor part number. It returns pricing, stock, specs, and direct datasheet URLs for sourcing and local datasheet sync. **Install:** ```bash npx degit https://github.com/aklofas/kicad-happy/tree/main/skills/element14 ~/.claude/skills/element14 ``` ## README # 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