Better Mealie MCP

by djwmarcx

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Remote

Patch Recipes By Slug

patch_recipes_by_slug

Updates a recipe by existing slug and data.

Instructions

Updates a recipe by existing slug and data.

Input Schema

Name	Required	Description
`id`	No
`name`	No
`slug`	No
`tags`	No
`image`	No
`notes`	No
`tools`	No
`assets`	No
`extras`	No
`orgURL`	No
`rating`	No
`userId`	No
`groupId`	No
`comments`	No
`cookTime`	No
`prepTime`	No
`settings`	No
`createdAt`	No
`dateAdded`	No
`nutrition`	No
`totalTime`	No
`update_at`	No
`slug__path`	Yes	(Path parameter)
`dateUpdated`	No
`description`	No
`householdId`	No
`performTime`	No
`recipeYield`	No
`recipeCategory`	No
`recipeServings`	No
`accept-language`	No
`prepTimeSeconds`	No
`recipeIngredient`	No
`totalTimeSeconds`	No
`performTimeSeconds`	No
`recipeInstructions`	No
`recipeYieldQuantity`	No

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed15 schema fields changedv3.29.0Oct 22, 2026

addedInput schema / $defs / IngredientFood-Input / properties / recipeCount
```
Added value: +{
+  "type": "integer"
+}
```

removedInput schema / $defs / Recipe-Input / properties / lastMade

Removed value: -{
-  "anyOf": [
-    {
-      "format": "date-time",
-      "type": "string"
-    },
-    {
-      "type": "null"
-    }
-  ]
-}

addedInput schema / $defs / Recipe-Input / properties / performTimeSeconds

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "maximum": 2147483647,
+      "minimum": 0,
+      "type": "integer"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ]
+}

addedInput schema / $defs / Recipe-Input / properties / prepTimeSeconds

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "maximum": 2147483647,
+      "minimum": 0,
+      "type": "integer"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ]
+}

addedInput schema / $defs / Recipe-Input / properties / totalTimeSeconds

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "maximum": 2147483647,
+      "minimum": 0,
+      "type": "integer"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ]
+}

addedInput schema / $defs / RecipeCategoryIn

Added value: +{
+  "properties": {
+    "groupId": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "format": "uuid",
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "id": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "format": "uuid",
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "name": {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "recipeCount": {
+      "type": "integer"
+    },
+    "slug": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "name"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}

addedInput schema / $defs / RecipeTagIn

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Lenient variant of RecipeTag accepted only on the recipe write path (JSON import/edit),\nwhere a client may omit id/slug and expect them to be resolved or generated server-side.\nNever used for responses -- RecipeTag itself stays strictly required there.\n\nDeliberately does not subclass RecipeTag: narrowing id/slug from required to optional in a\nsubclass would be an unsound field override (mypy correctly rejects it), so this is built as\nan independent sibling with the same fields instead, matching how RecipeToolCreate/Save/Out\nare already kept as separate classes elsewhere in this module rather than narrowing each other.",
+  "properties": {
+    "groupId": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "format": "uuid",
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "id": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "format": "uuid",
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "name": {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "recipeCount": {
+      "type": "integer"
+    },
+    "slug": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "name"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}

addedInput schema / $defs / RecipeToolIn

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Lenient variant of RecipeTool accepted only on the recipe write path. See RecipeTagIn.",
+  "properties": {
+    "groupId": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "format": "uuid",
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "householdsWithTool": {
+      "items": {
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "type": "array"
+    },
+    "id": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "format": "uuid",
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "name": {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "recipeCount": {
+      "type": "integer"
+    },
+    "slug": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "name"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}

removedInput schema / properties / lastMade

Removed value: -{
-  "anyOf": [
-    {
-      "format": "date-time",
-      "type": "string"
-    },
-    {
-      "type": "null"
-    }
-  ]
-}

addedInput schema / properties / performTimeSeconds

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "maximum": 2147483647,
+      "minimum": 0,
+      "type": "integer"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ]
+}

addedInput schema / properties / prepTimeSeconds

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "maximum": 2147483647,
+      "minimum": 0,
+      "type": "integer"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ]
+}

changedInput schema / properties / recipeCategory / anyOf

Previous value: -[
-  {
-    "items": {
-      "$ref": "#/$defs/RecipeCategory"
-    },
-    "type": "array"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]New value: +[
+  {
+    "items": {
+      "$ref": "#/$defs/RecipeCategoryIn"
+    },
+    "type": "array"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

changedInput schema / properties / tags / anyOf

Previous value: -[
-  {
-    "items": {
-      "$ref": "#/$defs/RecipeTag"
-    },
-    "type": "array"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]New value: +[
+  {
+    "items": {
+      "$ref": "#/$defs/RecipeTagIn"
+    },
+    "type": "array"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

changedInput schema / properties / tools / items / $ref

Previous value: -"#/$defs/RecipeTool"New value: +"#/$defs/RecipeToolIn"

addedInput schema / properties / totalTimeSeconds

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "maximum": 2147483647,
+      "minimum": 0,
+      "type": "integer"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ]
+}

Changed1 schema field changedv3.28.0Sep 27, 2026

changedInput schema / $defs / RecipeCommentOut-Input / required

Previous value: -[
-  "recipeId",
-  "text",
-  "id",
-  "createdAt",
-  "update_at",
-  "userId",
-  "user"
-]New value: +[
+  "id",
+  "recipeId",
+  "text",
+  "createdAt",
+  "update_at",
+  "userId",
+  "user"
+]

Changed10 schema fields changedv3.26.0Sep 15, 2026

addedInput schema / $defs / CreateIngredientFood / properties / substitutions

Added value: +{
+  "items": {
+    "$ref": "#/$defs/CreateIngredientFoodSubstitution"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedInput schema / $defs / CreateIngredientFoodSubstitution

Added value: +{
+  "properties": {
+    "note": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "substituteFoodId": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "format": "uuid",
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+  },
+  "type": "object"
+}

addedInput schema / $defs / IngredientFood-Input / properties / substitutions

Added value: +{
+  "items": {
+    "$ref": "#/$defs/IngredientFoodSubstitution"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedInput schema / $defs / IngredientFoodSubstitution

Added value: +{
+  "properties": {
+    "note": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "substituteFood": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "$ref": "#/$defs/IngredientFoodSummary"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "substituteFoodId": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "format": "uuid",
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+  },
+  "type": "object"
+}

addedInput schema / $defs / IngredientFoodSummary

Added value: +{
+  "description": "A trimmed projection of a food, with nothing on it that can recurse.\n\nSubstitutions reference this rather than the full IngredientFood, which would make\nPydantic walk food -> substitutions -> food forever and generate an equally circular\nTypeScript type.",
+  "properties": {
+    "id": {
+      "format": "uuid",
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "name": {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "pluralName": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "id",
+    "name"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}

addedInput schema / $defs / NoteReference

Added value: +{
+  "properties": {
+    "referenceId": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "format": "uuid",
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+  },
+  "type": "object"
+}

addedInput schema / $defs / RecipeIngredient-Input / properties / substitutions

Added value: +{
+  "items": {
+    "$ref": "#/$defs/RecipeIngredientSubstitution"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedInput schema / $defs / RecipeIngredientSubstitution

Added value: +{
+  "properties": {
+    "note": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "substituteFood": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "$ref": "#/$defs/IngredientFoodSummary"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "substituteFoodId": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "format": "uuid",
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+  },
+  "type": "object"
+}

addedInput schema / $defs / RecipeNote / properties / referenceId
```
Added value: +{
+  "format": "uuid",
+  "type": "string"
+}
```

addedInput schema / $defs / RecipeStep / properties / noteReferences

Added value: +{
+  "items": {
+    "$ref": "#/$defs/NoteReference"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

Changed3 schema fields changedv3.25.1Sep 8, 2026
- addedInput schema / $defs / RecipeCategory / properties / recipeCount
```
Added value: +{
+  "type": "integer"
+}
```
- addedInput schema / $defs / RecipeTag / properties / recipeCount
```
Added value: +{
+  "type": "integer"
+}
```
- addedInput schema / $defs / RecipeTool / properties / recipeCount
```
Added value: +{
+  "type": "integer"
+}
```
First observedv3.20.1Jul 10, 2026

TDQS

C2.1/5.0

Behavior2/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

No annotations exist, so the description carries the full burden, yet it only says 'updates'. It doesn't state that this is a partial/merge update where omitted fields are preserved, whether the slug itself can change, whether images or child collections are replaced, or what auth/household scoping is required. For a mutation tool with 37 parameters this is a serious gap.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness3/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

A single front-loaded sentence with no filler words, which is structurally clean. But at 37 parameters and no annotations the brevity becomes under-specification rather than efficiency.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness1/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

A 37-parameter mutation tool with no annotations, no output schema, and near-zero schema descriptions cannot be safely invoked from one vague sentence. Nothing tells the agent the semantics of partial updates, required identity fields, or side effects.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters1/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema description coverage is 3% across 37 parameters, so the description must compensate and does not. It mentions only the slug used for lookup and says nothing about the mass of optional payload fields (tags, nutrition, ingredients, settings, householdId, groupId, etc.).

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose3/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

It names a verb and resource ('Updates a recipe') and identifies the selector ('by existing slug'), so the basic action is inferable. However, it never distinguishes PATCH semantics from the sibling update_recipes_by_slug (full replacement) or patch_recipes, so an agent cannot tell which recipe-write tool fits a partial-edit intent.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines2/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

There is no guidance about when to use this rather than update_recipes_by_slug, patch_recipes, or update_recipes, all of which appear as siblings. The agent must guess that 'patch' means partial update from the tool name alone.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

Deploy Server

Patch Recipes By Slug

Instructions

Input Schema

Schema Changelog

TDQS

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