Scraping Supplier Data

Scraping supplier data

With the companion extension installed, Gubbins can read a supplier or retailer page and fill an item's details from it — part number, manufacturer, parameters, price, datasheet — so you don't retype what's already on screen.

Where to find it: the Scrape controls on an item, unlocked once the extension is connected.

What it can pull

Open a product page for a part and scrape it. Gubbins has purpose-built parsers for major electronics suppliers and retailers, plus a generic fallback for other sites:

• DigiKey, Mouser, Farnell, LCSC, RS, Adafruit, SparkFun, Amazon — dedicated parsers.
• Any other site — a generic metadata fallback that grabs what it can.

It can also do a barcode → product lookup and a one-click price refresh to update what a part currently costs.

Barcode → product lookup (works without the extension)

When you add or edit an item, a Look up product panel appears next to a filled‑in Barcode. It fetches the product's name and brand from the open, free Open Food Facts database and fills any empty fields — handy on a phone where you've just scanned a grocery barcode. The same lookup is offered straight from the camera scanner when you scan a barcode that isn't in your inventory yet, so the new item can be pre‑filled before you even add it.

• With the companion extension installed, the extension does the lookup for you.
• Without it (for example on a phone), Gubbins can look the barcode up online itself. The first time, it asks for your permission and explains that it will send only the barcode number to openfoodfacts.org — nothing else about your inventory. It only ever does this when you tap Look up, never automatically.

You can change your mind any time under Settings → Scanning & labels → Product lookup → Online product lookup — turn it off to keep every lookup offline.

ℹ️ Note Open Food Facts covers groceries and consumables, so a hardware or electronics barcode often has no match — that's a simple "not found", not an error.

Reviewable, never destructive

Scraped data is applied carefully:

• It fills empty fields and doesn't overwrite something you've already edited — so your own corrections are safe.
• You review what came in before it's kept.

💡 Tip Scrape when you first add a part — you get its datasheet link, MPN and parameters in one step — then use the price refresh later to keep costs current without re-entering anything.

ℹ️ Note If a page can't be read — a login wall, a CAPTCHA, or an unsupported layout — Gubbins tells you with a clear reason rather than failing silently. A groceries barcode with no match is a simple "not found", not an error.

Related pages

• Companion extension setup — installing and connecting it.
• Supplier parts & price history — where prices are kept.
• Camera scanning and Receipt & label OCR — other ways to capture item details.