mvanhorn Open Food Facts - Printing Press CLI
Prerequisites: Install the CLI
This skill drives the open-food-facts-pp-cli binary. You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill. If it is missing, install it first:
- Install via the Printing Press installer. It defaults binaries to
$HOME/.local/binon macOS/Linux and%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PrintingPress\binon Windows:npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press-library install open-food-facts --cli-only - Verify:
open-food-facts-pp-cli --version - Ensure the reported install directory is on
$PATHfor the agent/runtime that will invoke this skill.
If the npx install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.26.6 or newer). This installs into $GOPATH/bin (default $HOME/go/bin), so add that directory to $PATH instead:
go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/food-and-dining/open-food-facts/cmd/open-food-facts-pp-cli@latest
If --version reports "command not found" after install, the runtime cannot see the binary directory on $PATH. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.
When To Use
Use open-food-facts-pp-cli when an agent needs source-backed Open Food Facts data:
- Fetch a product by barcode with source URL, identity, labels, countries, Nutri-Score, NOVA, Eco-Score, nutriments, and data-quality tags.
- Run bounded structured product search by category, brand, country, label, or nutrition grade.
- Summarize nutrition facts for one known barcode.
- Inspect ingredients, allergens, traces, additives, and data-quality tags for one known barcode.
- Compare a small set of barcode records without hiding per-product fetch errors.
- Fetch a small category sample and preserve Open Food Facts data caveats.
When Not To Use
- Do not use it for product edits, image uploads, account login, or session workflows.
- Do not use it for bulk harvesting or local database sync; use Open Food Facts CSV or JSONL exports for bulk access.
- Do not build search-as-you-type loops against the live API.
- Do not treat nutrition, ingredient, or allergen output as medical or dietary advice.
- Do not claim Open Food Facts data is complete, accurate, or authoritative.
Setup
No API key is required for read operations.
The module declares go 1.26.4 so environments with Go toolchain auto-download disabled should use Go 1.26.4 or newer for direct installs.
Open Food Facts asks every API client to send a custom User-Agent in the form AppName/Version (ContactEmail). Configure a request identity before regular or frequent use:
export OPEN_FOOD_FACTS_USER_AGENT="my-food-tool/1.0"
export OPEN_FOOD_FACTS_CONTACT_EMAIL="you@example.org"
Optional local/staging override:
export OPEN_FOOD_FACTS_BASE_URL="https://world.openfoodfacts.org"
Keep live usage within Open Food Facts' documented limits: 15 product read requests per minute per IP address, 10 search requests per minute per IP address, and no live API bulk harvesting.
Recipes
Product Lookup
open-food-facts-pp-cli product 3017620422003 --agent
Use this when the workflow has a barcode and needs compact product identity, source URL, Nutri-Score/NOVA/Eco-Score fields, ingredient/allergen tags, nutriments, and data-quality caveats.
Structured Search
open-food-facts-pp-cli search --category "breakfast cereals" --country "united-states" --page-size 5 --agent
Use this for bounded candidate discovery. Prefer structured filters over plain terms because Open Food Facts documents structured search in API v2 and does not provide full-text search in v2/v3 server-side APIs.
Nutrition Summary
open-food-facts-pp-cli nutrition 3017620422003 --agent
Use this when a workflow needs nutriment fields, serving basis, Nutri-Score, NOVA, Eco-Score, source URL, and data-quality tags for one barcode.
Allergens And Ingredients
open-food-facts-pp-cli allergens 3017620422003 --agent
Use this to inspect ingredient text, ingredient analysis tags, allergens, traces, additives, and data-quality tags. Keep the caveat that records are community-contributed.
Small Product Comparison
open-food-facts-pp-cli compare 3017620422003 5449000000996 --agent
Use this for side-by-side comparison of two to five barcodes. The command returns successful products plus per-barcode errors when a lookup fails.
Category Sample
open-food-facts-pp-cli category "breakfast cereals" --page-size 5 --agent
Use this to fetch a small product sample for a category through structured search. Do not page through many results as a bulk backend.
Source Coverage
open-food-facts-pp-cli sources --agent
open-food-facts-pp-cli doctor --agent
Use these before larger workflows to confirm read-only posture, optional request identity, configured base URL, documented rate limits, and non-goals.