Product prototyping studio
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.
one key per plugin live in review built in dev
Software plugins are the current expedition. The practice underneath — probing how a machine or application really works, then building the tool that controls it — travels to whatever needs prototyping next.
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.
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 — so buttons reflect reality, not hope.
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.
Every plugin, its target, and where it stands right now. No vaporware — statuses are current and honest.
| Plugin | Domain | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| OrcaSlicer Hotkeys | 3D printing | Live | 76 commands across 13 categories. |
| LightBurn Hotkeys | Laser | Live | Live machine-status key over the network. |
| KiCad Hotkeys | PCB design | Live | Schematic and layout workflows. |
| Inkscape Hotkeys | Vector design | Live | Tool switching and canvas control. |
| GIMP Hotkeys | Image editing | Live | 88 commands. |
| Obsidian Hotkeys | Knowledge work | Live | v1.2 in review: drives Obsidian's official CLI. |
| PureRef Hotkeys | Reference boards | Live | Mode-aware drawing keys. |
| Plasticity Hotkeys | CAD modeling | In review | Custom key art, per-key sounds. |
| FreeCAD Hotkeys | Parametric CAD | Built | 330 commands across 27 categories — the big one. |
| Windows Terminal Hotkeys | Development | Built | Deck-tested, heading to submission. |
| Clipchamp Hotkeys | Video editing | Built | Novel input injection for browser-based apps. |
| Claude Command Deck | AI tooling | In development | Session monitoring and control for Claude Code. |
| SolidWorks Hotkeys | Mechanical CAD | In development | Built on exported keymaps. |
Live plugins are on the Elgato Marketplace under Pathfinder Prototyping.
If 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.
