About STEP Diagnostics
STEP began with a simple observation: mechanics often have access to a large amount of technical information, but information alone does not create a clear diagnostic process.
During a difficult diagnosis, a technician may need to keep track of the customer's concern, symptoms, diagnostic trouble codes, the exact vehicle configuration, test results, diagrams, connectors, specifications, and several possible directions at the same time. Those details often live across different documents and screens. Context can be lost, checks can be skipped, and the job can drift into replacing parts before the fault has been demonstrated.
Information and workflow serve different purposes
Repair-information products such as ALLDATA and Mitchell 1 provide extensive access to service procedures, diagnostic trouble code information, technical service bulletins, wiring diagrams, specifications, search tools, and known fixes. These are important and established information products.
STEP is not being built to replace them. STEP is focused on organizing the diagnostic work itself: the vehicle and concern that started the case, the facts already established, the next check to perform, the result of that check, and the reason the diagnostic direction changed.
What STEP is building
The goal is a guided and traceable workflow that helps a technician:
- capture the vehicle, concern, symptoms, DTCs, and operating context;
- separate observations and confirmed results from assumptions;
- work through one testable branch at a time;
- preserve the result of each check instead of losing it between screens;
- connect the case to relevant diagnostic information when it is available and authorized; and
- reassess the next step as new evidence is recorded.
The technician remains responsible for interpreting the evidence, selecting the appropriate test, and making the diagnostic and repair decision. STEP does not give an AI system independent authority to declare the cause of a fault.
Current status
STEP is a working prototype supported by an evolving production foundation. The project includes a conversational diagnostic intake, structured case state, required-context checks, a reviewed summary and handoff, authenticated organization boundaries, tenant-scoped persistent storage, durable provider operations, recovery behavior, and controlled MOTOR integration work for diagnostic information.
Development is continuing on the one-step-at-a-time guided diagnostic procedure, controlled source preparation, broader validated vehicle coverage, and production operating evidence. STEP is not yet a generally available production diagnostic service. Early access is being prepared with technicians and repair businesses who want to help test and shape the workflow.
Where STEP is based
STEP Diagnostics is a project based in North Carolina, USA, with an international audience. The public name is STEP Diagnostics while the legal business structure is being established.
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