Shopping Genie MVP

Build progress

A practical view of what has been built, what is being worked on, and what is next for the Telegram-first shopping assistant.

55%foundation complete

6 of 11 planned implementation blocks are complete.

Current focus

Telegram commands

Parse pantry updates, list requests, planning, and feedback.

Ready now

  • Typed project foundation
  • Clean dependency audit
  • Household memory model
  • Setup questionnaire logic
  • Starter recipe book
  • Weekly planning with leftovers

Telegram setup

Connect the bot

Enter the bot details here while we build the integration. For now this saves a local setup draft in your browser; database-backed storage comes later.

Bot IDPaste a valid token to auto-detect

Complete the required fields to prepare Telegram.

Test chat

Try a household message

Use this tiny chat to test Telegram-style messages before the real bot is connected.

Meal plan

Sample weekly dinner plan

This is the first deterministic planner. It uses saved recipes and household preferences to decide which nights are cook nights and which nights use leftovers before the LLM is added for smarter explanations and substitutions.

Monday

Chicken and Butternut Tray Bake

Cook 6 servings

3 dinner servings

low effort · 60 min

Tuesday

Previous Meal - Leftovers

Chicken and Butternut Tray Bake leftovers

From Monday · 3 dinner servings

Wednesday

Beef Mince Bobotie Bowls

Cook 6 servings

3 dinner servings

medium effort · 40 min

Thursday

Previous Meal - Leftovers

Beef Mince Bobotie Bowls leftovers

From Wednesday · 3 dinner servings

Friday

Chickpea and Spinach Curry

Cook 9 servings

3 dinner servings

low effort · 35 min

Saturday

Previous Meal - Leftovers

Chickpea and Spinach Curry leftovers

From Friday · 3 dinner servings

Sunday

Previous Meal - Leftovers

Chickpea and Spinach Curry leftovers

From Friday · 3 dinner servings

Recipe book

Four starter recipes

These recipes use structured ingredients with stable IDs, normalized names, shopping names, categories, and quantities so they can later connect to database storage and grocery product APIs.

Styled image placeholder for Chicken and Butternut Tray Bake
low effort60 min

Chicken and Butternut Tray Bake

A low-fuss weeknight tray bake with chicken pieces, butternut, baby potatoes, and green beans.

Serves
4
Ingredients
6
  • 1.2 kgChicken pieces
  • 700 gButternut cubes
  • 700 gBaby potatoes
  • 300 gGreen beans

Method

  1. 1Heat the oven to 200 C. Line a large roasting tray with baking paper so the vegetables do not stick.
  2. 2Add the butternut, baby potatoes, green beans, olive oil, and chicken spice to the tray, then toss until evenly coated.
  3. 3Nestle the chicken pieces between the vegetables, skin side up if using skin-on pieces, and spread everything into one even layer.
  4. 4Roast for about 45 minutes, turning the vegetables once, until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are tender.
Styled image placeholder for Beef Mince Bobotie Bowls
medium effort40 min

Beef Mince Bobotie Bowls

A simpler bobotie-inspired mince bowl served with rice and chutney.

Serves
4
Ingredients
6
  • 500 gLean beef mince
  • 2Onions
  • 2 tbspMild curry powder
  • 2Large eggs

Method

  1. 1Cook the rice according to the packet instructions, then keep it warm while you prepare the bobotie-style mince.
  2. 2Fry the onions in a little oil over medium heat until soft, then add the beef mince and cook until browned.
  3. 3Stir in the curry powder, a splash of water, and the chutney, then simmer until the mince is saucy but not wet.
  4. 4Lower the heat, stir through the beaten eggs until just set, and serve the mince over rice with extra chutney if liked.
Styled image placeholder for Chickpea and Spinach Curry
low effort35 min

Chickpea and Spinach Curry

A pantry-friendly vegetarian curry with chickpeas, tomato, and spinach.

Serves
4
Ingredients
6
  • 2 cansTinned chickpeas
  • 1 canTinned chopped tomatoes
  • 200 gBaby spinach
  • 1 canCoconut milk

Method

  1. 1Fry the onion in a pot over medium heat until soft and glossy, adding a splash of water if it starts to catch.
  2. 2Stir in the curry paste for one minute so it smells fragrant, then add chickpeas, chopped tomatoes, and coconut milk.
  3. 3Simmer the curry uncovered until slightly thickened and the chickpeas are heated through, stirring now and then.
  4. 4Fold in the baby spinach just before serving and cook until wilted; taste and adjust salt before serving with rice or bread.
Styled image placeholder for Tuna Pasta Bake
low effort40 min

Tuna Pasta Bake

A familiar pantry dinner using pasta, tuna, tomato, sweetcorn, and cheese.

Serves
4
Ingredients
6
  • 500 gPenne pasta
  • 2 cansTinned tuna
  • 1 jarTomato pasta sauce
  • 1 canTinned sweetcorn

Method

  1. 1Heat the oven to 190 C. Cook the pasta in salted water until just tender, then drain it well.
  2. 2Mix the pasta with drained tuna, sweetcorn, and tomato pasta sauce in an ovenproof dish until evenly combined.
  3. 3Scatter the cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs over the top, covering the pasta evenly for a crisp topping.
  4. 4Bake until the sauce is bubbling around the edges and the topping is golden, then rest for five minutes before serving.

Implementation plan

From foundation to useful assistant

Complete

Project scaffold

Next.js, TypeScript, tests, linting, build, and env template.

Complete

Dependency safety

Audit is clean after overriding the vulnerable PostCSS version.

Complete

Domain model

Households, pantry, recipes, meal plans, and shopping lists.

Complete

Onboarding flow

Questionnaire captures household preferences and reminders.

Complete

Recipe book

Seed saved recipes and capture loved, okay, and rejected meals.

Complete

Meal planning

Generate weekly plans from saved recipes and preferences.

In progress

Telegram commands

Parse pantry updates, list requests, planning, and feedback.

Upcoming

Internal test UI

Exercise LLM, Telegram routing, pantry, plans, and checklist output.

Upcoming

Mobile web app

Dashboard, meal plan, checklist, pantry, recipes, and settings.

Upcoming

LLM service boundary

Structured prompts, safe parsing, and deterministic fallbacks.

Upcoming

Persistence and schedules

Store household memory and run recurring reminders.

Next three blocks

What you will see next

Internal test UI

Exercise LLM, Telegram routing, pantry, plans, and checklist output.

Mobile web app

Dashboard, meal plan, checklist, pantry, recipes, and settings.

LLM service boundary

Structured prompts, safe parsing, and deterministic fallbacks.