I had some time after work the other day and did a little vibe-coding with Codex to build a simple front-end search interface for the spreadsheet I use to keep track of my parts inventory. Over time I’ve amassed a pretty large collection of spares, from specialty bolts and nuts to large sheet metal parts. A couple of weeks ago I used some 2×3″ wood to build a rack system for my black parts bins, and with that I was able to make more space in the garage as well as make access easier (having them stacked on each other was exhausting). Knowing what is in which bin is good, but having to hump my laptop out there was a drag, and searching a Google Sheet via a phone sucks.
Codex quickly built a search query for me with PHP, and over time we streamlined the interface to return the bin and location information. But that was only half the problem; I need to be able to note when I’ve pulled something out of a bin, and also when I’ve added something to a bin. This required Codex stepping me through the process of hooking up an API to talk with my script and doing a little more work on the interface to clean things up.
I’m very happy with the results, and I think this will go a long way to organizing my stuff better. I used it last night to catalog a couple of parts Brian sent me home with from Slowflake: a proportioning valve, a gas tank valve switch, and a brake master cylinder.