Use Cooklang with Your AI Agent

Install the Cooklang plugin (14 skills plus the open-source Cook MCP server) for Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor or VS Code, or add the server to any MCP client, to read, validate and write the .cook and .menu files in your recipe folder.

You will use: cooklang-skills, cook-mcp, MCP client

The Cooklang plugin gives your AI agent 14 skills (writing, validating, searching, importing, meal planning, shopping lists, pantry, reports) and the open-source Cook MCP server that the skills call. Your recipes stay as plain .cook and .menu files in a folder you own, and every write is validated first.

Everything is free and runs locally with no account. Nutrition data and photo or social import go through cook.md and need Cook Basic or Pro. You need Node.js, because the server runs through npx. Builds exist for macOS and Linux (x64 and arm64), not Windows yet.

Claude Code

Recommended. Install the plugin:

/plugin marketplace add cooklang/cooklang-skills
/plugin install cooklang@cooklang-skills

It adds the skills and starts the Cook server with your project folder as the recipe folder. Check it with /mcp. If you added the server earlier with claude mcp add cook, remove it so only one copy runs.

Codex

codex plugin marketplace add cooklang/cooklang-skills
codex plugin add cooklang@cooklang-skills

Codex does not tell MCP servers which workspace you have open, so set the recipe folder by adding the server yourself. It replaces the plugin's copy:

codex mcp add cook --env COOK_RECIPES_DIR=/path/to/recipes -- npx -y @cookmd/mcp

Gemini CLI

gemini extensions install https://github.com/cooklang/cooklang-skills

The extension adds the skills and the server, using your workspace as the recipe folder.

Cursor

The repository is an Agent Plugin that Cursor loads with the skills and the server. To add only the server, use the one-click link in the cooklang-skills README.

VS Code

Run Chat: Install Plugin From Source and enter https://github.com/cooklang/cooklang-skills. To add only the server, use the one-click link in the cooklang-skills README.

Any other MCP client

For Claude Desktop and any client that takes an mcpServers config, add the server and point it at your recipes (in Claude Desktop: Settings > Developer > Edit Config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cook": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@cookmd/mcp"],
      "env": { "COOK_RECIPES_DIR": "/absolute/path/to/recipes" }
    }
  }
}

How the recipe folder is chosen

  1. COOK_RECIPES_DIR, if set in the server's config.
  2. The workspace folder your client reports, which is the project you have open.
  3. The folder the client started the server in. /, your home folder and plugin folders are ignored.

What the agent can do

  • Read and search your recipes and meal plans, with optional scaling.
  • Validate a file, a folder or the whole collection, and find broken references.
  • Write .cook recipes and .menu meal plans. Invalid Cooklang is refused, and there is no delete tool.
  • Build a shopping list from recipes and menus: duplicates merged, grouped by aisle, pantry subtracted.
  • Track the pantry: expiring items, low stock, and which recipes you can cook with what you have.
  • Render report templates, and with Cook Basic or Pro, compute nutrition and import recipes from photos and social links.

Try: "Plan dinners for next week from my recipes and make the shopping list."

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