Skill: pantry

Needs the Cook MCP server (tools like pantry_list and pantry_update). If these tools are missing, the Cook MCP server isn't connected: if you installed the cooklang plugin or extension, check that its cook server is running (e.g. /mcp) or reinstall it; otherwise add it from https://github.com/cook-md/cook-mcp. Do not guess what is in stock or edit the file by hand instead.

Use when the user asks about pantry or inventory tracking.

The pantry is config/pantry.conf (TOML) at the collection root. Cook apps and CookCLI read it from that path, and shopping_list subtracts it, so keeping it current makes every shopping list shorter and correct.

Tools

• pantry_list — what's in stock, by section (section to show only one, e.g. "fridge").
• pantry_expiring — items expiring within days (default 7). Plan meals around these.
• pantry_depleted — items at or below their low threshold: the restock list.
• pantry_recipes — what can I cook: recipes fully covered by the pantry, plus partial matches (at least threshold % in stock, default 50) with their missing ingredients.
• pantry_update — add, update, remove items. Each item has section and name, plus optional quantity (Cooklang quantity, e.g. "500%g", "2"), expire and bought (YYYY-MM-DD), low (threshold, e.g. "100%g"). Applied in order add → update → remove; it stops at the first failure and reports what was applied.

The pantry.conf format

TOML, organised by storage location. Each item is either a simple quantity string or an object:

[freezer]
"frozen peas" = { bought = "2024-11-05", quantity = "500%g", low = "200%g" }

[fridge]
milk = { expire = "2024-11-15", quantity = "2%L" }
eggs = "12"

[pantry]
rice = "5%kg"
pasta = { quantity = "1%kg", low = "200%g" }

[spices]
cumin = { bought = "2024-06-01" }

Workflow

1. To answer "what do I have / do I have X", call pantry_list (or pantry_recipes for "what can I make") — do not guess.
2. To change stock, call pantry_list first to see the existing section and item names, then pantry_update using those names — reason: milk in [fridge] and Milk in [dairy] would become two items.
3. After "I used / bought / finished X", update quantities or remove the item; after a shop, add the new items with bought (and expire for perishables).
4. Tell the user what changed in the pantry.
5. Before a shop, pantry_depleted (restock) and pantry_expiring (use first) are the two useful checks; offer them.

Name items the way the recipes name the ingredient (olive oil, not olive_oil or EVOO); matching ignores case but nothing else, so a differently spelled item is never subtracted from a shopping list or counted by pantry_recipes. Names with spaces are quoted TOML keys ("olive oil" = "500%ml"); pantry_update writes them that way.

Boundaries

• Subtracting pantry stock from a shopping list is shopping_list's job — never hand-edit totals.
• pantry_update writes only the collection's own config/pantry.conf and refuses when that file doesn't exist (a global pantry is never modified). To start a pantry, create it with write_config (path: "config/pantry.conf", sections and items in the format above), then use pantry_update for changes.
• Prefer pantry_update for changes to an existing pantry: it edits one item without rewriting the file. Use write_config on config/pantry.conf only to create it or to reorganise it wholesale (read it with pantry_list first; write_config replaces the whole file).