mcp-mealie

MCP server for Mealie — exposes a Mealie instance's REST API to MCP clients (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, etc.) so an LLM can read, search, scrape, edit, and delete recipes (and meal plans, shopping lists, cookbooks, taxonomy) on your behalf.

Prerequisites

Python 3.14+
uv
A reachable Mealie instance (self-hosted or otherwise)
A Mealie API token: in Mealie, click your avatar → Profile → API Tokens → Generate. The token inherits the issuing user's permissions, so for automation prefer a dedicated non-admin user.

Setup

uv sync

Configuration

Two environment variables are required:

Variable	Purpose
`MEALIE_BASE_URL`	Root URL of your Mealie instance, no trailing path
`MEALIE_API_TOKEN`	Long-lived bearer token from Profile → API Tokens

Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mealie": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-mealie"],
      "env": {
        "MEALIE_BASE_URL": "https://mealie.example.com",
        "MEALIE_API_TOKEN": "eyJhbGc..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add mealie \
  -e MEALIE_BASE_URL=https://mealie.example.com \
  -e MEALIE_API_TOKEN=eyJhbGc... \
  -- uvx mcp-mealie

Tools

Diagnostics

Tool	Description
`get_about`	Server version / health (no auth path)
`whoami`	Confirm the token works

Recipes (full CRUD + scrape + rating + content)

Tool	Description
`list_recipes`	Paginated list with search and ordering
`get_recipe`	Full recipe by slug
`create_recipe`	Empty recipe by name
`create_recipe_from_url`	Scrape from a URL
`update_recipe`	Patch common metadata fields
`set_recipe_ingredients`	Replace ingredient list (raw text, no food/unit binding)
`set_recipe_ingredients_parsed`	Replace ingredient list, parsing each line and binding food/unit IDs
`parse_recipe_ingredients`	Re-parse the recipe's existing free-text ingredients in place
`set_recipe_instructions`	Replace step list (JSON array of lines)
`set_recipe_notes`	Replace notes (JSON array of {title,text})
`set_recipe_rating`	Per-user rating / favorite
`delete_recipe`	Delete by slug

Cookbooks (full CRUD)

Tool	Description
`list_cookbooks`	Saved recipe filters
`get_cookbook`	By UUID
`create_cookbook`	name, description, query_filter_string, public
`update_cookbook`	Patch
`delete_cookbook`	Delete

Meal plans (full CRUD)

Tool	Description
`list_mealplans`	Range-filtered list
`get_mealplan`	By id
`create_mealplan`	date + entry_type, plus recipe_id or title/text
`update_mealplan`	Patch
`delete_mealplan`	Delete

Meal-plan rules (full CRUD)

Used by Mealie's random-meal generator.

Tool	Description
`list_mealplan_rules`	List rules
`get_mealplan_rule`	By UUID
`create_mealplan_rule`	day, entry_type, query_filter_string
`update_mealplan_rule`	Patch
`delete_mealplan_rule`	Delete

Shopping lists (CRUD + recipe attach)

Tool	Description
`list_shopping_lists`
`get_shopping_list`	Includes items
`create_shopping_list`
`update_shopping_list`	Rename
`delete_shopping_list`
`add_recipe_to_shopping_list`	Add a recipe's ingredients (with scale)
`remove_recipe_from_shopping_list`	Reverse the above

Shopping items (full CRUD)

Tool	Description
`list_shopping_items`	Optionally filter by `list_id`
`get_shopping_item`
`create_shopping_item`	Free-form note or structured (food/unit)
`create_shopping_items_bulk`	JSON-array bulk create
`update_shopping_item`	Includes check/uncheck
`delete_shopping_item`

Parser

Tool	Description
`parse_ingredient`	One string → quantity/unit/food
`parse_ingredients`	JSON array of strings → list of parsed results

Taxonomy (full CRUD per resource)

Categories, tags, and kitchen tools share a uniform {name} create surface.

Resource	Tools
Categories	`list_categories`, `get_category`, `create_category`, `update_category`, `delete_category`
Tags	`list_tags`, `get_tag`, `create_tag`, `update_tag`, `delete_tag`
Kitchen tools	`list_tools`, `get_tool`, `create_tool`, `update_tool`, `delete_tool`
Foods	`list_foods`, `get_food`, `create_food`, `update_food`, `delete_food`
Units	`list_units`, `get_unit`, `create_unit`, `update_unit`, `delete_unit`
Labels	`list_labels`, `get_label`, `create_label`, `update_label`, `delete_label`

Development

uv sync
uv run pytest tests/ -x -q
uv run ruff check src/ tests/
uv run pyright src/