Recipe

The recipe command parses and displays Cooklang recipe files. It's your primary tool for viewing recipes, validating syntax, and converting between formats.

Basic Usage

cook recipe &#34;Neapolitan Pizza.cook&#34;

File extension is optional, that works too:

cook recipe &#34;Neapolitan Pizza&#34;

This displays the recipe in a human-readable format with ingredients, steps, and metadata clearly organized.

CookCLI also supports .menu files for meal planning. Menu files can reference multiple recipes and organize them by meals or days:

# View a menu file
cook recipe &#34;2 Day Plan.menu&#34;

# Scale entire menu (scales all referenced recipes)
cook recipe &#34;2 Day Plan.menu:2&#34;

Menu files use the same scaling notation as regular recipes, and the scaling applies to all recipe references within the menu.

Reading Recipes

The simplest way to view a recipe:

# View a recipe file
cook recipe &#34;Pasta Carbonara.cook&#34;

# Read from stdin
cat recipe.cook | cook recipe

# View with explicit path
cook recipe ./recipes/italian/Pizza.cook

Scaling Recipes

Scale recipes on the fly using the : notation or the --scale flag:

# Double a recipe
cook recipe &#34;Pizza.cook:2&#34;

# Scale to 1.5x
cook recipe &#34;Cake.cook&#34; --scale 1.5

# Quarter a recipe
cook recipe &#34;Soup.cook:0.25&#34;

All ingredient quantities are automatically adjusted:

Original:                    Scaled x2:
flour         500 g    →     flour         1 kg
water         300 ml   →     water         600 ml

Output Formats

Export recipes in different formats for various uses:

Human-Readable (Default)

cook recipe &#34;Neapolitan Pizza&#34;

Output:

 Neapolitan Pizza

source: https://www.stadlermade.com/how-to-pizza-dough/neapolitan/
servings: 6

Ingredients:
  semolina
  Pizza Dough              (recipe: Shared/Pizza Dough)     6 balls
  flour
  semolina
  San Marzano tomato sauce                                  5 tbsp
  basil leaves
  mozzarella cheese                                         100 grams

Cookware:
  outdoor oven
  spatula

Steps:
 1. Preheat your outdoor oven so it’s around 450/500°C (842/932°F).
     [-]
 2. Prepare your pizza toppings because from now on you wanna work fast.
    Sprinkle some semolina on your work surface.
     [semolina]
...

JSON Format

Perfect for processing with other tools:

cook recipe &#34;Neapolitan Pizza&#34; -f json | jq &#39;.ingredients&#39;

Output:

[
  {
    &#34;name&#34;: &#34;semolina&#34;,
    &#34;alias&#34;: null,
    &#34;quantity&#34;: null,
    &#34;note&#34;: null,
    &#34;reference&#34;: null,
    &#34;relation&#34;: {
      &#34;relation&#34;: {
        &#34;type&#34;: &#34;definition&#34;,
        &#34;referenced_from&#34;: [],
        &#34;defined_in_step&#34;: true
      },
      &#34;reference_target&#34;: null
    },
    &#34;modifiers&#34;: &#34;&#34;
  },
  ...

YAML Format

cook recipe &#34;Neapolitan Pizza&#34; -f yaml

Markdown Format

Great for documentation or sharing:

cook recipe &#34;Neapolitan Pizza&#34; -f markdown &gt; recipe.md

Cooklang Format

Regenerate clean Cooklang markup:

cook recipe &#34;Neapolitan Pizza&#34; -f cooklang

Saving Output

Write the output to a file:

# Save as JSON
cook recipe &#34;Neapolitan Pizza&#34; -f json -o pizza.json

# Save as Markdown
cook recipe &#34;Neapolitan Pizza&#34; -f markdown -o pizza.md

# Format is inferred from extension
cook recipe &#34;Neapolitan Pizza&#34; -o pizza.yaml

Pretty Printing

For JSON and YAML outputs, use --pretty for formatted output:

cook recipe &#34;Neapolitan Pizza&#34; -f json --pretty

Recipe Discovery

CookCLI can find recipes by name without the full path:

# Searches in current directory and subdirectories
cook recipe &#34;Pizza&#34;

# Automatically adds .cook extension
cook recipe &#34;Pasta Carbonara&#34;

# Searches in recipe directories
cook recipe &#34;Neapolitan Pizza&#34;

Advanced Examples

Recipe Analysis Pipeline

Combine with UNIX tools for analysis:

# Count total ingredients across all recipes
for recipe in *.cook; do
  cook recipe &#34;$recipe&#34; -f json
done | jq -s &#39;[.[].ingredients[].name] | group_by(.) | map({name: .[0], count: length})&#39;

Batch Processing

Process multiple recipes:

# Convert all recipes to Markdown
for recipe in *.cook; do
  name=$(basename &#34;$recipe&#34; .cook)
  cook recipe &#34;$recipe&#34; -f markdown -o &#34;docs/${name}.md&#34;
done

# Validate all recipes
for recipe in *.cook; do
  echo &#34;Checking $recipe...&#34;
  cook -vvv recipe &#34;$recipe&#34; &gt; /dev/null || echo &#34;Error in $recipe&#34;
done

Recipe Comparison

Compare scaled versions:

# Compare original and doubled recipe
diff &lt;(cook recipe &#34;Neapolitan Pizza&#34;) &lt;(cook recipe &#34;Neapolitan Pizza:2&#34;)

Common Issues

Recipe Not Found

If a recipe isn't found by name, try:

Escaping whitespaces
Checking you're in the right directory