Cookcli
Recipe Management CLI + embedded web-server in one binary
Install / Use
/learn @cooklang/CookcliREADME
CookCLI
Command line tools for working with Cooklang recipes.
🎯 Quick Install
# macOS/Linux (Homebrew)
brew install cookcli
# Download binary (all platforms)
# Visit: https://github.com/cooklang/CookCLI/releases
📋 Table of Contents
- What is CookCLI?
- Getting Started
- Installation
- Commands
- Documentation
- Configuration
- Tips
- Contributing
- Contributors
- License
- Support
📖 What is CookCLI?
CookCLI provides a suite of commands to create shopping lists, reports and maintain recipes. We've built it to be simple and useful for automating your cooking and shopping routine with existing UNIX command line and scripting tools. It can also function as a webserver for your recipes, making them browsable on any device with a web browser.
Try the web interface live at demo.cooklang.org
✨ Features
- 🔧 UNIX Philosophy - Integrate your Cooklang recipes with other tools
- 📝 Meal Planning - Script meal planning and shopping
- 📊 Reports - Evaluate your recipes or menus with custom reports
- 🌐 Web Interface - Browse recipes from any device
- 🛒 Smart Shopping - Generate organized shopping lists
- 🔍 Recipe Search - Find recipes quickly
- 📦 Pantry Tracking - Manage inventory and expiration dates
🚀 Getting Started
First, install CookCLI using one of the methods below. CookCLI comes with a few sample recipes to play with:
$ cook seed
$ cook recipe "Neapolitan Pizza.cook"
This displays the recipe in a human-readable format:
Neapolitan Pizza
source: https://www.stadlermade.com/how-to-pizza-dough/neapolitan/
servings: 6
Ingredients:
semolina
Pizza Dough (recipe: Shared/Pizza Dough) 6 balls
flour
semolina
San Marzano tomato sauce 5 tbsp
basil leaves
mozzarella cheese 100 grams
Cookware:
outdoor oven
spatula
Steps:
1. Preheat your outdoor oven so it’s around 450/500°C (842/932°F).
[-]
2. Prepare your pizza toppings because from now on you wanna work fast.
Sprinkle some semolina on your work surface.
[semolina]
...
Create a shopping list from multiple recipes:
$ cook -v shopping-list "Neapolitan Pizza.cook" "./Breakfast/Easy Pancakes.cook""
Plan your meals with a menu file (Weekly Plan.menu):
---
servings: 2
---
==Saturday==
Breakfast: \
- @oats{1%cup} with @milk{1/2%cup} and @honey{1%tbsp}
Lunch: \
- @./lamb-chops{}
Dinner: \
- @./Neapolitan Pizza{}
==Sunday==
Breakfast: \
- @./Breakfast/Easy Pancakes{} with @maple syrup{2%tbsp}
Lunch: \
- @./Salads/Caprese{}
Dinner: \
- @./Risotto{}
Menu files let you reference recipes and inline ingredients, plan by day and meal, and generate a combined shopping list for the whole plan.
Or start the web server to browse your recipes:
$ cook server --open
Listening on http://127.0.0.1:9080
Serving Web UI on http://localhost:9080
Serving recipe files from: "/Users/chefalexey/recipes"
📦 Installation
Download Binary
Download the latest release for your platform from the releases page and add it to your PATH.
macOS/Linux
Using Homebrew:
brew install cookcli
Install with Cargo
If you have Rust installed:
cargo install cookcli
Build from Source
You'll need Rust and Node.js installed. Then:
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/cooklang/CookCLI.git
cd CookCLI
# Install frontend dependencies
npm install
# Build CSS (required for web UI)
npm run build-css
# Build the CLI with web UI
cargo build --release
# Binary will be at target/release/cook
Building without Self-Update
By default, CookCLI includes a self-update feature. To build without this feature (useful for CI/CD pipelines, package managers, or environments where auto-update is not desired):
# Build without self-update feature
cargo build --release --no-default-features
# This disables the 'self-update' feature flag while keeping all other functionality
Development Setup
For development with hot-reload of CSS changes:
# Install dependencies
npm install
# In one terminal, watch CSS changes
npm run watch-css
# In another terminal, run the development server
cargo run -- server ./seed
# Or use the Makefile
make dev_server # Builds CSS and starts server
🛠 Commands
CookCLI follows the UNIX philosophy: each command does one thing well.
cook recipe
Parse and display recipe files. You can view them in different formats and scale quantities.
# View a recipe
cook recipe "Pasta Carbonara.cook"
# Scale a recipe to 2x
cook recipe "Pizza.cook:2"
# Output as JSON
cook recipe "Soup.cook" -f json
# Save as Markdown
cook recipe "Cake.cook" -f markdown > cake.md
cook shopping-list
Generate shopping lists from one or more recipes. Ingredients are automatically combined and organized by store section.
# Single recipe
cook shopping-list "Dinner.cook"
# Multiple recipes with scaling
cook shopping-list "Pasta.cook:3" "Salad.cook"
# All recipes in a directory
cook shopping-list *.cook
cook server
Run a web server to browse your recipes from any device.
# Start on localhost
cook server
# Allow access from other devices on your network
cook server --host
# Use a different port
cook server --port 8080
# Open browser immideately
cook server --open
cook search
Find recipes by searching through ingredients, instructions, and metadata.
# Search for recipes with chicken
cook search chicken
# Find quick recipes
cook search "30 minutes"
# Search in specific directory
cook search -b ~/recipes pasta
cook import
Import recipes from websites and convert them to Cooklang format. Requires
OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable set.
# Import a recipe
cook import https://www.example.com/recipe > recipe.cook
# Import without conversion
cook import https://www.example.com/recipe --skip-conversion
cook doctor
Check your recipe collection for issues and maintain consistency.
# Validate all recipes and display parsing errors
cook doctor validate
# Check aisle configuration for shopping lists
cook doctor aisle
# Check pantry configuration
cook doctor pantry
# Run all checks
cook doctor
cook seed
Add sample recipes to explore Cooklang features.
# Add to current directory
cook seed
# Add to specific directory
cook seed ~/my-recipes
cook report
Generate custom outputs using templates (experimental feature).
# Generate a recipe card
cook report -t recipe-card.md.jinja recipe.cook
# Create nutrition label
cook report -t nutrition.html.jinja recipe.cook
cook pantry
Manage your pantry inventory, track low stock items, expiring ingredients, and find recipes you can make.
# Show items that are low or out of stock
cook pantry depleted
# Check expiring items in the next 7 days
cook pantry expiring
# Find recipes you can make with available ingredients
cook pantry recipes
# Include partial matches (recipes where most ingredients are available)
cook pantry recipes --partial --threshold 60
# Output in machine-readable formats
cook pantry -f json depleted
cook pantry -f yaml expiring --days 14
📚 Documentation
Detailed documentation for each command is available in the docs/ directory:
- Recipe command - viewing and converting recipes
- Shopping lists - creating shopping lists
- Server - web interface
- Search - finding recipes
- Import - importing from websites
- Doctor - validation and maintenance
- Seed - example recipes
- Report - custom outputs
- Pantry - inventory management and tracking
⚙️ Configuration
CookCLI looks for configuration files in:
./config/- in your recipe directory (highest priority)~/.config/cooklang/- in your home directory (fallback)~/Library/Application Support/cook/- on macOS (fallback)
Configuration files:
aisle.conf- Organizes ingredients by store sectionpantry.conf- Tracks your ingredient inventory with quantities
Aisle Configuration (aisle.conf)
Organizes ingredients by store section for shopping lists. Items not in any category will appear under "Other".
[produce]
tomatoes|tomato
basil|basil leaves
garlic
onions
[dairy]
milk
cheese
yogurt
butter
[pantry]
flour
sugar
pasta
rice
olive oil
[meat]
chicken
beef
pork
[bakery]
bread
rolls
Pantry Configuration (pantry.conf)
Tracks your ingredient inventory with quantities, expiration dates, and low stock th
