PathfinderPrototyping · St. Paul MN

Build the Future

Product prototyping studio

Control surfaces for the tools you live in

Pathfinder Prototyping builds hardware control layers for professional software. Fourteen Stream Deck plugins across CAD, PCB design, laser, 3D printing, and creative tools, with more in the pipeline. Physical keys, real state, no menus.

See the plugins Commission custom work

    one key per plugin live in review built in dev

    What we build

    Software plugins are the current expedition. The practice underneath is simpler: probe how a machine or application really works, then build the tool that controls it. That travels to whatever needs prototyping next.

    01 · Shipped product

    Stream Deck plugins

    Full hotkey command catalogs for professional apps, up to 330 commands in a single plugin, organized into task-based categories, published on the Elgato Marketplace, and tested on real hardware before anything ships.

    02 · The differentiator

    State-aware control

    Keys that read the machine back: a laser plugin that shows job status over the network, PCB keys that know the active layer. We instrument the target app first: window state, UI automation, vendor APIs. Buttons reflect reality, not hope.

    03 · The offer

    Custom development

    Your industry runs on software nobody has built controls for. We take on custom plugin and workflow-tooling builds, from a discovery probe of your application to a deck your operators use daily.

    The manifest

    Every plugin, its target, and where it stands right now. No vaporware. Statuses are current and honest.

    PluginDomainStatusNotes
    OrcaSlicer Hotkeys3D printingLive76 commands across 13 categories.
    LightBurn HotkeysLaserLiveLive machine-status key over the network.
    KiCad HotkeysPCB designLiveSchematic and layout workflows.
    Inkscape HotkeysVector designLiveTool switching and canvas control.
    GIMP HotkeysImage editingLive88 commands.
    Obsidian HotkeysKnowledge workLivev1.2 in review: drives Obsidian's official CLI.
    PureRef HotkeysReference boardsLiveMode-aware drawing keys.
    Plasticity HotkeysCAD modelingIn reviewCustom key art, per-key sounds.
    FreeCAD HotkeysParametric CADBuilt330 commands across 27 categories. The big one.
    Windows Terminal HotkeysDevelopmentBuiltDeck-tested, heading to submission.
    Clipchamp HotkeysVideo editingBuiltNovel input injection for browser-based apps.
    Claude Command DeckAI toolingIn developmentSession monitoring and control for Claude Code.
    SolidWorks HotkeysMechanical CADIn developmentBuilt on exported keymaps.

    Live plugins are on the Elgato Marketplace under Pathfinder Prototyping.

    Beyond the deck

    Plugins are the shipped proof, not the whole practice. The same method runs deeper than hotkeys: instrument the system first, then build the tool.

    Infrastructure

    Terminal Orchestrator

    A real, visible terminal for AI agents: a multi-tab PTY in a desktop window. The agent drives; you watch, interrupt, and take over at any time. Agents that can see what they broke.

    Automation

    Windows UIA control

    A 20-tool control surface that lets an AI drive any Windows desktop application: read the interface tree, click, type, and verify the result. The backbone behind our app-probing practice.

    Generative pipeline

    Bulk icon production

    A local-GPU pipeline driving FLUX image models through ComfyUI to mass-produce icon families in one locked style. Consistency comes from the system, not the model.

    Embedded AI

    AI on the prototyping bench

    A self-provisioning AI workstation built for a medical-device prototyping shop. Agent tooling sitting next to stepper motors, load cells, and firmware instead of in a browser tab.

    Atoms & bits

    Pathfinder Prototyping is a one-bench product studio run by a maker who crossed into AI, not a software company that discovered hardware. The direction of travel matters: years of fabrication, 3D printing, and shop-floor problem solving, now aimed at the software those trades run on.

    "I build AI systems for the people who make things. I came up through fabrication and 3D printing, so I know what the bench actually needs. Most software isn't written for shops and workbenches. Mine is. New tools for old problems."

    Your app.
    Your deck.

    Your team lives in one piece of software: a CAM package, a lab instrument console, a dispatch screen. Its most-used controls belong under their fingers, not three menus deep.

    A custom build starts with a discovery probe: we map what your application exposes: what can be triggered, and what state can be read back. You get a report of what's possible before committing to a build. Then we build it: a plugin your operators install, with keys that do real work and show real state.

    Flat honest scoping. If your app can't support what you want, the probe report says so and you've spent almost nothing finding out.

    Start a conversation

    tony@pathfinderprototyping.com (612) 424-2610
    St. Paul, Minnesota