Using ProtoBot

Getting started with ProtoBot, common workflows, session management, and prompt patterns that get better results.

Getting Started

1

Open a board and launch ProtoBot

ProtoBot is scoped to the board you have open. Click the animated bot icon in the Activity Bar; the chat panel opens in the left sidebar.

2

Type what you need in plain language

• "What parts are on this board?"

• "Find me a 3.3V I2C temperature sensor"

• "Run DRC and tell me what's wrong"

The default gpt-5.4 model handles most tasks; switch to gpt-5.5 from the model selector for complex multi-step work, and adjust the reasoning-effort control next to it (Off, Low, Medium, or High; Medium by default) to trade thinking depth for energy.

3

Review the response

Expand the tool-call cards to see exactly what ProtoBot changed on your board, and the extended thinking view for its reasoning. Use the Stop button to interrupt generation at any time.

---

Common Workflows

Find & Place Parts

1. "Find a voltage regulator that takes 12V in and outputs 3.3V at 500mA"

2. Review the matches, then: "Place the LM1117-3.3 onto my board"

Or combine both: "Find and place a 3.3V voltage regulator for 12V input."

Wire Connections

1. "Create a harness between the MCU and the temperature sensor"

2. "Auto-link compatible interfaces on that harness"

3. "Auto-allocate resources for the I2C link"

For standard protocols (I2C, SPI, UART), auto-linking handles the pin mapping automatically.

Validate & Fix

1. "Run DRC on the full board"

2. "How do I fix the voltage mismatch between the MCU and the sensor?"

3. Approve the suggested fix, then: "Run DRC again to confirm"

Plan a Project

1. "Set the board description to 'Indoor air quality monitor v1'"

2. "Add requirements: must measure CO2, temperature, humidity; battery-powered; BLE connectivity"

3. "Create tasks: select sensors, design power circuit, set up BLE interface"

Manage BOM

1. "Show me the full BOM"

2. "What's the estimated project cost?"

3. "Refresh prices for all items"

4. "Set DigiKey as the active supplier for the capacitors"

---

Prompt Patterns

The more context and constraints you provide, the better ProtoBot performs.

Pattern	Key Phrase	Why It Works
Constraints-first	"I need an I2C sensor that runs on 3.3V, accurate to 0.5 degrees, under $5"	Filters results immediately instead of triggering follow-up questions
Assumptions-explicit	"Assume 5V logic and a 12V supply. Find a motor driver for a 2A brushed motor"	Eliminates the most common sources of irrelevant suggestions
Output-as-changes	"Add a 3.3V regulator, create a harness, auto-link, then run DRC"	You get board changes to review, not an explanation to implement
Compare alternatives	"Compare the BME280 vs DHT22 on accuracy, power, interfaces, and cost"	Focused comparison on your criteria instead of a feature dump
Explain this error	"Why is DRC showing INCOMPATIBLE on the SPI harness, and how do I fix it?"	Cause and fix in one turn
Build a subsystem	"Set up a motor chain: battery, driver, motor. Create harnesses and auto-link"	ProtoBot handles the mechanical steps; you review the result
Review my design	"Run DRC, check utilization, and suggest improvements"	A holistic pass across several tools in one request
Batch operations	"Auto-allocate resources on all harnesses, then run DRC"	Repetitive work across the whole board in one turn

Combine patterns: "Assume 3.3V logic. Find an I2C accelerometer under $3, place it, wire it to the MCU, and run DRC."

Do / Avoid

Do

• Be specific about constraints: voltage, current, protocol

• Break complex tasks into reviewable steps

• Use auto-link and auto-allocate for standard connections

• Run DRC frequently to catch issues early

Avoid

• Vague requests ("make it better")

• Skipping review before purchasing or producing

• Ignoring tool-call cards; they tell you exactly what changed

---

Sessions

Conversations are saved as sessions, scoped to the board and persistent across visits.

• New session: click the new chat button at the top of the panel. Useful when switching topics; for related work, staying in one session gives ProtoBot better context.

• Resume: click the history icon to browse and reopen past sessions for this board.

• Very long conversations are automatically truncated to fit the model's context window; earlier messages remain in your session history.

---

Prefer your own agent?

The Agent Bridge (MCP) lets external agents like Claude Code run the same tools ProtoBot uses, from your terminal or IDE. See the Agent Bridge setup guide.