Physical Context

The lightweight context layer for physical development. Capture engineering decisions as they happen, keep your whole team in sync, and never lose the why behind a spec change.

Download for Mac Try it yourself
CAPTURE

Capture engineering context where work happens

Physical Context captures engineering discussions, design rationale, and specification changes across engineering sessions, reviews, and development workflows, without changing how your team works.

Recording engineering session, live across tools
Mechanical CAD
Schematic Editor
Firmware IDE
14void pwm_init(void) {
15  TIM3->PSC = 84 - 1;
16  TIM3->ARR = 999;
17  TIM3->CCR1 = 500; // 25kHz
18  TIM3->CR1 |= TIM_CR1_CEN;
19}
Oscilloscope
Physical Context Live
4Tools watched
18mDuration
4Changes
C14Added

Decoupling capacitor placed near U3

Mounting bossModified

Diameter adjusted for clearance

PWMModified

Frequency 20kHz → 25kHz

Trace clearanceDeviation

0.18mm is under the 0.20mm spec minimum

WHAT IT CAPTURES

Every decision, kept where the team can see it.

Physical Context sits alongside the tools you already use and turns scattered engineering work into one shared, searchable record.

Capture across your workflow

Engineering decisions get logged automatically as you work, across CAD, firmware, test benches, and chat.

Shared team context

Everyone on the team sees the same timeline, in real time. No more context trapped in one person's head.

Spec deviation alerts

Efficiently communicate critical deviations from spec to the rest of the team, the moment they happen.

Generate firmware & tests

Turn captured context into firmware scaffolding and test cases, grounded in your teams actual context.

Cross-tool version history

Review the full history of a decision across every tool and every teammate who touched it.

SPEC DEVIATIONS

Never lose critical engineering decisions

Communicate specification changes, tradeoffs, and design rationale automatically so every engineer understands what changed, and why.

SPEC Battery 48V ±2% → 51V
Spec deviation detected
ReasonHigher voltage needed for the cold-weather discharge curve
TradeoffSlightly reduced margin to absolute max rating
OwnerMarcus T.
ImpactBattery, charge controller, enclosure thermal
ApprovalApproved

Another engineer opens the project weeks later and sees exactly why, instantly.

CONTEXT EVERYWHERE

Your engineering context follows you

Open GitHub, CAD, documentation, or firmware tools and instantly see the conversations, decisions, and history that matter for the work in front of you. Click any of the apps below.

Altium Designer File   Edit   View 2:47 PM
main.PcbDoc - Altium Designer

// Altium Designer workspace

board_outline ← anchor

mcu_u1 STM32F405RGT6

decoupling_c1 100nF 0402

decoupling_c2 100nF 0402 // new

usb_conn_j1 USB-C

esd_arr_d1 SP0524BAJTG

3D · Schematic · PCB · BOM

LAUNCH ANY TOOL TO START

SolidWorks · Altium · KiCad · VS Code · Vim

Now integrates with Slack, Notion, and GitHub.

GET PHYSICAL CONTEXT

Install and maintain your context.

Free to try for your team. Your session starts capturing the moment it's installed.

Physical Context for Mac

macOS 13+ Works with your stack No migration needed
Download for Mac

Physical Context for Teams

Shared sessions, team-wide deviation alerts, and exportable history. Currently in development.

Coming soon