iFixit Repair Guides

Integrate iFixit’s library of 70,000+ repair guides directly into RepairOps. Search for step-by-step repair procedures, attach guides to tickets, and let AI recommend relevant guides automatically.

Available on: Pro and Enterprise tiers (requires commercial iFixit license).

Accessing iFixit Guides

Search Interface

1. Navigate to Guides → iFixit Repair Library
2. Search by:
   • Device name (e.g., “iPhone 14 Pro”, “MacBook M1”)
   • Category (e.g., Phones, Computers, Tablets, Game Consoles)
   • Repair type (e.g., Battery replacement, Screen repair)
3. Browse results sorted by:
   • Relevance (default)
   • Difficulty level
   • Time estimate
   • Popularity (most-viewed)

Guide Details

Click a guide to view:

• Title and overview — Brief description of what the guide covers
• Difficulty level — Easy, Medium, Hard, Very Hard
• Time estimate — Typical duration (e.g., 45 minutes)
• Tools required — What tools you need
• Parts required — Replacement parts (if applicable)
• Step-by-step instructions — Photo-guided steps with numbered procedures
• Warnings — Safety alerts (e.g., “Contains sharp edges”, “Uses adhesive”)
• Related guides — Similar or follow-up repairs

Attaching Guides to Tickets

Adding a Guide to a Ticket

1. Open a ticket in any status
2. Click Attachments → Attach iFixit Guide
3. Search for the guide by device or repair type
4. Click Attach
5. Guide appears in ticket attachments for the entire team to reference

When to attach:

• Technician is unsure about a repair procedure
• Device model has a complex disassembly
• New technician needs step-by-step guidance
• For QC — verify repair was done per iFixit procedures

Viewing Attached Guides

Team members can:

1. Click the guide link in ticket attachments
2. View full guide (photos, steps, warnings)
3. Mark steps as complete (if integrating with work log)
4. Return to ticket

Guides open in a side panel so you don’t lose your place in the ticket.

AI-Powered Guide Recommendations

When KB Chat is enabled with an AI add-on or Enterprise AI:

Automatic Suggestions

As you document repair work in the ticket:

1. Write diagnostics findings or repair steps
2. AI analyzes the issue and device type
3. Automatically suggests relevant iFixit guides
4. Suggestions appear as cards: “Did you find this helpful?”

Example:

• Tech writes: “Water damage, trying to clean components”
• AI suggests: “iPhone 14 Pro: Water Damage Repair” guide
• Tech clicks to view step-by-step procedure

Manual Guide Lookup

1. Click Suggest Guides in the ticket
2. AI searches iFixit library for device + issue
3. Shows top 5 most relevant guides with relevance score
4. Click Attach on any guide

Caching for Fast Access

iFixit guides are cached locally in RepairOps:

Benefits:

• Guides load instantly (no external API call needed)
• Offline access (if internet is down, cached guides still available)
• Faster searching
• Reduced load on iFixit servers

Cache refresh:

• Automatic weekly sync (every Sunday at 2 AM)
• Manual sync available: Settings → Plugins → iFixit → Sync Now
• Cache is shop-scoped (each shop has its own local copy)

What’s cached:

• Full guide content (text, photos, video)
• Search index (for fast full-text search)
• Metadata (difficulty, time, tools required)

Integration with KB Chat

iFixit guides complement your internal Knowledge Base:

How They Work Together

• Internal KB — Your shop’s procedures, policies, device-specific lessons learned
• iFixit guides — Manufacturer repair procedures, step-by-step official instructions

When a technician asks KB Chat a question:

1. Chat searches your internal KB first
2. If relevant guide found in KB, returns it
3. Also suggests relevant iFixit guides
4. Technician can see both perspectives

Example:

• Question: “How do I replace a MacBook battery?”
• KB Chat returns:
  • Your internal article: “MacBook battery safety tips” (your shop’s experience)
  • iFixit guide: “MacBook Pro 16-inch: Battery Replacement” (official procedure)

Configuration

License Setup

To use iFixit guides, you need an iFixit Commercial License:

1. Contact iFixit: commercial@ifixit.com
2. Obtain commercial license (license key)
3. In RepairOps: Settings → Plugins → iFixit
4. Paste license key
5. Click Authorize
6. First sync begins automatically

License covers:

• Up to 1,000 guides per month
• All 70,000+ guides in library
• 2-year commercial license
• Support for embedded guide viewing

Search Settings

Customize search behavior:

1. Settings → Guides → iFixit Search
2. Select preferred device categories:
   • Phones, Tablets, Computers, Game Consoles, etc.
3. Set difficulty filter:
   • Show all difficulties (default)
   • Hide very difficult guides (only show Easy/Medium/Hard)
   • Show only “Easy” guides (curated for first-timers)
4. Set time limit (optional):
   • Hide guides > 2 hours duration
   • Useful for high-volume shops with time constraints
5. Save

Offline Access

If your internet goes down, cached guides remain accessible:

1. Guides → iFixit Repair Library
2. Previously viewed guides are available
3. Offline indicator appears in search
4. Note: Search may be limited to recently cached guides

Note: New guides can’t be downloaded until internet is restored.

Analytics & Usage

Track how often guides are used:

1. Analytics → Guides
2. View:
   • Top 10 most-referenced guides
   • Guides by device category
   • Guides by repair type
   • Growth trend (month-over-month)

Use cases:

• Identify common repair types your shop handles
• Focus training on guides you use most
• Spot skill gaps (guides accessed frequently but with low QC pass rate)

Tier Availability

Feature	Pro	Enterprise
Search iFixit library	✓	✓
Attach guides to tickets	✓	✓
View full guides	✓	✓
Local caching	✓	✓
Auto-update weekly	✓	✓
AI-powered recommendations	✓*	✓
KB Chat integration	✓*	✓
Analytics/usage tracking	✓	✓

*Requires an AI add-on or Enterprise AI

Best Practices

Attach guides early — If you’re unsure about a procedure, attach the iFixit guide immediately rather than working from memory.

Use for onboarding — New technicians benefit from seeing official procedures. Attach the guide and have them follow along on their first repair.

Compare to internal KB — If your internal KB differs from iFixit procedure, discuss the difference. You may be doing something better, or the iFixit procedure may be safer.

Track guide usage — Monitor the analytics. If a guide is accessed 10 times per month, document why and consider adding context in your internal KB.

Leverage AI suggestions — Let AI recommend guides. They may surface procedures you weren’t thinking of.

Troubleshooting

Can’t find a guide for my device

• Try searching by parent category (e.g., “iPhone” instead of “iPhone 14 Pro”)
• Try repair type instead of device name
• Check iFixit online (ifixit.com) to confirm guide exists

Guide content looks outdated

• Guides are synced weekly, but iFixit may not have updated their guide
• Report to iFixit directly at support@ifixit.com
• In meantime, use your internal KB as the source of truth

License expired

• Guides stop working
• Contact iFixit to renew license
• Email iFixit your license key to activate renewal

Related Features

• Knowledge Base — Complement iFixit with internal procedures
• KB Chat — AI integrates iFixit guides into search results
• Analytics — Track guide usage by technician and device