Meal Add

/meal-add — Recipe Intake

Naming note: Skills in this family use meal-* (noun-first) rather than the verb-first convention. This is intentional: the meal- prefix groups all Meal OS slash commands together in discovery and matches how users type them (/meal-add, /meal-flyer, etc.).

Add a recipe to the Meal OS rotation by pasting recipe text from any website.

Announce at start: "Adding recipe to Meal OS..."

Step 1: Get Recipe Text

The user should paste recipe text along with the /meal-add command. If no recipe text is provided, ask:

"Please paste the recipe text (copy from any recipe website). Include the URL if you have it."

Step 2: Load References

Read these files in parallel:

2a. Household Config

Read data/config.yaml to get the user's diet, excluded ingredients, and thresholds.

If the file does not exist: Stop and tell the user: "data/config.yaml is missing. Run /meal-setup first to initialize the project, then re-run /meal-add."

2b. Canonical Ingredients

Read data/canonical-ingredients.yaml from the project root. This is a read-only reference of core rotation ingredients — do NOT add new entries to this file. It defines the stable set of ingredients the family regularly uses.

If the file does not exist: Stop and tell the user: "data/canonical-ingredients.yaml is missing. Run /meal-setup first to initialize the project, then re-run /meal-add."

Step 3: Parse the Recipe

Extract from the pasted text:

• Recipe name — the title of the recipe
• Source URL — if present in the pasted text, extract it. If not, leave blank.
• Servings — number of servings (default to 4 if not stated)
• Prep time, cook time, total time — extract if present. Format as "X min" or "X hr Y min".
• Ingredients list — each ingredient with quantity, unit, and description
• Instructions — numbered steps, simplified and cleaned

Minimal recipe handling: If the pasted text contains only an ingredient list with no instructions (or instructions that are a single vague sentence like "cook and serve"):

• Save what's there — do not discard the recipe
• Set instructions: minimal in the frontmatter
• Leave the ## Instructions section with whatever was provided (even if just "See original source")
• Note in the Step 9 confirm output: "Instructions were minimal — fill in steps after you make it."

Cleaning rules:

• Strip HTML tags, ad copy, newsletter signup text, "Jump to Recipe" buttons
• Remove duplicate lines
• Normalize fractions (½ → 1/2)
• Remove "Notes:" sections that are editorial (keep cooking tips if useful)

Step 4: Normalize Ingredients

For each ingredient in the recipe:

1. Match against canonical-ingredients.yaml — look for the closest canonical ID. Use the ingredient name, not the quantity/modifier. Examples:

   • "1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs" → chicken_thigh
   • "2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil" → olive_oil
   • "1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained" → chickpea
   • "3 cloves garlic, minced" → garlic
   • "1 cup baby spinach" → spinach

2. Non-canonical ingredients — if an ingredient is not in canonical-ingredients.yaml:

   • Do NOT modify canonical-ingredients.yaml — it is a read-only reference of core rotation ingredients.
   • Instead, list these as extra_ingredients in the recipe frontmatter. Use a human-readable name (not a snake_case ID). Include the quantity from the recipe.
   • These will flow through to shopping lists directly from the recipe's ## Ingredients section.
   • Skip trivial items (water, salt, pepper, cooking spray) — don't list these as extras.

3. Determine the primary protein — set the protein frontmatter field to the main protein's canonical ID (e.g., chicken_thigh, salmon, chickpea). If the protein isn't in the canonical list, use the protein name in plain text. If no clear protein, set to none.

Step 5: Validate

Run these checks and report findings:

Excluded Ingredient Check

For each ingredient in excluded_ingredients from data/config.yaml:

• If any recipe ingredient matches (in any form — e.g., for "tuna": canned tuna, tuna steak, ahi tuna):
• Stop and ask the user: "This recipe contains [ingredient], which is excluded in your config. Add anyway, or discard?"
• If user says discard, stop. If user says add, continue with a warnings: [contains-[ingredient]] field in frontmatter.

Diet Check

Read the diet field from data/config.yaml. If a diet is configured (not none), check whether the recipe contains ingredients that clearly conflict with that diet style. For example, for mediterranean: heavy cream, pork, bacon, butter as primary fat, non-olive cooking oils in large quantities.

• Add a warnings: [non-[diet]] field in frontmatter
• Note in output: "This recipe may not fit the [diet] diet — contains [ingredient]. Added with a warning tag."
• Still save the recipe — the user decides.

Ingredient Count Check

Read ingredient_thresholds.target from data/config.yaml. Count the number of unique canonical ingredients. If the count exceeds the target:

• Warn: "This recipe has N unique ingredients (target is ≤[target]). It may be complex for the weekly rotation."
• Still save the recipe.

Step 6: Preview and Confirm

Show the user a preview before writing anything:

Ready to save recipe:

  Name: [Recipe Name]
  Protein: [protein canonical ID]
  Canonical ingredients ([N]): [list of IDs]
  Extra ingredients ([N]): [list of non-canonical items needed for shopping]
  Tags: [tag list]
  Warnings: [any warnings or "none"]

Save? (yes / no / edit ingredient mappings)

• If no: stop, do not write any files.
• If edit ingredient mappings: ask the user to specify corrections ("change 'lemon_zest' to 'lemon'"), apply them, then re-show the preview.
• If yes: continue to Step 7.

Step 7: Generate Slug and Check for Collisions

Generate a filename slug from the recipe name:

• Lowercase, kebab-case
• Remove special characters
• Example: "Lemon-Garlic Chicken with Green Beans" → lemon-garlic-chicken-with-green-beans

Check if data/recipes/<slug>.md already exists:

• If it exists, warn the user: "A recipe with this name already exists at data/recipes/.md. Overwrite (will lose any existing ratings), rename, or cancel?"
• Never silently overwrite — ratings data in the existing file could be lost.

Step 8: Write the Recipe File

Ensure the directory exists: run mkdir -p data/recipes via Bash before writing.

Write to data/recipes/<slug>.md using this exact format:

---
name: [Recipe Name]
source: [URL or blank]
servings: [number]
prep_time: [X min]
cook_time: [X min]
total_time: [X min]
protein: [canonical_id]
canonical_ingredients:
  - [canonical_id_1]
  - [canonical_id_2]
  - [canonical_id_3]
extra_ingredients:
  - [non-canonical item 1, e.g., "whole-wheat pasta"]
  - [non-canonical item 2, e.g., "Parmesan cheese"]
tags: [[diet from config], relevant-tags]
rating:
date_added: [YYYY-MM-DD]
---

## Ingredients

- [original quantity and ingredient text, one per line]

## Instructions

1. [Step 1]
2. [Step 2]
3. [Step 3]

## Ratings

- **Score:** /5
- **Would make again:**
- **Actual cook time:**
- **Estimated cost:**
- **Notes:**

Frontmatter field rules:

• canonical_ingredients — list only IDs that exist in canonical-ingredients.yaml, sorted alphabetically
• extra_ingredients — list non-canonical ingredients by human-readable name (these flow to the shopping list from the Ingredients section). Omit trivial pantry basics (water, salt, pepper, cooking spray). If empty, omit the field entirely.
• tags — always include the diet value from data/config.yaml (e.g., mediterranean). Add relevant tags: one-pan, sheet-pan, weeknight, salad, soup, bowl, batch-prep, quick (≤30 min total), slow (>60 min total)
• rating — leave blank (user fills in manually after cooking)
• date_added — today's date in YYYY-MM-DD format

Step 9: Confirm

Output a summary:

Recipe saved: data/recipes/<slug>.md

  Name: [Recipe Name]
  Protein: [protein display name]
  Canonical ingredients: [N] ([list of IDs])
  Extra ingredients: [N] ([list of non-canonical items, or "none"])
  Tags: [tag list]
  Warnings: [any warnings, or "none"]

Review the file to verify ingredient mappings are correct.