---
name: recipe-grocery-list
description: >
Converts one or more recipes, a weekly meal plan, or even just dish names into a clean,
categorized, deduplicated grocery shopping list — with quantities scaled to the number
of servings needed. Also exports a formatted Excel (.xlsx) shopping list file. Use this
skill whenever the user mentions: "make a grocery list", "shopping list for this recipe",
"what do I need to buy", "meal plan grocery list", "ingredients for the week",
"I'm cooking X, what do I need", "combine these recipes into a shopping list",
or shares a recipe and wants a list. Always trigger — even for a single dish name
like "I'm making biryani for 6 people, what do I need?". The skill works with dish
names alone — a full recipe is not required.
---
# Recipe-to-Grocery List Converter
Turn any recipe, meal plan, or dish name into a clean, categorized, deduplicated grocery
list — with quantities scaled to your serving size, exported as **chat list + Excel file**.
---
## Input Types Supported
- **Dish name only** — "Biryani for 6 people" (skill knows common recipes)
- **Full recipe with ingredients** — paste any recipe text
- **Multiple dishes** — "I'm cooking dal, sabzi, and roti for 4"
- **Weekly meal plan** — "Breakfast: poha. Lunch: dal rice. Dinner: paneer curry" × 7 days
- **Servings adjustment** — "double this recipe" or "for 10 people instead of 4"
---
## Workflow
### Step 1 — Extract Ingredients
For each dish/recipe:
- List every ingredient with quantity and unit
- If only a dish name is given, use standard recipe knowledge for that dish
- Note the default serving size and scale to the requested serving size
- If no serving size given, default to **4 people**
**Scaling formula:** `scaled_qty = original_qty × (requested_servings / original_servings)`
Round quantities sensibly:
- < 1 tsp → keep as fraction (¼ tsp, ½ tsp)
- Whole produce (onions, tomatoes) → round to nearest whole number
- Liquids → round to nearest 50ml / ¼ cup
- Packaged goods → round up to nearest pack size when noted
### Step 2 — Deduplicate & Combine
When multiple recipes share ingredients:
- **Combine quantities** of the same ingredient (e.g. 2 onions + 3 onions = 5 onions)
- **Use consistent units** — convert to same unit before combining (ml not ml + cups)
- **Flag pantry staples** separately — items most people already have (salt, oil, sugar,
common spices) go in a "Pantry Check" section, not the main buy list
### Step 3 — Categorize
Sort all ingredients into shopping categories:
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| 🥩 Meat & Seafood | Chicken, mutton, fish, eggs |
| 🥛 Dairy & Alternatives | Milk, paneer, curd, ghee, butter, cheese |
| 🥦 Vegetables | All fresh vegetables |
| 🍎 Fruits | All fresh fruits |
| 🌾 Grains & Pulses | Rice, flour, dal, poha, bread |
| 🥫 Canned & Packaged | Canned tomatoes, coconut milk, pasta |
| 🧂 Spices & Condiments | Masalas, sauces, vinegar, oils |
| 🧊 Frozen | Frozen peas, corn, paratha |
| 🧴 Pantry Check | Salt, oil, sugar, common spices (verify before buying) |
| 🛒 Other | Anything that doesn't fit above |
### Step 4 — Output: Chat List
Print a clean grocery list in chat:
```
🛒 GROCERY LIST
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📅 For: [Dish names]
👥 Serves: [X people]
🗓️ Meals covered: [X recipes / X days]
🥦 VEGETABLES
□ Onions — 4 large
□ Tomatoes — 3 medium
□ Ginger — 2-inch piece
□ Garlic — 1 full bulb
🥛 DAIRY & ALTERNATIVES
□ Paneer — 250g
□ Curd / Yoghurt — 1 cup
🌾 GRAINS & PULSES
□ Basmati rice — 2 cups
□ Toor dal — 1 cup
🧂 SPICES & CONDIMENTS
□ Cumin seeds — 1 tsp
□ Garam masala — 2 tsp
🧴 PANTRY CHECK (you may already have these)
□ Salt
□ Cooking oil
□ Turmeric powder
□ Red chilli powder
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🧾 Total items to buy: X | ✅ Pantry check items: X
💡 Assumptions: [serving size used, any substitutions, etc.]
```
### Step 5 — Output: Excel File
Create a `.xlsx` file with **2 sheets**.
#### Sheet 1: Shopping List
Columns: `✓` (checkbox column) | `Item` | `Quantity` | `Unit` | `Category` | `Notes`
Formatting:
- Header: bold white on dark green (`#375623`), frozen
- Category color coding per row (matching chat categories):
- Vegetables → `#E2EFDA`, Fruits → `#FFF2CC`, Meat → `#FCE4D6`
- Dairy → `#DEEAF1`, Grains → `#FFF2CC`, Spices → `#F4CCCC`
- Pantry Check → `#F2F2F2` (grey, italic)
- Checkbox column (✓): 6px wide, light grey — user ticks off while shopping
- Sort order: category grouped, alphabetical within category
- Pantry Check items at bottom, visually separated
- Font: Arial 10pt; row height 22px
- Column widths: Check=6, Item=28, Quantity=12, Unit=12, Category=18, Notes=30
#### Sheet 2: Meal Plan Summary
- One row per dish/meal
- Columns: `Meal` | `Dish` | `Servings` | `Key Ingredients` | `Prep Time (est.)`
- Header: same dark green style
#### File naming: `grocery-list-YYYY-MM-DD.xlsx`
### Step 6 — Save & Present
- Save to `/mnt/user-data/outputs/grocery-list-YYYY-MM-DD.xlsx`
- Use `present_files` to deliver
- Chat list appears first, then mention the Excel file
---
## Python Code Template
```python
from openpyxl import Workbook
from openpyxl.styles import Font, PatternFill, Alignment, Border, Side
from openpyxl.utils import get_column_letter
from datetime import date
wb = Workbook()
HEADER_FILL = PatternFill("solid", fgColor="375623")
HEADER_FONT = Font(bold=True, color="FFFFFF", name="Arial", size=10)
DATA_FONT = Font(name="Arial", size=10)
PANTRY_FONT = Font(name="Arial", size=10, italic=True, color="888888")
THIN = Side(style="thin")
BORDER = Border(left=THIN, right=THIN, top=THIN, bottom=THIN)
CAT_FILLS = {
"Vegetables": "E2EFDA", "Fruits": "FFF2CC",
"Meat & Seafood": "FCE4D6", "Dairy": "DEEAF1",
"Grains & Pulses": "FFF9CC", "Spices": "F4CCCC",
"Canned & Packaged": "E8D5F5", "Frozen": "DEEAF1",
"Pantry Check": "F2F2F2", "Other": "FFFFFF",
}
ws = wb.active
ws.title = "Shopping List"
ws.sheet_properties.tabColor = "375623"
HEADERS = ["✓", "Item", "Quantity", "Unit", "Category", "Notes"]
WIDTHS = [6, 28, 12, 12, 18, 30]
for col,(h,w) in enumerate(zip(HEADERS,WIDTHS),1):
c = ws.cell(row=1,column=col,value=h)
c.font,c.fill,c.border = HEADER_FONT,HEADER_FILL,BORDER
c.alignment = Alignment(horizontal="center",vertical="center")
ws.column_dimensions[get_column_letter(col)].width = w
ws.freeze_panes = "A2"
ws.row_dimensions[1].height = 28
# items = list of (item, quantity, unit, category, notes)
# sorted: grouped by category, pantry items last
items = [] # REPLACE WITH ACTUAL ITEMS
for r,(item,qty,unit,cat,notes) in enumerate(items,2):
is_pantry = cat == "Pantry Check"
row_data = ["", item, qty, unit, cat, notes]
ws.row_dimensions[r].height = 22
for col,val in enumerate(row_data,1):
c = ws.cell(row=r,column=col,value=val)
c.font = PANTRY_FONT if is_pantry else DATA_FONT
c.border = BORDER
c.fill = PatternFill("solid", fgColor=CAT_FILLS.get(cat,"FFFFFF"))
c.alignment = Alignment(vertical="center",
horizontal="center" if col in [1,3,4] else "left")
# Sheet 2: Meal Plan Summary
ws2 = wb.create_sheet("Meal Plan")
ws2.sheet_properties.tabColor = "70AD47"
for col,(h,w) in enumerate(zip(["Meal","Dish","Servings","Key Ingredients","Prep Time"],[14,28,12,40,14]),1):
c = ws2.cell(row=1,column=col,value=h)
c.font,c.fill,c.border = HEADER_FONT,HEADER_FILL,BORDER
c.alignment = Alignment(horizontal="center",vertical="center")
ws2.column_dimensions[get_column_letter(col)].width = w
ws2.freeze_panes = "A2"
today = date.today().strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
wb.save(f"grocery-list-{today}.xlsx")
```
---
## Tips for Best Results
- **Just say the dish name** — you don't need to provide the full recipe.
- **Mention serving size** — "for 6 people" scales quantities automatically.
- **Weekly meal plan?** List all meals — the list combines and deduplicates everything.
- **Dietary preferences?** Say "vegetarian", "no onion garlic", or "gluten-free" — substitutions will be noted.
- **Already have some ingredients?** Say "I have rice and oil" — they'll move to the Pantry Check section.