HOME CARTOGRAPHY · FIELD KIT

Home Cartography field kit

A phone-usable protocol for indexing one real room in about 20 minutes, before any device or camera-scanning product exists. Receipts-first ingestion (see the receipt-ingestion spec) covers the paper trail; this covers everything a phone camera and a search bar can do right now.

Your data stays with you — PointCast collects nothing. There is no submit button on this page and no server-side storage of anything you record.

PROTOCOL · ~20 MINUTES, ONE ROOM

Sweep, photograph, record, search.

  1. 1

    Pick the room

    Start with the room that has the most high-value or hardest-to-remember items — usually garage, office, or kitchen. One room, one pass. Do not try to do the whole house in one session.

  2. 2

    Photograph the room from the doorway

    One wide shot from the entrance before touching anything. This is your before-state and your map reference for "location" notes later.

  3. 3

    Sweep clockwise

    Starting at the wall to your left of the doorway, work clockwise around the room, surface by surface, shelf by shelf, drawer by drawer. Clockwise is arbitrary but consistent — it stops you from doubling back and missing corners.

  4. 4

    For each item worth indexing: barcode if any, else photo

    If it has a barcode/serial label, photograph that label close-up (readable, in focus). If not, one clear photo of the item itself is enough. Do not stage or clean anything — index it where it lives.

  5. 5

    Record location as room · surface/container · slot

    Use the three-part location format from the demo index, e.g. "Garage · shelf 2 · bin 3" or "Kitchen · pantry · bottom shelf". This is what makes the index findable later — precision here is worth more than precision on price.

  6. 6

    Note condition

    One word from the condition scale below (like-new / good / fair / worn). Be honest — the index is only useful as an honest mirror, not a resale listing.

  7. 7

    Search email for the receipt

    Quick search of your inbox for the merchant or item name while it is fresh in mind. If you find the order confirmation, pull date, price, and order id straight from it. If not, mark it provenance-unknown and move on — do not stall the sweep chasing one receipt.

  8. 8

    Skip anything you'd rather not index

    Sensitive zones are excluded by design — medicine cabinets, personal documents, anything you would not want summarized by an agent later. This kit indexes stuff, not your life. When in doubt, skip it.

ITEM TEMPLATE

One row per item.

{
  "id": "it-XXX",
  "name": "Cordless drill, 20V",
  "category": "tools",
  "room": "garage",
  "location": "Garage · shelf 2 · bin 3",
  "purchased": "2024-03-11",
  "pricePaidUsd": 129,
  "retailer": "Home Depot",
  "condition": "good",
  "warrantyUntil": "2027-03-11",
  "estValueUsd": 74,
  "lastTouched": "2026-09-02",
  "serial": "SN-88213B"
}

ROOM TEMPLATE

One row per room.

{
  "id": "garage",
  "label": "Garage",
  "sqft": 400,
  "itemCount": 0,
  "notes": "Wide doorway photo taken; swept clockwise from the entrance."
}

CATEGORIES

Pick the closest one.

  • electronics
  • appliance
  • furniture
  • kitchenware
  • tools
  • sports
  • clothing
  • decor
  • documents
  • misc

CONDITION SCALE

One honest word.

like-new
No visible wear; would pass as unopened or barely used.
good
Normal wear from regular use; fully functional, nothing to flag.
fair
Visible wear or a known minor issue; still usable as intended.
worn
Heavy wear, age, or a known functional problem; on the way out.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE FILE

It's your data. Treat it that way.

  • Keep it local. It is your data — save it wherever you keep personal files, not in a shared or hosted location unless you choose to.
  • Paste the filled-in JSON into any agent alongside the /cartography/home/demo.json shape to get the same summaries: valuation rollups, density score, duplicate detection, sell/lend drafts.
  • Nothing is uploaded to PointCast. This page collects nothing — there is no submit button and no server-side storage of what you record.

GUARDRAILS

Skip is always a valid answer.

  • Sensitive zones are excluded by design — you decide what counts as sensitive, the kit never asks for it.
  • No photo, barcode scan, or note leaves your device through this page. It is a protocol and a template, not a collection tool.
  • Skip is always a valid answer. An incomplete room index is still useful; a room you refused to touch stays untouched.
  • Prices and values you record are estimates for your own reference, not appraisals.

MACHINE-READABLE