Kitspace

[N0cynym]

Following error message:

ERROR:One of the internal Kitspace services may experiencing problems. Contact the Kitspace support. (kicost - kicost_gui.py:140)

Is this a known issue?

I found this on kitspace.

[set-soft]

This is not an issue is just KitSpace is saturated. Please try the current git code, it adds support for various APIs. Here is the current documentation:

The configuration is read from ~/.config/kicost/config.yaml. Where ~ is the user’s directory.

You can specify the name of the configuration file from the command line using -c or –config options.

Currently the main purpose of this file is to configure the distributors APIs.

The format is YAML and here is an example:

# KiCost configuration file
kicost:
  version: 1
  # Cache Time To Live in days, -1 is forever
  # Default is 7
  cache_ttl: -1
  # Base directory for the APIs caches
  # cache_path: ~/.cache/kicost

APIs:
  Digi-Key:
    # Digi-Key Client ID for a registered APP
    # client_id: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    # Digi-Key Client Secret for a registered APP
    # client_secret: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    # Use the sandbox server, doesn't count the usage, but returns old data
    # sandbox: false
    # Only enabled if the client_id and client_secret are defined
    # enable: true
    # Directory for the APIs caches
    # cache_path: ~/.cache/kicost/Digi-Key
  Mouser:
    # Mouser Part API key
    # key: XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
    # Only enabled if the key is defined
    # enable: false
    # Directory for the APIs caches
    # cache_path: ~/.cache/kicost/Mouser
  Element14:
    # Element14 includes: Farnell, Newark and CPC
    # Element14 Product Search API key
    # key: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    # Only enabled if the key is defined
    # enable: false
    # Country used for Farnell queries.
    # Supported countries: BG,CZ,DK,AT,CH,DE,IE,IL,UK,ES,EE,FI,FR,HU,IT,LT,
    # LV,BE,NL,NO,PL,PT,RO,RU,SK,SI,SE,TR,CN,AU,NZ,HK,SG,MY,PH,TH,IN,KR,VN
    # farnell_country: UK
    # Country used for Newark queries.
    # Supported countries: US,CA,MX
    # newark_country: US
    # Country used for CPC queries.
    # Supported countries: UK,IE
    # cpc_country: UK
    # Directory for the APIs caches
    # cache_path: ~/.cache/kicost/Element14
  Octopart:
    # Octopart API Key
    # key: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
    # API level: 3 or 4
    # level: 4
    # The extended API is for the Pro plan
    # extended: false
    # Only enabled if the key is defined
    # enable: false
    # Directory for the APIs caches
    # cache_path: ~/.cache/kicost/Octopart
  KitSpace:
    # Normally enabled
    # enable: true
    # Directory for the APIs caches
    # cache_path: ~/.cache/kicost/KitSpace
  TME:
    # TME token (anonymous or private)
    # token: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    # TME application secret
    # app_secret: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    # Only enabled if the token and app_secret are defined
    # enable: false
    # Country where we are buying
    # country: US
    # Language for the texts
    # language: EN
    # Directory for the APIs caches
    # cache_path: ~/.cache/kicost/TME

Data from the APIs is cached cache_ttl days, using -1 means to keep them cached forever. Using 0 will force to do all searches again (no cache).

You don’t need to specify the cache_path for each API, they are derived from the main option. The default value for the main cache path is ~/.cache/kicost.

The KitSpace API is the only API that doesn’t need a key to be used. This is a service kindly provided by the KitSpace project. As such, is a limited resource. So you should consider getting keys for the distributors you use.

The Octopart API provides access to various distributors. It has a free option, with strong limits. Note that you need to provide a valid credit card in order to get a free key.

The other APIs are provided by each distributor, and they usually offer a free service with a generous limit.