AUV Inventory Pro

This is the desktop app I built so we can stop wrangling the parts spreadsheet. It tracks our electrical/electronics inventory (resistors, caps, diodes, ICs, connectors) with real search, quantity tracking, low-stock alerts, and Digi-Key sourcing info baked in.

Want to just poke at it without installing anything? There's a live web version here: https://wuisabel-gif.github.io/AUV-Inventory-Pro/ (it runs in your browser, and changes you make there only live in your browser, not the real data).

Running it

You'll need Node.js (I built it on Node 26). Then:

npm install      # just the first time
npm start        # opens the app

No build step, no hot reload. If you change the UI, just stop it and run npm start again.

Want a double-clickable app for teammates who don't want to touch a terminal?

npm run dist:mac     # → dist/AUV Inventory Pro.dmg  (Mac)
npm run dist         # whatever OS you're on

What it does

• Search that actually works. Type any mix of value / package / location / notes / part number, in any order, so 0402 0.1uf finds 0.1uF 0402. Hit ⌘K to jump straight to the search box.
• Categories down the left: Resistors, Capacitors, Diodes/LEDs, Inductors, ICs, Connectors, each with a live count. Click one to filter.
• Bump quantities right in the row. The + / − buttons save instantly.
• Add / edit / delete parts (⌘N for a new one). Every part has a category, value, package, quantity, location/bin, notes, and its own low-stock threshold.
• Low-stock alerts. A part shows OUT at 0, or LOW once it hits its threshold. Threshold defaults to 0 (so it only yells when you're actually out); bump it per-part if you want an earlier heads-up. There's a "Low stock only" toggle too.
• Sourcing info. Each part can hold a manufacturer part #, Digi-Key part #, and a Digi-Key link (the ↗ opens it in your browser). It also tags each one: Verified (real Digi-Key page), Confirm stock (part # is right, just double-check availability), or Needs confirm (value/voltage is ambiguous, so somebody needs to decide). Filter by these with the "Sourcing" dropdown.
• Sort by value, quantity, package, or recently updated.
• Export / Import: JSON for full backups, CSV for spreadsheets.
• Push to a Google Sheet so the rest of the team can see it (setup below).

Where the data lives

Everything's in one plain JSON file on your machine:

Mac:  ~/Library/Application Support/AUV Inventory Pro/inventory.json

Hit "Show data file" in the app to open that folder. I went with a JSON file instead of a database on purpose. It's simple, you can read/edit it by hand if something's weird, and there's nothing to break when Node/Electron updates. Saves are atomic and it keeps daily backups in a backups/ folder, so a bad edit won't nuke everything. A part looks like this:

{
  "id": "p_…",
  "category": "Capacitors",
  "value": "0.1uF",
  "package": "0402",
  "quantity": 1,
  "lowStockThreshold": 0,
  "location": "",
  "notes": "Samsung X7R ±10% 16V.",
  "mfrPart": "CL05B104KO5NNNC",
  "dkPart": "1276-1001-1-ND",
  "dkLink": "https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/…",
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-12T…Z"
}

Heads up: your live inventory lives in that folder, not in this repo. data/seed.json is just the starter data the app copies in on first launch. It came from our original AUV Electrical Inventory.xlsx (each row split into a value + package, duplicates rolled up into quantities). Editing seed.json later won't touch an install that's already running.

Sharing one list across the team

Easiest options: keep data/seed.json as the shared source of truth and Import it (or Export JSON and commit it back), or drop inventory.json in a shared/cloud folder. If we ever outgrow one file (lots of people editing at once), we'd move to a small hosted DB, but for now this is way less hassle.

Hooking it up to Google Sheets

The Sync to Sheets button shoves the current inventory into a shared Google Sheet so everyone can see it. It's one-way (app → Sheet): syncing overwrites the Sheet's tab with whatever's in the app.

Under the hood it's a tiny Google Apps Script living in the Sheet. No Google Cloud project or API keys, just a deployment URL and a token you make up. The script is google-apps-script/Code.gs. Heads up: it's a one-time setup and it needs your Google login, so you have to do this part yourself.

Setting it up (~5 min, once)

1. Make a new Sheet at sheets.google.com.
2. In the Sheet: Extensions → Apps Script. Delete whatever's there and paste all of google-apps-script/Code.gs.
3. Change the SHARED_TOKEN line to any long random string. You'll paste the same one into the app later:

   var SHARED_TOKEN = 'your-long-random-secret';

4. Save it (💾). Don't skip this: unsaved code doesn't deploy, and that's the #1 reason it "doesn't work."
5. Deploy → New deployment → gear ⚙️ → Web app:
   • Execute as: Me
   • Who has access: Anyone (the plain one, not "Anyone with a Google account")
   • Deploy, then authorize it (click through the "unverified app" warning; it's your own script, that's normal).

Grabbing the URL (this is the part that trips people up)

After deploying, copy the Web app URL. It ends in /exec. Lost it? Get it back from Deploy → Manage deployments → ✏️.

• ✅ The one ending in /exec is the real one.
• ❌ The /dev one is just for testing and will fail from the app.

Then in the app: open Sync to Sheets, paste the /exec URL and your token, hit Save & Sync now. You should see "Synced N parts ✓". Full walkthrough is in google-apps-script/README.md.

If you change Code.gs later, you have to redeploy a new version (Manage deployments → ✏️ → Version: New version → Deploy). The URL stays the same.

If it fights you

• "Script function not found: doGet" or the app gets HTML back: the deployed version doesn't have the code. Paste it, Save, redeploy a new version.
• It redirects to a USC (or other school) login page: ⚠️ this one got us. A usc.edu Google account won't work, because USC forces everything through their login, so the app can never reach it. You can tell because the URL has usc.edu in it (script.google.com/a/macros/usc.edu/s/…). Fix: do the whole setup signed in as a personal Gmail (e.g. uscauv@gmail.com). There the URL is script.google.com/macros/s/…/exec with no usc.edu, and "Anyone" is actually allowed.
• Quick test: paste the /exec URL into a browser. If it's working you'll see {"ok":true,...}. A login page or error means it's not public yet.

Don't have a Gmail you can deploy from, or don't want to bother? You can skip all this and just Export CSV from the app and File → Import it into a Sheet. Same data, no script.

How it's built (for whoever maintains this next)

main.js          Electron main process: the window + all the data stuff (save/backup/sync)
preload.js       the safe bridge between the UI and the data layer
src/index.html   layout
src/style.css    theme + our ALK Rounded font
src/renderer.js  the UI logic: search, filter, sort, edit, quantity buttons
src/fonts/       our team font
data/seed.json   starter inventory from the xlsx
web-demo/        the browser version (what's deployed to GitHub Pages)
google-apps-script/   the Google Sheets sync script + its setup guide

It's plain Electron + vanilla JS, no framework or build step. I kept it boring on purpose so it's easy to pick up and not a pain to maintain. If you're an AI agent or just want the deeper notes, check CLAUDE.md.

Questions? Ping me on Discord at isabelwu25. 🤙