TL;DR Zenode's Catalog is a parametric parts browser that can search multiple categories at a time. You get horizontal part cards, sortable columns, and filters built on structured numeric data (not string-matching hacks). The whole thing is built on Rust, which means it's blazingly fast, the badge counts are accurate, and the AI can use the same filters you do. If you've ever used DigiKey or Mouser's parametric tables, this will feel familiar (but WAY better)

Getting There

Several paths into the Catalog, depending on how you're searching

• Direct from the Search Bar

  • If your initial query is straightforward, it will pick a category, apply filters, and drop you into the Catalog with results ready to scan. Examples would be "48V Constant Current LED Driver", which is a category plus 2 parametric specs, not much the AI can do to help you!

  • Note: if you're out of credits and on the free plan, this is the default behavior for every search

• From Discovery

  • All more advanced searches contain potential parts from catalog searches. Simply click on the See all {category name} in catalog and you'll be dropped into a pre-set Catalog search based on where your discovery stands.

• Direct URL

  • Every Catalog view has a shareable URL that encodes the category, query, and active filters. Copy it to send to a colleague, and they'll see exactly what you see at the time you sent it (Don't worry, it splits the moment they do their own query!)

The Page Layout

What you're looking at when you land.

• Part cards - Horizontal rows showing individual parts dominate the screen. Each card shows the MPN, manufacturer, description, key specs, an image if available, and pricing.

• Parametric filters - The filter panel on the left is the main interaction on the page. Each filter corresponds to a real spec (Output Voltage, Input Voltage, Current, Topology, etc.) extracted and normalized from manufacturer and distributor data. When browsing multiple categories, the filters adapt to show specs that are shared or relevant across the selected categories.

• Sortable columns - Specs are displayed as columns. Click a header to sort ascending or descending.

• Active filter badges - Applied filters appear as removable badges at the top, with live counts showing how many parts match your current combination.

How the Filters Actually Work

Traditional parametric filters on distributor websites are string-based. The raw spec value from a datasheet (say, "48V") gets stored as a text string, which is why filtering on them feels so archaic.

This made it impossible to do AI searching, so we rebuilt our filters from the ground up:

1. Structured data types - Every spec is typed. Numeric specs are stored as actual numbers with units, so range queries work correctly. Boolean specs are real booleans. Enum specs have normalized value sets.

2. Built on Rust - All the filter logic runs through a custom key/value store we built in Rust. This is what makes the badge counts update instantly, the range sliders respond without lag, and the whole thing feel snappy even across millions of parts.

3. Numeric Histograms - For numeric specs, you can see the distribution of values at a glance. This is surprisingly useful (you'll quickly learn that 22kohm resistors are everywhere, 20kohm not so much).

4. AI-accessible - The same filter cache that powers the UI is also accessible to the AI. When you run a Discovery query, the AI is literally calling the same parametric filters you'd use manually. This means the AI's results and the Catalog's results are always consistent.