recipes

Recipe Lookup

CLI for AI agents to find recipes for their humans. "What can I make with chicken?" — now your agent can help.

Uses TheMealDB API. No account or API key needed.

Usage

"Search for pasta recipes"
"Give me a random dinner idea"
"What Italian dishes can I make?"
"Tell me about meal ID 52772"

Commands

Action	Command
Search	recipes search "query"
Get details	recipes info <meal_id>
Random meal	recipes random
List categories	recipes categories
By area/cuisine	recipes area <area>

Examples

recipes search "chicken"          # Find chicken recipes
recipes info 52772                # Get full recipe by ID
recipes random                    # Surprise me!
recipes categories                # List all categories
recipes area Italian              # Italian dishes
recipes area Mexican              # Mexican dishes

Output

Search/list output:

[52772] Spaghetti Bolognese — Italian, Beef

Info/random output:

?️  Spaghetti Bolognese
   ID: 52772 | Category: Beef | Area: Italian
   Tags: Pasta,Meat

? Ingredients:
   • 500g Beef Mince
   • 2 Onions
   • 400g Tomato Puree
   ...

? Instructions:
[Full cooking instructions]

? Video: [YouTube URL if available]
? Source: [Recipe source if available]

Areas (Cuisines)

American, British, Canadian, Chinese, Croatian, Dutch, Egyptian, Filipino, French, Greek, Indian, Irish, Italian, Jamaican, Japanese, Kenyan, Malaysian, Mexican, Moroccan, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Tunisian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese

Notes

• Uses TheMealDB free API
• No authentication required
• Meal ID is the database identifier
• Filter commands (area) return IDs only — use info for details
• Categories endpoint includes descriptions

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Agent Implementation Notes

Script location: {skill_folder}/recipes (wrapper to scripts/recipes)

When user asks about recipes/cooking:

1. Run ./recipes search "ingredient or dish" to find options
2. Run ./recipes info <id> for full recipe with ingredients and instructions
3. Run ./recipes random for dinner inspiration
4. Run ./recipes area <cuisine> to explore by cuisine

Workflow example:

User: "What can I make for dinner?"
1. recipes random  →  Get a random idea
2. recipes info <id>  →  Full recipe details

User: "I want something Italian"
1. recipes area Italian  →  List Italian dishes
2. recipes info <id>  →  Pick one and get full recipe

Don't use for: Nutritional info, calorie counts, dietary restrictions (API doesn't provide this).