CookBot HelpAI Assistant

A comprehensive guide to CookBot - your terminal-based AI assistant for cooking and recipe management.

What is CookBot?

CookBot is an AI-powered terminal application designed for home cooks, meal planners, and recipe enthusiasts who want to manage their recipe collection efficiently. Built on the Cooklang format, it combines the power of Claude AI with a modern terminal user interface to help you:

Releases are available on GitHub.

• Organize and browse your recipe collection
• Create intelligent meal plans based on your preferences
• Generate shopping lists from recipes
• Import recipes from the web
• Convert recipes to the Cooklang format
• Search and discover new recipes
• Personalize with a COOK.md preferences file

Who is CookBot for?

• Home cooks who want to organize their recipes digitally
• Meal planners who need help creating varied weekly menus
• Cooklang users who want AI-powered assistance with their recipes
• Tech-savvy food enthusiasts comfortable with terminal applications
• Anyone looking to streamline their cooking workflow

Architecture Overview

CookBot uses a client-server architecture:

• TUI Client: A lightweight terminal interface that runs locally on your machine
• Backend Server: Handles AI processing, web searches, and recipe conversions
• Your recipes stay on your local machine - only queries are sent to the server

Features Summary

AI-Powered Chat Interface

CookBot provides a conversational interface powered by Claude AI. The assistant understands:

• Cooklang format - Full knowledge of the recipe markup language
• Your recipe collection - Can browse, search, and analyze your files
• Cooking context - Understands ingredients, techniques, and meal planning
• Your preferences - Learns from COOK.md custom instructions

Recipe Management

• Browse recipes: View your collection organized by category
• View recipes: Display formatted recipes with ingredients and steps
• Search: Find recipes by ingredient, name, or any content
• Create: Write new recipes in Cooklang format
• Edit: Modify existing recipes with AI assistance

Meal Planning

• Weekly plans: Create .menu files with recipes for each day
• Variety checks: AI avoids repeating cuisines or proteins
• Scaling: Adjust servings based on your household size
• Leftover planning: Optimize for cooking once, eating multiple times

Shopping Lists

• Add recipes: Build a shopping list from multiple recipes
• Scale quantities: Adjust ingredient amounts per recipe
• Aggregate ingredients: Combine quantities from different recipes
• Clear and manage: Easy list management commands

Recipe Import

• URL import: Convert web recipes to Cooklang format
• Text conversion: Paste any recipe text for conversion
• AI-powered: Smart extraction of ingredients and steps

Web Search

• Recipe discovery: Find new recipes online
• Top-rated results: Searches prioritize highly-rated recipes
• Direct import: Import found recipes directly to your collection

Personalization (COOK.md)

Create a COOK.md file in your recipes directory to teach CookBot your preferences:

• Dietary restrictions: Allergies, intolerances, or foods to avoid
• Cooking style: Preferred measurements, cuisines, or techniques
• Household size: Default serving sizes for meal planning
• Custom rules: Any instructions for recipe suggestions and planning