# Mealie MCP Server
[](https://github.com/mdlopresti/mealie-mcp/actions/workflows/docker.yml)
[](https://github.com/mdlopresti/mealie-mcp/actions/workflows/test.yml)
A [Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) server that enables AI assistants to interact with [Mealie](https://mealie.io/) for recipe management, meal planning, and shopping lists.
## Features
### Tools (31 total)
**Recipes**
- `mealie_recipes_search` - Search recipes by name, tags, or categories
- `mealie_recipes_get` - Get full recipe details including ingredients and instructions
- `mealie_recipes_list` - List all recipes with pagination
- `mealie_recipes_create` - Create a new recipe
- `mealie_recipes_create_from_url` - Import recipe by scraping a URL
- `mealie_recipes_update` - Update an existing recipe
- `mealie_recipes_update_structured_ingredients` - Update recipe with structured ingredients from parser
- `mealie_recipes_delete` - Delete a recipe
**Meal Planning**
- `mealie_mealplans_list` - List meal plans for a date range
- `mealie_mealplans_today` - Get today's meals
- `mealie_mealplans_get` - Get specific meal plan entry
- `mealie_mealplans_get_date` - Get meals for a specific date
- `mealie_mealplans_create` - Create meal plan entry
- `mealie_mealplans_update` - Update meal plan entry
- `mealie_mealplans_delete` - Delete meal plan entry
- `mealie_mealplans_random` - Get random meal suggestion
**Shopping Lists**
- `mealie_shopping_lists_list` - List all shopping lists
- `mealie_shopping_lists_get` - Get shopping list with items
- `mealie_shopping_lists_create` - Create new shopping list
- `mealie_shopping_lists_delete` - Delete shopping list
- `mealie_shopping_items_add` - Add item to list
- `mealie_shopping_items_add_bulk` - Add multiple items at once
- `mealie_shopping_items_check` - Mark item checked/unchecked
- `mealie_shopping_items_delete` - Remove item from list
- `mealie_shopping_add_recipe` - Add recipe ingredients to list
- `mealie_shopping_generate_from_mealplan` - Generate shopping list from meal plan
- `mealie_shopping_clear_checked` - Clear all checked items
**Ingredient Parsing**
- `mealie_parser_ingredient` - Parse single ingredient string to structured format
- `mealie_parser_ingredients_batch` - Parse multiple ingredient strings at once
### Resources
- `recipes://list` - Browse all recipes
- `recipes://{slug}` - View specific recipe
- `mealplans://current` - Current week's meal plan
- `mealplans://today` - Today's meals
- `mealplans://{date}` - Specific date's meals
- `shopping://lists` - All shopping lists
- `shopping://{list_id}` - Specific shopping list
## Prerequisites
- Docker (or Podman)
- A running Mealie instance
- Mealie API token
## Quick Start
### 1. Get the Docker Image
**Option A: Pull from GitHub Container Registry (recommended)**
```bash
docker pull ghcr.io/mdlopresti/mealie-mcp:latest
```
**Option B: Build from source**
```bash
git clone https://github.com/mdlopresti/mealie-mcp.git
cd mealie-mcp
docker build -t mealie-mcp:latest .
```
### 2. Get Your API Token
1. Log into your Mealie instance
2. Go to **User Settings** (click your name in sidebar)
3. Navigate to **API Tokens**
4. Create a new token (e.g., "MCP Server")
5. Copy the token immediately (it won't be shown again)
### 3. Configure Claude Code
Add to `.mcp.json` in your project root:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"mealie": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run", "-i", "--rm",
"-e", "MEALIE_URL=https://your-mealie-instance.com",
"-e", "MEALIE_API_TOKEN=your-api-token-here",
"ghcr.io/mdlopresti/mealie-mcp:latest"
]
}
}
}
```
Then add `mealie` to your `~/.claude/settings.json`:
```json
{
"allowedMcpServers": [
{ "serverName": "mealie" }
]
}
```
### 4. Test the Connection
Restart Claude Code and try:
```
Can you search for recipes in Mealie?
```
## Usage Examples
### Clearing Optional Fields
To clear an optional field (remove its value), pass the special sentinel value `"__CLEAR__"`:
```python
# Remove recipe association from a meal plan entry
mealie_mealplans_update(
mealplan_id="abc-123",
recipe_id="__CLEAR__"
)
# Clear the title from an entry
mealie_mealplans_update(
mealplan_id="abc-123",
title="__CLEAR__"
)
# Clear the text/notes from an entry
mealie_mealplans_update(
mealplan_id="abc-123",
text="__CLEAR__"
)
# Clear multiple fields at once
mealie_mealplans_update(
mealplan_id="abc-123",
recipe_id="__CLEAR__",
title="__CLEAR__",
text="__CLEAR__"
)
```
To leave a field unchanged, simply omit it from the call:
```python
# Update only the date, preserving all other fields
mealie_mealplans_update(
mealplan_id="abc-123",
meal_date="2025-12-25"
)
```
## Development
### Local Development (without Docker)
```bash
# Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt
# Set environment variables
export MEALIE_URL=https://your-mealie-instance.com
export MEALIE_API_TOKEN=your-api-token
# Run server
python -m src.server
```
### Running Tests
**Unit/Integration Tests** (mock API, always run):
```bash
# Run all tests except E2E
pytest -m "not e2e"
# Run all tests with coverage
pytest --cov=src --cov-report=term-missing
```
**End-to-End Tests** (optional):
E2E tests validate against a real Mealie instance. Two modes are supported:
**Docker E2E Tests** (recommended - isolated environment):
```bash
# Install test dependencies
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
# Run Docker E2E tests
pytest tests/e2e/test_docker_e2e.py -v
# These tests:
# - Start a containerized Mealie instance automatically
# - Run tests in isolated environment
# - Clean up containers and data after tests
# - Require Docker/Podman to be running
```
**Live Instance E2E Tests** (test against existing server):
```bash
# Set required environment variables
export MEALIE_E2E_URL="https://your-mealie-instance.com"
export MEALIE_E2E_TOKEN="your-test-api-token"
# Run E2E tests against live instance
pytest -m e2e
# These tests are skipped if environment variables are not set
```
See [tests/e2e/README.md](tests/e2e/README.md) for detailed E2E testing documentation.
Note: Live instance E2E tests create and delete test resources. Use a test/development instance, not production!
### Project Structure
```
mealie-mcp/
├── Dockerfile # Container definition
├── requirements.txt # Python dependencies
├── build.sh # Build helper script
└── src/
├── server.py # MCP server entry point
├── client.py # Mealie API client
├── tools/ # MCP tool implementations
│ ├── recipes.py
│ ├── mealplans.py
│ ├── shopping.py
│ └── parser.py
└── resources/ # MCP resource implementations
├── recipes.py
├── mealplans.py
└── shopping.py
```
## Security
- **Never commit API tokens** - Use environment variables
- The API token has full access to your Mealie account
- Consider creating a dedicated Mealie user for the MCP server
## Requirements
- Python 3.12+
- Mealie v1.0+ (tested with v3.6.1)
## License
MIT
## Contributing
Contributions welcome! Please open an issue or PR.
## Related
- [Mealie](https://mealie.io/) - Self-hosted recipe manager
- [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) - MCP specification
- [FastMCP](https://github.com/jlowin/fastmcp) - Python MCP framework
