Spool Inventory¶

Bambuddy includes a built-in spool inventory system to track your filament collection, assign spools to AMS slots, and automatically monitor filament consumption.

Inventory Overview¶

The Spool Inventory page shows all your spools in a searchable, filterable table with summary statistics.

Summary Cards¶

Filtering & Search¶

• Status tabs: Active, Archived, All
• Quick filters: Used, New
• Stock filter: All, Stock (no slicer profile), Configured (has slicer profile)
• Dropdowns: Filter by Material, Brand
• Search: Find spools by name, brand, material, or color
• View modes: Table or Cards
• Group similar: Toggle to visually collapse identical unused/unassigned spools into a single expandable row or card with a count badge (e.g., "5 identical spools"). Spools are grouped by material, subtype, brand, color, and label weight. Used or AMS-assigned spools always appear individually. Group state persists across sessions.

Adding Spools¶

Click + Add Spool to create a new inventory entry.

You can also copy an existing spool. Copying opens the Add Spool form with the existing spool data pre-filled, so you only need to change what is different.

Filament Info Tab¶

Effects¶

Effects can be use to give a visual hint on the filaments look, covering:

• surface effects (Sparkle, Wood, Marble, Glow, Matte),
• sheen variants (Silk, Galaxy, Rainbow, Metal, Translucent)
• structural variants (Gradient, Dual Color, Tri Color, Multicolor).

They are rendered on top of the colour swatch, using the information from Extra Colours — effects do not change the slicer profile or anything the printer sees.

Colour lists for multi-color filaments can easily be gathered from a site like 3dfilamentprofiles.com and pasted into the Extra Colours field.

Quick Add (Stock Spools)¶

Toggle Quick Add (Stock) at the top of the spool form to switch to a simplified mode. This hides the slicer preset and the PA Profile tab — only Material (required), Brand, Subtype (both optional), Label Weight, Quantity, and Color are shown.

Use Quick Add when you want to inventory filament without picking a specific slicer profile. These are called "stock" spools — they track weight and usage like any other spool, but they aren't linked to a printer filament profile. You can always edit a stock spool later to assign a slicer preset, at which point it becomes a "configured" spool.

Where Presets Come From¶

The Slicer Preset dropdown merges filament profiles from three sources, checked in order:

Presets from all three sources are merged and deduplicated. If cloud login fails, local + built-in presets still appear — the preset list is never empty.

Custom Materials¶

The material dropdown includes common types: PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU, ASA, PC, PA, PVA, HIPS, PA-CF, PETG-CF, and PLA-CF.

If your material isn't listed (e.g., PCTG, PHA, PP, PVDF), simply type it into the Material field. A "Use custom material" option will appear at the bottom of the dropdown — click it to use your custom material type.

Custom materials work just like built-in ones for inventory tracking, usage history, and filtering.

Additional Section¶

PA Profile Tab¶

Link pressure advance (K-factor) calibration profiles to the spool:

• Auto-select matches profiles by brand, material, and subtype
• Shows matches grouped by printer and nozzle (left/right for dual-nozzle)
• K-factor values displayed for quick reference

AMS Slot Assignment¶

Assign inventory spools to AMS slots to track which filament is loaded where.

Assigning a Spool¶

1. Hover over any AMS slot on the printer card (empty or configured, non-Bambu-Lab)
2. Click Assign Spool in the hover card

1. Select a spool from the filtered list
2. Click Assign Spool to confirm

The assign modal automatically:

• Filters out Bambu Lab spools — these are tracked via RFID and managed by the AMS
• Filters out already-assigned spools — each spool can only be in one slot at a time
• Shows only manually added (non-BL) spools

Unassigning a Spool¶

1. Hover over an assigned AMS slot
2. Click Unassign in the hover card

Bambu Lab Spools¶

Slots containing Bambu Lab spools (identified by RFID) do not show assign/unassign buttons. These spools are managed automatically by the AMS.

Configure AMS Slot¶

AMS slot configuration tells the printer what filament profile to use for a specific slot. This is separate from inventory — it controls how the printer handles the filament during printing (temperature, flow rate, pressure advance, etc.).

1. Hover over an AMS slot on the printer card
2. Click the menu button ()
3. Select Configure Slot
4. Choose a filament preset
5. Optionally select a K profile and custom color
6. Click Configure Slot to apply

Where Configure Slot Presets Come From¶

The preset list in the Configure Slot modal comes from the same three sources as the spool form, but filtered by printer model:

Only presets compatible with the specific printer model are shown, reducing clutter and preventing mismatches.

Usage Tracking¶

Bambuddy tracks filament consumption automatically using 3MF slicer data as the primary source for all spools.

3MF Slicer Estimates (Primary)¶

For all spools — both Bambu Lab (RFID) and third-party — Bambuddy uses the per-filament used_g data from the archived 3MF file:

• Extracts per-filament usage from the slicer's slice_info
• Maps 3MF filament slots to physical AMS trays using the actual AMS mapping from the print command
• For slicer-initiated prints (BambuStudio, OrcaSlicer, Bambu Handy): captures the ams_mapping directly from the MQTT print command, ensuring the correct tray is tracked regardless of which application starts the print
• For queue prints: uses the stored AMS mapping for exact slot-to-tray resolution
• For single-filament prints: uses the printer's active tray for reliable tracking
• For completed prints: uses the full slicer estimate
• For failed/aborted prints: uses per-layer G-code data for accurate partial tracking, with linear progress scaling as fallback
• For mid-print spool changes: if a spool assignment is changed during a print, the live assignment is used for filament deduction (when the change timestamp is after print start); otherwise the snapshot from print start is preserved

AMS Remain% Delta (Fallback)¶

When 3MF data is unavailable (e.g., G-code-only prints without an archived 3MF file), Bambuddy falls back to AMS remain% tracking:

• Captures remain% at print start and end to compute consumption deltas
• Only used for trays not already tracked via 3MF

Usage History¶

Each consumption event is recorded with:

• Spool ID and printer
• Print name
• Weight consumed (grams)
• Percentage consumed
• Print status (completed / failed / aborted)
• Cost (calculated from spool cost/kg)

Cost Tracking¶

Track filament costs per spool and see cost breakdowns for every print.

Setting Cost Per Kg¶

Each spool can have an individual Cost per kg value, set in the Additional section of the spool form. This value is used to calculate the cost of each print based on actual filament consumption.

How Cost Calculation Works¶

When a print completes, Bambuddy calculates the cost for each spool used:

1. Per-spool cost: Uses the spool's cost_per_kg if set
2. Default fallback: Uses the global Default Filament Cost from Settings → Filament
3. Formula: cost = (weight_used_grams / 1000) × cost_per_kg

The calculated cost is stored in the usage history record and aggregated to the archive's total cost.

Cost Display¶

• Print modal: Shows a real-time cost preview based on loaded filaments and their cost/kg values before starting a print
• Archive cards: Display the total filament cost for each print
• Inventory table: Includes a sortable "Cost/kg" column (hidden by default — enable via column settings)
• Statistics: Total cost across all prints is included in the stats summary

Recalculating Costs¶

If you update spool prices or add cost data retroactively, use Recalculate Costs on the Archives page to update all archive costs based on current filament prices. This recalculates costs using:

1. Spool usage history records (by archive ID)
2. Legacy usage records (by print name, for older records)
3. Filament catalog prices (if no usage records exist)

Default Filament Cost & Currency¶

Configure in Settings → Filament:

Inventory Forecast¶

See inventory depletion rates based on material usage and handle stock logistics.

Forecasting¶

The Forecast view shows all Inventory spools. Identical spool types are grouped together.

Each rown can be expanded to show additional settings, data, and actions.

The user can set a Global Lead Time that will override all lower lead times (or lead times that are not set).

The interface will alert of any stock breakage forecasted. These can also be sent via the notification service by enabling them in Settings → Notifications. To exclude spools from forecasting and alert logging, click the Snooze icon in item row.

Usage¶

Material usage is calculated based on how many data points are available:

History-based (needs ≥2 print events):

interval_rate = grams_used_in_print / days_between_prints   (floor: 0.5 days)
recency_weight = exp(−ln(2)/30 × days_since_print)          (30-day half-life)

Weighted mean across all intervals:

daily_rate = Σ(interval_rate × recency_weight) / Σ(recency_weight)
std_dev    = sqrt( Σ(weight × (interval_rate − daily_rate)²) / Σ(weight) )

Delta-based (only 1 event, or no history):

daily_rate = total_grams_used / days_since_spool_was_added

Shopping Cart¶

The shopping cart lists all user added spools that are set to be reordered.

In the List view the user can set a row item as Purchased. Once set as Purchased, the item can set as Received to be removed form the list.

In the Logistics view a graph shows predicted stock variations based on reorder quantity and data.

Printable Labels¶

Bambuddy can generate PDF labels for any selection of spools. The label carries the colour swatch (with multi-colour gradient stripes for spools that have extra colours), brand, material, name, the spool ID, and a QR code that deep-links straight back to that spool's row in Bambuddy when scanned with a phone — useful for finding the right spool in storage.

Two ways to start¶

• Per-spool icon — every spool card and table row has a small printer icon. Click it to print just that one spool's label.
• Header bulk button — Print labels… in the inventory page header opens the picker pre-selected with every spool currently visible (i.e. matching your filters). Refine the selection in the modal.

The picker¶

The modal lists the spools you can choose from with checkboxes. From the top:

• Search — substring match across name, brand, and #ID (e.g. type #42 to jump to spool 42).
• Material chips — narrow the visible list to a single material (PLA, PETG, …). Chips are derived from your library so you only see what you actually have.
• Select all visible / Deselect visible / Clear all — additive selection actions. Select all visible adds the currently filtered list to your selection without dropping anything you'd already picked outside the filter; Clear all wipes the entire selection. This means you can build a selection across filters: filter to PLA, click Select all visible, switch to PETG, click Select all visible again — both groups are now selected.
• Live "X selected" count in the modal title so you always know what you're about to print.

Template sizes¶

Pick the template that matches your label stock or holder:

Sizes are exact — the renderer measures in points, not pixels, so Avery layouts align to <0.1 mm and don't drift across the page.

What's on each label¶

• Colour swatch — the spool's rgba. Spools with multi-colour stops (extra_colors) render as vertical stripes in the order you saved them.
• Brand · material · subtype — small text row.
• Spool name — bold; what you set in the spool form.
• Storage location — italic, only on the box-label and Avery templates (the AMS holder is too small).
• Spool ID — large bold #N, anchored at the bottom-left. This is the killer field for telling 8 spools of "PLA White" apart in your closet, especially partials.
• QR code — links to /inventory?spool=<id> so a phone scan jumps straight to the spool's row in Bambuddy. The AMS-holder template skips the QR (no room at 30 × 15 mm) — the spool ID and swatch are enough at AMS-bay distance.

What ends up in the QR¶

The QR encodes the URL Bambuddy can be reached at + /inventory?spool=<id>. By default this is the request's own scheme + host (https://bambuddy.your-server.local/inventory?spool=42) — if you set Settings → External URL to your public Bambuddy address, the QR uses that instead, so a phone outside your LAN can still resolve it.

Print or save¶

The PDF opens in a new browser tab. From there you can either print directly to a label printer / sheet of blanks, or save the PDF and print later. Since rendering is server-side via ReportLab, the output is byte-identical across browsers — no "Chrome prints differently than Firefox" surprises.

Limits¶

• Up to 500 spools per request. Plenty for any realistic batch (a full Avery L7160 sheet is 21, a sheet of 5160 is 30; 500 covers ~24 sheets).
• The renderer truncates names with an ellipsis if a spool name is too long for the chosen template — for the AMS-holder size in particular, the spool ID is what matters; long names get truncated. If your spool name is consistently being truncated, consider a shorter name field on the spool itself.

Settings¶

Configure the inventory system in Settings > Filament.

Filament Tracking¶

Choose between:

• Built-in Inventory — Use Bambuddy's spool management
• Spoolman — Use external Spoolman integration

Sync Weights from AMS¶

When using built-in inventory, a Sync Weights from AMS button appears below the mode selector. This force-syncs all inventory spool weights from the live AMS remain% sensor values of connected printers.

Use this to recover from corrupted weight data — for example, if a printer power-off event caused all spool fill levels to drop to zero. The sync overwrites the stored weight_used values with the current AMS readings. Printers must be online for the sync to work.

Spool Catalog¶

Pre-defined empty spool weights for quick selection when adding spools. Ships with 90+ entries covering common manufacturers.

Color Catalog¶

Pre-defined color palettes from filament brands. Ships with 600+ colors across 20 brands. Used in the color picker when adding, editing, or copying spools, and as the single source of truth for resolving hex colors to human-readable names everywhere in the UI — the Printer tab AMS popup, the inventory list, the print modal filament override cards, and auto-provisioned inventory entries all look up display names from this table. If a color name shows up wrong (e.g. "Scarlet Red" instead of "Cherry Pink"), edit the offending entry or use Sync to pull the canonical name from FilamentColors.xyz.

Import File Format¶

Both catalogs accept a JSON array. Spool catalog entries:

[
  { "name": "Brand - Spool Type", "weight": 210 }
]

Color catalog entries:

[
  { "manufacturer": "eSUN", "color_name": "Silk Gold", "hex_color": "#C48E2F", "material": "PLA Silk" }
]

FAQ¶

My material isn't in the dropdown (e.g., PCTG, PHA, PP)¶

Type the material name directly into the Material field. A green "Use custom material" option appears at the bottom of the dropdown. Custom materials work the same as built-in ones for all tracking features.

Do I need to pick a filament profile for every spool?¶

No. Use Quick Add (Stock) mode to add spools with just a material type — no slicer preset, brand, or subtype required. Stock spools track weight, usage, and cost just like configured spools, but they aren't linked to a printer filament profile. You can filter stock spools on the inventory page, edit them later to assign a profile, or copy a similar spool and only adjust the fields that need to change.

In full mode, the Slicer Preset field is required. It links the spool to a filament profile ID that the printer understands. If you're just inventorying filament for tracking purposes, pick the closest available preset — for example, use a generic "PETG Basic" preset for a third-party PETG spool.

If you have custom slicer profiles (e.g., a PCTG profile in OrcaSlicer), import them via Local Profiles so they appear in the preset dropdown.

I have different printers (P1S, H2D) and nozzles — do presets matter?¶

The spool inventory itself is printer-agnostic. You can add a spool once and assign it to any printer's AMS slot. Printer model filtering only applies when configuring an AMS slot (telling the printer which profile to use), not when adding spools to inventory.

When you configure an AMS slot, the preset list is automatically filtered by that printer's model — so you'll only see P1S-compatible presets when configuring a P1S slot, and H2D-compatible presets when configuring an H2D slot.

Is inventory only for loaded filaments?¶

No. The inventory tracks all your spools — loaded and unloaded. You can add every spool you own to the inventory, even spools sitting on a shelf. The "In Printer" summary card shows how many are currently loaded in AMS slots, but unloaded spools are tracked just the same (weight remaining, usage history, cost, etc.).

Where do the "Slicer Preset" profiles come from?¶

They come from three sources, checked in order:

1. Your Bambu Cloud account — if you've logged in via Cloud Profiles, all your synced filament presets appear (including custom ones you've created in BambuStudio or OrcaSlicer and synced to cloud)
2. Local OrcaSlicer imports — if you've imported .orca_filament, .bbscfg, or .bbsflmt files via Local Profiles
3. Built-in fallback table — ~150 Bambu Lab filament IDs that are always available, no login needed

If you're not logged into Bambu Cloud, you'll still see local imports and the built-in table.

What's the difference between "Assign Spool" and "Configure Slot"?¶

Assigning a spool is the simplest workflow — it handles both tracking and printer configuration in one step. Use "Configure Slot" when you want to manually override settings or set up a slot without an inventory spool.

Tips¶