---

name: recip-ez description: Markdown-first recipe management with OCR ingestion, local search, meal planning, and shopping list generation. Use when organizing recipes, planning meals, or creating shopping lists. homepage: https://github.com/USER/recip_ez metadata: moltbot: emoji: 🍳 requires: bins: - python3 - sqlite3 - qmd env: - MISTRAL_API_KEY

Recip-EZ: Recipe Management System

A complete markdown-first recipe management system with OCR, local search, meal planning, and shopping list generation.

Quick Start

# Initialize in current directory
python scripts/recipe_ingest.py --help

# Import a PDF recipe
python scripts/recipe_ingest.py pdf path/to/recipe.pdf --category dinners --name "recipe-slug"

# Sync to database
python scripts/recipe_sync_db.py

# Create meal plan
python scripts/recipe_plan.py --recipes recipe1 recipe2 --week $(date +%Y-W%V)

Core Workflows

1. Import Recipe from PDF

# Put PDF in intake folder
mkdir -p 00_intake
mv ~/Downloads/recipe.pdf 00_intake/

# Import with OCR (extracts text and images)
python scripts/recipe_ingest.py pdf \
  "00_intake/recipe.pdf" \
  --category dinners \
  --name "chicken-curry"

# Creates: recipes/dinners/chicken-curry/
#   ├── chicken-curry.md       (markdown with frontmatter)
#   ├── chicken-curry.pdf      (original preserved)
#   └── chicken-curry-img-*.jpg (extracted images)

2. Edit Recipe Frontmatter

After import, edit the markdown file to add structured data:

---
title: Chicken Curry
description: Creamy Indian-style curry
type: dinner
prep_time: 15
cook_time: 30
servings: 4
ingredients:
  - name: chicken breast
    quantity: "1 lb"
    unit: lb
  - name: curry powder
    quantity: "2 tbsp"
    unit: tbsp
notes: |
  Kids loved this! Can reduce spice for children.
tags: [indian, curry, chicken, comfort-food]
---

3. Sync to Database

After editing recipes:

python scripts/recipe_sync_db.py
qmd update  # Updates search index

This creates a SQLite database (recipes.db) with normalized ingredients for searching.

4. Search Recipes

Keyword search (fast, BM25):

qmd search "spicy chicken" -c juliana-recipes

Ingredient search (SQL):

# Find recipes with chicken
sqlite3 recipes.db "
SELECT title FROM recipes r
JOIN ingredients i ON r.id = i.recipe_id
WHERE i.name LIKE '%chicken%'
"

# Find recipes with BOTH chicken AND rice
sqlite3 recipes.db "
SELECT r.title
FROM recipes r
JOIN ingredients i ON r.id = i.recipe_id
WHERE i.name IN ('chicken', 'rice')
GROUP BY r.id
HAVING COUNT(DISTINCT i.name) = 2
"

5. Generate Meal Plan

# Get current week number
THIS_WEEK=$(date +%Y-W%V)

# Generate plan with shopping list
python scripts/recipe_plan.py \
  --recipes chicken-curry mac-and-cheese tofu-stir-fry \
  --week $THIS_WEEK

# View the plan
cat meal-plans/${THIS_WEEK}-meal-plan.md

The meal plan includes:

• Shopping list (deduplicated, organized by category)
• Weekly schedule (day-by-day assignments)
• Full recipes (all details included)

6. Export to PDF (Optional)

# Export meal plan for printing
python scripts/recipe_export_pdf.py \
  meal-plans/${THIS_WEEK}-meal-plan.md \
  --style meal-plan

# Export single recipe
python scripts/recipe_export_pdf.py \
  recipes/dinners/chicken-curry/chicken-curry.md \
  --style recipe-card

Directory Structure

project/
├── 00_intake/              # PDFs waiting to import
├── recipes/                # Recipe library (source of truth)
│   ├── breakfasts/
│   ├── lunches/
│   ├── dinners/
│   ├── snacks/
│   └── desserts/
├── meal-plans/             # Generated weekly plans
├── scripts/                # Tools (from this skill)
├── recipes.db              # SQLite (ingredient queries)
└── .env                    # MISTRAL_API_KEY

Import Methods

From PDF (with OCR)

python scripts/recipe_ingest.py pdf FILE.pdf --category TYPE --name "slug"

From Image

python scripts/recipe_ingest.py image FILE.jpg --category TYPE --name "slug"

From JSON

# JSON format: [{"title": "...", "ingredients": [...], ...}]
python scripts/recipe_ingest.py json recipes.json --category TYPE

Interactive Entry

python scripts/recipe_ingest.py interactive --category TYPE
# Prompts for all fields

Key Features

• Markdown-first: All recipes in editable text files
• OCR ingestion: Extract text from PDFs/images (Mistral API)
• Local search: Fast BM25 search via qmd (embeddinggemma-300M)
• Ingredient database: SQLite for "recipes with X" queries
• Smart shopping: Deduplicated lists organized by category
• 100% local: No cloud services except OCR during import
• Git-friendly: Text-based source of truth

Requirements

Python packages:

pip install pypdf pyyaml mistralai markdown weasyprint

System tools:

• qmd - Local search engine (https://github.com/tobi/qmd)
• sqlite3 - Built into Python
• WeasyPrint deps (for PDF export):
  • macOS: brew install cairo pango gdk-pixbuf libffi
  • Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install libcairo2 libpango-1.0-0 libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0

API keys:

• MISTRAL_API_KEY - For OCR (only used during import)

Database Schema

recipes table:

id, slug, filepath, title, type, prep_time, cook_time, servings, date_added

ingredients table:

id, recipe_id, name, quantity, unit, optional

Normalized ingredient names enable queries like "all recipes with tofu".

Tips

After importing: Always edit the frontmatter to add ingredients, times, and notes.

Batch import:

for pdf in 00_intake/*.pdf; do
  name=$(basename "$pdf" .pdf | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | tr ' ' '-')
  python scripts/recipe_ingest.py pdf "$pdf" --category dinners --name "$name"
done

Weekly routine:

1. Monday: Search for recipes → generate meal plan
2. Print meal plan → post on fridge
3. Use shopping list at grocery store
4. During week: Add notes to recipes about what worked

Backup: The recipes/ directory is your source of truth. Back it up regularly.

Troubleshooting

OCR fails: Check MISTRAL_API_KEY in .env file

Search not finding recipes: Run python scripts/recipe_sync_db.py && qmd update

PDF export fails: Install WeasyPrint system dependencies

Database out of sync: Re-run python scripts/recipe_sync_db.py --verbose

Advanced Usage

Custom frontmatter fields: Add any fields you want (difficulty, kid_approved, etc.)

Recipe ratings: Add rating: 5 to frontmatter, then search with qmd search "rating: 5"

Seasonal tags: Tag recipes with seasons, search with qmd search "summer"

Cost tracking: Add cost: low to frontmatter for budget planning

Files Provided

This skill includes:

• scripts/recipe_ingest.py - Import recipes from PDFs, images, JSON, or interactively
• scripts/recipe_sync_db.py - Sync markdown frontmatter to SQLite
• scripts/recipe_plan.py - Generate weekly meal plans with shopping lists
• scripts/recipe_export_pdf.py - Export to styled PDFs
• scripts/ocr.py - Mistral OCR wrapper
• references/README.md - Full user manual
• references/QUICKSTART.md - 10-minute getting started guide
• references/COMMANDS.md - Command reference sheet