# Distributors and pricing

> agentee parts: BOM pricing at Mouser and Farnell and cheaper parts that drop in without a downgrade.

`agentee parts NAME` (MCP `parts`) prices the BOM of a layout or schematic at Mouser and Farnell
and lists cheaper parts that drop in. The keys live outside every project, in
`~/.config/agentee/distributors.toml` (`$AGENTEE_DISTRIBUTORS` or `--config` point elsewhere):

```toml
[mouser]
api_key = "..."                # Mouser Search API key, not the Cart/Order key

[farnell]
api_key = "..."                # element14 Product Search API key
store = "uk.farnell.com"       # ie.farnell.com, de.farnell.com, www.newark.com, au.element14.com ...
# currency = "GBP"             # default follows the store
```

```sh
agentee parts buggy-guard --boards 5
agentee parts buggy-guard --distributor farnell --farnell-store ie.farnell.com
agentee parts buggy-guard --refs C11,R8 --json
agentee parts buggy-guard --no-alternatives
```

Each BOM line is one `mpn` field, the same grouping as `bom.csv`, needing its reference count
times `--boards`. The line's offers are the distributor listings of that part number; the chosen
one is the cheapest that is in stock for the quantity and not obsolete. A cost honours the
listing's minimum and multiple and buys up to a later price break when the larger quantity costs
less in total, so ten resistors may be bought as a hundred.

Alternatives, at most three per line, cheapest saving first, in the chosen offer's currency:

| part | searched by | must keep |
|---|---|---|
| resistor, `R` on an `R_0603...` style footprint | value, tolerance and size | resistance within 0.5 %, tolerance no looser, the same imperial case code; thermistors, arrays and jumpers are refused |
| ceramic capacitor, `C` on a `C_0603...` footprint | value, voltage, dielectric and size | capacitance within 1 %, voltage no lower (from the value's `/50V` or the listed part), dielectric no worse (C0G stays C0G, X7R may become X7S or X8R, X5R may become X7R), tolerance no looser, the same case code; electrolytic, tantalum, polymer and film are refused |
| generic discrete, `D` or `Q` whose value is a JEDEC name (2N7002, BSS138, 1N4148, BAT54, BZT52, S1x, SS1x, SMAJ, BC847 ...) | name and package | the name inside the part number and the same package (SOT-23 is not SOT-23-5, SMA is DO-214AC, not SMB) |
| indicator LED, `D` on an `LED_0603...` footprint | colour and size | the colour and the case code |
| anything else | nothing | only the same part at the other distributor, and the distributor's suggested replacement |

Case codes are read from the imperial attribute (`Case Code - in`) or the part of a Farnell value
before its `[... Metric]`, so a 0201 listed as `0201 [0603 Metric]` is not taken for an 0603.
The report ends with the total per currency as chosen and with every cheaper pick, and the
number of API calls made: Mouser allows 30 a minute and 1000 a day, and the part lookups go ten
part numbers to a call. A refused key is reported once and that distributor is not asked again in
the run.