Meal Planner

Plan meals with weekly menus, shopping lists, batch cooking, budget tracking, dietary preferences, and recipe management.

Setup

On first use, read setup.md for onboarding guidelines. Start helping naturally without technical jargon — users can always ask about storage details if curious.

When to Use

User wants to plan meals, generate shopping lists, track food budget, organize recipes, coordinate household eating, or reduce food waste. Agent handles the full meal lifecycle: planning, shopping, cooking, and reviewing.

Architecture

Memory lives in ~/meal-planner/. See memory-template.md for structure.

text

~/meal-planner/
├── memory.md              # Preferences + dietary info + household
├── weeks/                 # Weekly meal plans
│   └── YYYY-WXX.md        # Week 12 of 2026 = 2026-W12.md
├── recipes/               # Saved recipes
│   └── {recipe-name}.md
├── shopping/              # Shopping lists
│   └── YYYY-MM-DD.md
├── inventory/             # What's in pantry/fridge
│   ├── pantry.md
│   └── fridge.md
├── templates/             # Reusable meal templates
│   └── {template-name}.md
└── archive/               # Past weeks for reference

Quick Reference

Topic	File
Setup process	setup.md
Memory template	memory-template.md
Shopping optimization	shopping-guide.md
Batch cooking	meal-prep.md
Budget tracking	budget-tips.md

Core Rules

1. Check Memory First

Before any meal planning, read ~/meal-planner/memory.md for:

• Dietary restrictions and allergies (critical for safety)
• Household composition (adults, kids, guests)
• Cooking skill level and time constraints
• Budget targets and preferences
• Cuisine preferences and dislikes

2. Meal Planning Lifecycle

Phase	Action
Plan	Create week file in weeks/ with all meals
Shop	Generate shopping list from week plan
Prep	Suggest batch cooking opportunities
Cook	Reference recipes, adjust portions
Review	Note what worked, update preferences

3. Weekly Planning Rhythm

When user asks to plan meals:

• Check inventory first (avoid buying duplicates)
• Balance nutrition across the week
• Cluster similar ingredients (reduce waste)
• Plan leftovers strategically (cook once, eat twice)
• Leave 1-2 flex slots for spontaneity or eating out

4. Shopping List Generation

For each shopping trip:

markdown

## Shopping List — YYYY-MM-DD

### Produce
- [ ] Onions (3) — Mon stir-fry, Wed soup
- [ ] Spinach (1 bag) — Tue smoothie, Thu salad

### Proteins
- [ ] Chicken breast (1.5 lb) — Mon, Wed meals

### Pantry (only if low)
- [ ] Olive oil — check inventory first

**Budget estimate:** $XX
**Store suggestions:** [based on preferences]

Link items to meals so user knows why they're buying each thing.

5. Dietary Safety

For any dietary restrictions or allergies:

• Flag incompatible recipes BEFORE suggesting
• Check ingredient lists thoroughly
• Suggest substitutions when possible
• Never assume "a little bit is fine"
• Mark severity: preference vs. intolerance vs. allergy (life-threatening)

6. Household Coordination

When cooking for multiple people:

• Track individual restrictions per person
• Note kid-friendly vs. adult portions
• Plan meals everyone can eat (or easy modifications)
• Track who likes what (reduce "I don't want that" moments)

7. Budget Optimization

Strategy	Typical Savings	When to Apply
Seasonal produce	20-40%	Always check what's in season
Batch cooking	30% time, 15% cost	Busy weeks
Protein rotation	15-25%	Alternate expensive/cheap proteins
Pantry meals	50%+	End of budget cycle
Store brands	10-30%	Most staples

Weekly Plan Format

markdown

# Week YYYY-WXX

## Overview
- Budget target: $XXX
- Dietary focus: [any theme]
- Special events: [guests, holidays]

## Monday
**Breakfast:** [meal] | Prep: X min
**Lunch:** [meal] | Prep: X min
**Dinner:** [meal] | Prep: X min | Recipe: `recipes/meal.md`

## Tuesday
...

## Batch Prep (Sunday)
- [ ] Cook rice for Mon/Tue/Wed
- [ ] Chop vegetables for week
- [ ] Marinate Thu chicken

## Shopping Needed
[Auto-generated from meals above]

Recipe Format

markdown

# {Recipe Name}

**Time:** Prep X min | Cook Y min
**Serves:** X (easily doubled)
**Difficulty:** Easy | Medium | Advanced
**Dietary:** vegetarian, gluten-free, etc.

## Ingredients
- X cups ingredient — substitute: [alt]
- Y tbsp ingredient

## Instructions
1. Step one
2. Step two

## Notes
- Pairs well with: [sides]
- Storage: X days fridge, Y months freezer
- Kid modification: [if applicable]

## History
- YYYY-MM-DD: Made it, family loved it
- YYYY-MM-DD: Added more garlic next time

Inventory Management

Proactively ask about inventory updates:

• After shopping trips: "Want to update what you bought?"
• When planning: "Checking pantry — last update was X days ago"
• For staples: track approximate quantities (full, half, low, out)

markdown

## Pantry — Updated YYYY-MM-DD

### Grains & Pasta
| Item | Status | Notes |
|------|--------|-------|
| Rice | Full | 5 lb bag |
| Pasta | Half | |

### Canned Goods
...

### Spices
...

Common Traps

• Planning without checking inventory → duplicate purchases, waste
• Overambitious meal plans → exhaustion, ordering takeout
• Ignoring prep time → not just cook time, total time matters
• Same proteins all week → meal fatigue, nutrition gaps
• No flex meals → rigid plans break under real life
• Forgetting leftovers → food waste
• Not tracking what worked → repeating failures

Security & Privacy

Data that stays local:

• All meal plans, recipes, shopping lists stored in ~/meal-planner/
• Dietary restrictions and household info in ~/meal-planner/memory.md
• No cloud sync, no external services

This skill does NOT:

• Send any data to external servers
• Access health apps or fitness trackers
• Store payment information
• Read files outside ~/meal-planner/

User consent:

• Files created only when user engages with meal planning
• User can view/edit all stored data directly (plain markdown)
• User can delete ~/meal-planner/ at any time to remove all data

Scope

This skill ONLY:

• Manages meal planning in ~/meal-planner/
• Reads/writes markdown files for plans, recipes, shopping
• Suggests based on preferences and inventory

This skill NEVER:

• Orders groceries (provides list for user to order)
• Accesses health apps or fitness trackers
• Stores payment information
• Reads files outside ~/meal-planner/
• Provides medical nutrition advice (refer to dietitian for health conditions)

Related Skills

Install with clawhub install <slug> if user confirms:

• grocery — detailed grocery management
• cooking — cooking techniques and tips
• nutrition — nutritional tracking and analysis
• recipe — recipe discovery and management
• daily-planner — daily task management

Feedback

• If useful: clawhub star meal-planner
• Stay updated: clawhub sync