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BamBuddy – a self-hosted print archive for Bambu Lab 3D printers

BamBuddy – a self-hosted print archive for Bambu Lab 3D printers

by maziggy·Apr 21, 2026·1 point·0 comments

AI Analysis

●●SolidNiche GemSolve My Problem

Reverse-engineered MQTT client archives Bambu prints locally instead of vendor cloud.

Strengths
  • Captures thumbnails, filament usage, and slicer settings via undocumented local API.
  • SpoolBuddy add-on uses NFC tags to link physical spools to digital inventory.
  • Proxy mode enables secure remote printing via TLS without vendor server routing.
Weaknesses
  • Reverse-engineered protocol could break if Bambu pushes unexpected firmware updates.
  • Niche utility limits appeal to Bambu owners despite polished implementation.
Category
Target Audience

Bambu Lab 3D printer owners and self-hosting enthusiasts

Similar To

Home Assistant · Moonraker · Obico

Post Description

Show HN: BamBuddy – a self-hosted print archive for Bambu Lab 3D printers

Bambu makes great hardware, but your data lives in their cloud and there's no way to export it. When a print finishes, the job is basically gone from any useful record-keeping perspective.

BamBuddy fixes that by running on your own machine and tapping into the printer's local MQTT interface — so it captures everything as it happens: thumbnails, filament usage, timing, slicer settings. You end up with a fully searchable archive of your print history that's entirely yours, works offline, and never touches Bambu's servers.

The catch: their local API is undocumented, so a lot of the early work was reverse-engineering the protocol. That's still ongoing as firmware updates occasionally break things.

Stack: TypeScript, self-hosted, ~1000 stars, active contributor community.

GitHub: https://github.com/maziggy/bambuddy Website: https://bambuddy.cool Forum/Chat: https://forum.bambuddy.cool Docs: https://wiki.bambuddy.cool

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