Guided build · Make it your own

Build Your Meal Planner

Start with a meal plan that fits your real week. Test it, save what works, then add a grocery list or cart filling when you're ready.

Want to see the destination first? Watch how Audrey's finished workflow works →

The method you'll use for any workflow

Use the six steps below to build your meal planner. You'll use the same method again for your own project.

Today's first goal: a working, tested meal planner. Your instructors will announce the practice time and when to regroup. Leave time to test and improve your result.

We'll map the bigger meal-planning and shopping workflow, then build the meal-planning part first. After testing it, you can add a grocery list, store sorting, and cart filling. Each addition is another chance to use the same method, and each leaves you with something useful.

Before you paste a prompt

Select your Household OS folder. In Claude Code, use a Local session and check that the folder chooser shows Household OS. If you need help, revisit the setup guide. Have a few go-to meals in mind. Share recipes, links, or descriptions. You can start small; a complete recipe library is not required. Think about this week's constraints. Who cooks, how much time do they have, and which nights are already covered?

We'll practice connecting your calendar so the meal planner can use your real schedule. If you prefer not to connect it, or setup isn't working, you can describe your week instead. You can copy the finished plan into a note yourself. See Choosing what to share for help setting your boundaries.

1. Map the workflow

Tell Claude how you decide what to eat and get groceries today. Include the annoying parts and the decisions you want to keep making yourself. For example: “I pick dinners on Sunday, check what we have, write a list, and order groceries. Choosing meals takes the longest.”

Copy this prompt into your Household OS conversation, then answer Claude there. Come back to this page when you have a map that sounds like your process.

Map your current process

I want to build a meal-planning and grocery-shopping workflow in my Household OS. Make sure we're working in that folder and read the relevant files.

Ask me one question at a time about how I do this today, what feels like work, and which decisions I want to keep. Use what you already know about my household. Summarize the process so I can correct it before we build.

As we work, save useful household preferences in the relevant files so I don't have to repeat them next time. Keep them separate from this week's plans.

Ready to move on?

You can explain the process, name the part you want help with, and identify where you want to make a decision.

2. Identify inputs

What does Claude need to do the work? For a meal plan, that might be recipes, the number of people eating, food preferences, how much time you want to spend making dinner, and this week's schedule. Find out what is already in your Household OS and what you need to add.

Use this next prompt in the same conversation. Answer the questions there and let Claude walk you through connecting your calendar. You can opt out and describe your week instead. A few recipes are enough to start.

Gather the context

Help me identify what information our workflow needs and where it will come from. For the meal planner, ask about anything missing: who we're feeding, recipes, food preferences, who cooks, how much time we want to spend making dinner, and nights already covered.

Walk me through setting up my calendar connection unless I tell you I don't want to. Use an existing connection if available, and check that you can read the right calendar and week. If I opt out or we can't get it working, I'll describe my week instead.

Save reusable recipes and food preferences in 04-Food.

Ready to move on?

You know what information the meal planner will use and where it comes from. You can leave information for later shopping steps until you build those parts.

3. Define steps and outputs

Turn your description into a clear plan for what Claude will do. For each step, identify what goes in, what comes out, and anything you need to review. The whole path could be meal plan → grocery list → sort by store → fill carts → you handle checkout.

Then agree on what a good meal plan looks like before building it. For example: five dinners, one leftovers night, and no more than 30 minutes of active cooking on weeknights.

Agree on the build

Propose the steps of our workflow. For each, name the inputs, what you'll do, the output, and any decisions I'll make. It could include meal planning, a grocery list, sorting by store, and filling carts. Include what fits my process.

We'll build the meal planner first. Help me agree on what a useful plan looks like and how I'll check it. Save the agreed workflow in 04-Food/Workflow Map.md, then wait for me to say we're ready to build.

Ready to build?

You and Claude agree on the first output and the criteria you'll use to judge it. The later shopping steps are on the map, so you know how to extend it.

4. Create your /meal-plan skill

A skill is a saved set of instructions you can run by name. Ask Claude to create one called /meal-plan, using the map, inputs, and criteria you've just agreed on. Continue in the same conversation.

Create the /meal-plan skill

Create a Claude Code skill named meal-plan in this Household OS project, so I can run it by typing /meal-plan.

The skill should ask which week to plan, use my saved recipes and preferences, check my connected calendar or ask about my schedule, and create a meal plan using the criteria we agreed on. It should ask for missing information, show me the plan for review, and save it in 04-Food with the date.

Once you've created it, help me run /meal-plan for the week we chose. We'll add the grocery list later.

You have something to test.

You have a saved skill and a meal plan produced by running it. Now test the result and improve the skill.

5. Test and iterate

Compare the actual plan with the criteria you set in step 3. Check portions, how long the meals take to make, food preferences, and nights already covered. Ask for a change and check the revision. If the first result isn't right, that's part of the process.

Give feedback and save the improvement

Here's my feedback on the meal plan: [describe what you want to change].

Revise it and help me check the result. Update the /meal-plan skill and my household preferences with anything that should apply next time. Keep one-off changes with this week's plan.

Replace the bracketed text with your feedback. You might say, “On weeknights, choose meals with no more than 30 minutes of active cooking.” Make sure the skill reflects that recurring preference.

Then try it in a new conversation. Keep the same Household OS folder selected and run /meal-plan. This checks that the saved skill works beyond the original chat.

Run your skill again

/meal-plan

You have a working meal planner when…

The plan meets your criteria, the skill reflects your feedback, and /meal-plan works in a new conversation. If something is missing, ask Claude to update the skill and try again.

6. Decide how to run it

Running it when you ask is a complete solution. Type /meal-plan whenever you're ready to plan your week. You don't need a schedule or an automatic trigger.

If you'd prefer it to start every Friday morning, or after some other event, that can be a later addition. First decide when it should run, what information it will need, where the result should go, and what you still want to review.

Optional: explore a schedule or trigger

Ask Claude: “What would it take to run this every Friday morning? Explain what's supported in my app, what needs to stay running, and how you'd get the current week's schedule. Don't enable it yet.”

Agree on a time, time zone, inputs, output location, and review points before enabling it. Test the scheduled run and check the result.

Optional: make the plan easy to share

Copy the approved plan into the note or message your household already uses. If you want Claude to deliver it there, ask it to explain the available options and required permissions first. Approve the destination and content before any message is sent. Sharing can wait until after class.

You've completed the method for your first workflow.

If practice time remains, refine your meal planner or add the next part below. When the instructors call time, save your place and return to the group. You can continue building after class.

Keep building: use the same method for each addition

You already mapped the bigger workflow. For each addition, revisit its inputs, agree on the steps and output, build it, test and revise it, and decide how to run it. These prompts help you apply the method to the next part.

Each addition is a useful stopping point. You can see the path to cart filling even if you save it for another day.

Optional addition · Grocery list

Turn the approved plan into a grocery list

Gather the extra inputs.
Use the approved plan and recipes. Tell Claude what you already have and what you're running low on. A typed list works; a running-low list alone is not a complete pantry inventory.

Paste this into your Household OS conversation.

If you've started a new conversation, point Claude to the saved plan you want to use.

Add a grocery list

Let's turn my approved meal plan into a grocery list. Use the recipes and preferences in this Household OS. Ask which plan to use, what I already have, and anything else we're running low on.

Combine duplicate ingredients, adjust for servings, and account for what's in the pantry. Ask about missing quantities. Show me the list to check.

After my feedback, save the list with its date and the reusable instructions in 04-Food/Grocery List.md. Update any recurring preferences. We'll sort by store next.

Test quantities before moving on.
Pick an ingredient used in two recipes. Is it combined correctly? Does the list account for your serving count and what you already have? Correct a quantity and make sure the revised list reflects it.

You can stop here.

You have a grocery list you can shop from, plus saved instructions for next time.

Optional addition · Sort by store

Organize the list around where you shop

Describe your shopping preferences.
Which stores do you use? Where do you buy particular items? Share brand, pack-size, or substitution preferences you care about. You can describe these; purchase-history uploads are optional.

Ask Claude to organize the approved list.

Sort by store

Help me sort my approved grocery list by store. Use my saved shopping preferences and ask about anything missing: stores, brands, pack sizes, or substitutions.

Keep the quantities intact and show me the store lists to review. After my feedback, save the lists and reusable instructions in 04-Food/Store Sorting.md, and update my shopping preferences.

Check that nothing got lost.
Compare the store lists with the original list. Every item should be accounted for, with no accidental duplicates. Move an item between stores and verify the totals still match.

You can stop here.

Your store lists are ready to use for shopping yourself. Cart filling is the next capability if you want it.

Optional addition · Fill carts

Fill a cart, then handle checkout yourself

This step needs browser or computer control supported by your app and the store. Availability varies. Ask Claude to check your setup and explain the permissions before connecting anything. If it cannot use your store, your lists are still ready to shop from.

Start with one store and a few items.
Choose a small test from your approved list. Sign in to the store yourself. Keep passwords and payment details out of the conversation.

Test the cart-filling workflow.

Fill a cart for review

Help me fill an online grocery cart from my approved store list. Use my saved shopping preferences. Walk me through enabling browser control if needed, and let me sign in myself.

Start with one store and a few items. Check products, pack sizes, quantities, and prices, and ask me about substitutions. Preserve anything already in the cart. Show me the test before continuing with the rest of the list, without adding the test items twice.

Summarize what you added and anything missing. I'll review the cart and complete checkout myself; don't place an order.

Save the reusable instructions in 04-Food/Cart Filling.md and update my shopping preferences.

Review the test, then decide whether to continue.
Check the actual cart against your list: correct product, size, number of packs, price, and any substitutions. When it works, ask Claude to continue. Review the complete cart and delivery details before you make any purchase.

You can stop with a cart ready for review.

Making a purchase is not part of the workshop. If you later order, you can ask Claude to help track delivery using the actual confirmation.

Save your place and return to the group

Use this whenever the instructors call time, even if you're partway through a step or an addition.

Save your place

Let's pause. Save our work and any useful preferences in this Household OS. Update the workflow instructions with my feedback, and leave a short note in 04-Food/Next Steps.md so I can pick up where we left off.

You should be able to point to an output, explain what you tested, and name the next thing you would improve. Return to the workshop agenda →

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