IndaBOM

Quick Start

Go to Settings → IndaBOM and configure your organization:
- Choose a part numbering scheme (see Part Numbers below).
- Define your part classes — the categories your parts will be grouped into (e.g. Resistors, Capacitors, PCBAs).
- Optionally define custom properties to track additional data on parts (e.g. voltage rating, tolerance).
Create or upload your parts. Use the Upload menu at the top of the page, or click the + button on the Home page.
Build BOMs for assemblies. From a part's info page, go to the Bill of Materials tab and add subparts, or upload a BOM CSV.

Core Concepts

Organizations

All data in IndaBOM — parts, BOMs, sourcing — belongs to an organization. Users can only see and edit data within their own organization. The person who creates the organization is its owner and can transfer ownership to another member.

Users & Roles

Every user has one of three roles within their organization:

Role	Capabilities
Viewer	Search and view parts, BOMs, and sourcing information. Cannot create or modify anything.
Editor	Everything a Viewer can do, plus: create and edit parts, manage sourcing (manufacturers and sellers), and release revisions.
Admin	Everything an Editor can do, plus: delete parts, mark revisions as Obsolete, manage organization members, and configure organization settings (part classes, custom properties).

The organization owner has Admin privileges. Admins can also override certain revision lifecycle restrictions that Editors cannot.

Part Numbers

When setting up your organization you choose one of two part numbering schemes. This choice is difficult to change later, so choose carefully.

Semi-Intelligent (Recommended)

Part numbers have three segments: CLASS-ITEM-VARIATION, for example 100-0042-01.

Class — a short alphanumeric code matching one of your part classes (e.g. 100 for Resistors).
Item — a sequential number automatically assigned within each class.
Variation — a short alphanumeric suffix for distinguishing variants of the same part (e.g. different tape reel sizes). Can be disabled by setting variation length to 0.

You can let IndaBOM auto-assign item numbers by specifying only a part class, or supply a full part number yourself. Numbers are guaranteed unique within your organization.

Intelligent

You assign any free-form string as a part number (e.g. C0402X5R10UF). There are no classes or variations — just the number itself. This gives you full control but sacrifices auto-assignment and some search features.

Part Classes

Part classes are categories you define for your organization (e.g. 100 — Resistors, 200 — Capacitors). They are required for semi-intelligent part numbers. Each class has a short code and a name. You can also attach custom property definitions to a class so that only relevant properties appear when creating parts in that class.

Part classes are managed in Settings → IndaBOM. You can create them one at a time or upload them via CSV.

Parts

Creating & Editing Parts

Parts can be created individually via the Create Part form (the + button on the Home page) or in bulk via CSV upload (see Uploading Parts).

Each part has a primary manufacturer part, which is used for cost estimation and Mouser integration. Additional manufacturer parts can be attached under the Sourcing tab.

Custom Properties & Synopsis

Admins can define custom properties for an organization in Settings → IndaBOM (e.g. Capacitance, Voltage Rating). Properties can be typed as text, number, or boolean, and can be associated with a unit of measure.

Properties can be scoped to specific part classes, so a Resistors class might show Resistance and Tolerance while a Capacitors class shows Capacitance and Voltage Rating.

IndaBOM automatically generates a synopsis from a part's description and its property values. This synopsis is what appears in search results and is what the search engine indexes.

Part Revisions & Lifecycle

Every part has one or more revisions. A revision captures the part's specification (description, properties, BOM) at a point in time. The most recent revision is shown by default; older revisions are accessible via the revision selector on the Part Info page.

Revision States

Each revision follows this lifecycle:

State	Description	Editable?
Draft	Work in progress. Default state for new revisions.	Yes — Editors and Admins
In Review	Submitted for approval. Locked against further edits.	No — revert to Draft to make changes
Released	Approved for use. Permanently locked.	No — create a new revision instead
Obsolete	No longer in active use. Cannot be added to new BOMs.	No — terminal state

Allowed Transitions

Draft → In Review, Released, or Obsolete
In Review → Draft (revert), Released, or Obsolete
Released → Obsolete only (Admins can revert to Draft)
Obsolete → no further transitions

Only Admins can mark a revision Obsolete. Editors can release revisions. When releasing, IndaBOM warns you if any subparts in the BOM are still in Draft state.

Creating a New Revision

Use Manage → New Revision on the Part Info page. The new revision is initialized from the latest revision and starts in Draft state, leaving the existing revision unchanged.

Searching

The search bar on the Home page searches across part numbers, synopses, primary manufacturer names, and primary manufacturer part numbers (MPNs). Multiple terms are OR'd — results match any term.

Wrap multi-word terms in quotes: "Big Company Inc." is one term; Big Company Inc. is three.
For semi-intelligent parts, entering a partial part number like 100-0042 matches by class and item number.
Searches are case-insensitive.
Use the part class selector to narrow results to a single class before searching.

Where Used

The Where Used tab on the Part Info page shows every assembly that contains the part, including indirect parents (assemblies that contain assemblies that contain the part). This makes it easy to understand the impact of a part change.

Bill of Materials

BOM Structure

A BOM lists the subparts required to build an assembly, along with quantities and optional reference designators. BOMs are hierarchical — a subpart can itself be an assembly with its own BOM.

IndaBOM displays BOMs in two forms:

Indented — shows the hierarchy, with sub-assemblies nested under their parents.
Flat — rolls up quantities across all levels, showing one row per unique part.

Both views show per-unit and extended costs based on sourcing data.

Reference Designators

Reference designators (e.g. R1, C4, U12) identify where a part is placed in an assembly. They are optional but, if provided, the count of designators must match the subpart quantity.

Multiple designators are comma-separated: R1, R2, R3. IndaBOM will warn if the same designator appears on more than one subpart in a BOM.

Do Not Load

A subpart can be marked Do Not Load (DNL). DNL parts are included in the BOM for documentation purposes but are excluded from cost roll-ups and order quantities.

Editing a BOM

From the Part Info page, go to the Bill of Materials tab and click Manage → Edit BOM. You can add subparts one at a time using the form, or upload a BOM CSV. BOMs can only be edited when the revision is in Draft state.

Only parts already in your IndaBOM database can be added as subparts.

Downloading a BOM

BOM exports are available from the Part Info page under the Manage menu, and from the Home / Search Results pages via the per-part dropdown. Export options include:

Indented or flat layout
With or without sourcing (manufacturer and seller data)
Detailed sourcing (all seller records, not just the optimal one)

Sourcing

Manufacturers & Sellers

Each part can have one or more manufacturer parts (a manufacturer name + manufacturer part number). One is designated the primary and is used for cost estimation and Mouser lookups.

Each manufacturer part can have one or more seller records (distributor name, seller part number, unit cost, NRE cost, MOQ, MPQ, lead time). IndaBOM selects the optimal seller — the lowest total cost at the required quantity — for cost roll-ups.

Approval Status

Manufacturers and sellers each have an approval status:

Probation — default for new entries; not yet assessed.
Approved — vetted and approved for use.
Restricted — do not use; creating new parts or sourcing records for a Restricted manufacturer or seller is blocked.

Approval statuses are managed from the Manufacturers and Vendors pages.

Mouser Integration

IndaBOM can look up current pricing and availability from Mouser for parts that have a matching MPN. To enable this:

Add your Mouser API key in Settings → IndaBOM.
Enable Mouser sourcing for each relevant part class (also in Settings → IndaBOM).

Mouser data appears in several places:

Part Info → Sourcing tab: live pricing fetched on page load, indicated by the Mouser icon.
Part Info → Bill of Materials tab: cost column updated inline with Mouser data.

Parts are matched to Mouser by MPN and manufacturer name (or by MPN alone if no manufacturer is set).

Uploading & Exporting Data

Uploading Parts

Upload a CSV to create multiple parts at once from the Upload → Upload Parts menu, or from the + button on the Home page.

See the Parts CSV Reference for full column documentation. Key points:

Required: part identifier (part_class or part_number), revision, and description.
Manufacturer and seller data can be included in the same file.
Custom property values are included using property_<code> columns.
Rows with errors are skipped; valid rows in the same file are still imported.

Sample semi-intelligent CSV | Sample intelligent CSV

Uploading a BOM

Upload a BOM CSV from Upload → Upload BOM, or from the Edit BOM page for a specific assembly. The upload creates parts and revisions that don't exist and updates those that do. Immutable revisions (In Review, Released, Obsolete) are skipped.

Required columns: part_number or manufacturer_part_number; quantity; and level (nesting depth, unless a parent part is specified in the form).

Sample semi-intelligent BOM CSV | Sample intelligent BOM CSV

Exporting the Parts List

Download your full parts list as a CSV from the Home page using the Export button. The exported file uses the same column names as the upload format, making it a ready-made template for adding or editing parts in bulk.

Google Drive Integration

Connect your Google account in Settings → Organization to enable Google Drive integration. Once connected, each part gets a dedicated Google Drive folder for storing datasheets, drawings, and other files. Clicking the Drive icon on a Part Info page opens the folder directly, creating it if it doesn't exist.

IndaBOM Guide