Printing on the P2S

You have a real printer and real people waiting on it. The work is the same as a careful person at a print farm: get the part right in the slicer, get the right filament in, get permission, check the plate, start it, watch it, and tell people what is happening in plain words.

The tools

The rule that never bends

A print starts only after the approver says yes to that print. Not the requester, not someone else in the group, not an earlier yes to a different version. The code enforces it: print_start re-reads Messages for the approver's reply to the ask, checks the yes is newer than the ask and not stale, checks the conversation calling is the one that asked, checks the colors loaded are the ones in the approved plan, needs a camera frame you took after the yes, and runs its own independent look at the plate (or takes the approver's yes to your photo of it instead). If anything fails it tells you every reason; fix them, do not argue with them.

• Cancel and resume each need their own yes (print_request_approval with action cancel or resume). There is no pause, from any path.
• If the job changes after a yes (new slice, different colors), the yes is gone. Ask again.
• A hedged reply ("yes but swap the blue first", "is it PLA?") is not a decision. Answer it, and wait for a plain yes, a no, or a like on the ask.

Everyone involved sees the slice and the link

Hunter's rule (2026-10-26). Everyone involved in a print gets two things, every time: the requester, the approver, and anyone asked to swap a spool or clear the plate. That includes one-off and repeat prints.

1. The sliced view, before they're asked to agree to anything. Save it as an image with bun skills/printing/scripts/sliced_view.ts <file.gcode.3mf> <out.png> (the toolpaths in the real filament colours, beside the first layer) and send it with the time, grams and colours. Do this before the design OK and again before the approval ask whenever the slice changed. A request that came from someone else's chat still has to reach the approver. Send it to them with message_contact and media_paths, or send_attachment in a group they're in, before print_request_approval. For anything designed rather than downloaded, send a rendered mockup of the finished, assembled part in its print colours first. The toolpath view doesn't replace it.
2. The live page link, once it starts. print_start returns it. Send it to every one of those people, not only whoever asked, in their own chat if they're not in this one.

Never ask for a yes on a slice someone hasn't seen.

The whole flow, in order

1. Understand what they want. Size (ask what it sits next to, or what it must hold), colors, strength or looks, by when. A keychain, a replacement clip and a vase are three different jobs.
2. Get a model. Design it (build123d is installed; see references/design.md) or find it: makerworld_search, look at the covers, makerworld_model for photos and profiles, send them the photos to choose from. Check the license before you remix anything for others.
3. Slice it with print_slice. Start from Bambu's profile for the job (quality preset + plate) and change only what the part needs (references/settings.md).
4. Read the result like a pro (references/preview.md): every warning, the render, the toolpath preview, seams, overhangs, supports, first layer, filament changes and purge, time by feature. Fix and re-slice until there is nothing you would be embarrassed by. Never show a person a slice with an unread warning.
5. Show the requester the render (and photos), the sliced view image, the time and the colors. Get their OK on the design and record their words: print_job create, then print_job update design_ok.
6. Plan the filament: print_job plan. If a slot needs swapping, ask whoever is at the printer in plain words: "Can you put red PLA in slot 4 (it has the black in it now)?" In a group with the approver, ask there; if the request came in someone else's DM, ask in the approver's DM. Set a filament wake-up (printer_watch kind filament) so you know when it is done.
7. Ask for approval: first make sure the approver has the sliced view of this exact slice (above), then print_request_approval with your own words; the facts and "reply yes to print it" are added. Tell the requester you have asked. You are woken when the answer comes.
8. After the yes: printer_camera, look at the plate with your own eyes (anything on it, even a purge blob, is a no), then print_start with that frame_id. It returns the live page link: send it to everyone involved (the requester, the approver, whoever swapped or cleared), each in their own chat.
   • If its independent plate check says unsure (faint marks, glare, the front edge out of frame) and you think the plate is fine, do not stall and do not argue with it: print_request_approval with action plate, your frame_id, and what you see in your own words ("Can you confirm the plate is clear? I think I see an old outline at the front, but it looks fine to print."). It sends the approver the photo, in the group or their DM like any ask. Their yes counts as the plate check for 15 minutes; then call print_start again.
   • If you can see something on the plate, ask for it to be cleared instead.
9. While it prints you are woken at 25/50/75% (long prints), at the end with a photo, on errors and on pauses. Answer like a friend watching the printer: short, useful, no noise. A progress note nobody needs is noise.
10. At the end: send the photo, mention the timelapse on the page, and ask the approver to take it off the plate.

Talking about prints

• Times in hours and minutes, weights in grams, colors by name ("the red PLA in slot 2"), never hex codes or slot ids to a person.
• Say what will look rough before they see it (supports leave marks; a seam shows as a faint line; text under 5 mm tall blurs at 0.2 mm layers).
• If something failed, say what happened, what you think caused it, and what you would change. Never invent a cause; look (printer_camera, printer_status) first.

References

• references/p2s.md — this printer, its limits, what is installed, LAN modes
• references/materials.md — PLA, PETG, TPU, ABS/ASA and the rest: temps, plates, drying
• references/settings.md — the settings that matter and recipes by goal
• references/preview.md — reading the slice: warnings, seams, overhangs, supports, purge
• references/design.md — designing for FDM, multi-color economics, tolerances
• references/troubleshooting.md — failures, Bambu errors, what to check
• references/makerworld.md — searching, licenses, downloading, altering, publishing