Assistant proposals and approvals

The assistant can answer questions and propose changes to your recipes, plan, list, and household tastes. A proposed kitchen change needs your action before it is applied.

Alpha documentation

These steps follow the current repository implementation. They still need verification against a released image before publication.

Before you start

• Have an eligible assistant model and key configured in AI settings. The model must support tools; attachments additionally require image/PDF support.
• Select the right household and read what is sent to providers.
• Review the current plan or recipe so you can recognize an unwanted change.

Ask a question

1. Open Ask the assistant and choose New chat, or return through Earlier chats.
2. Check the context indicator. Use Don’t send what’s on the screen if you do not want the current recipe/week attached as page context.
3. Enter a question in Ask anything, such as “What should I use up first?”, then Send.
4. Read the response and any lookup/source information. The assistant may inspect household records or search the web when supported without asking you to approve each read.

Expected result: a reply appears and the conversation is retained. A question may be answered without a proposal. Stop interrupts a response but is not an undo, refund, or deletion of processing already performed.

For a change, ask explicitly—for example, “Suggest dinners for Monday and Tuesday using my recipes.” Check that the result uses the intended dates and meals.

Review a proposal card

1. Read the card’s summary and contents. Check names, amounts, dates, servings, and household dietary preferences.
2. Choose Dismiss if you do not want the proposed change.
3. Otherwise choose the action that matches the card:

Proposal	Action and result
Recipe edit	Review, select the sections to keep, then apply them
New recipe	Save recipe creates it in the household library
Meals	Add to the plan adds the proposed entries
Shopping items	Add to the list adds those items
Household tastes	Remember changes the shared tastes/preferences shown on the card
Recipe link	Import fetches the recipe; fallback import processing may make additional AI calls
Ingredient swap	Save to recipe makes the change permanent; Use this time applies it to the current cooking view instead

4. Wait for the success state, then open the affected recipe, plan, list, or settings to check the result.

Expected result: the card shows that the action was applied, and the relevant kitchen data changes. Assistant text saying what it recommends is not the same as a saved change. Proposal approval is not retailer checkout.

Recipe-section edits keep a version. If a selected section changed since the proposal was generated, Merran refuses that stale edit instead of overwriting it. Request a fresh suggestion after reviewing the current recipe. This conflict protection should not be assumed for every kind of proposal; inspect the current plan/list before adding older proposals.

Review tidy-up and cooking-note suggestions

1. Run Tidy up on a recipe, or enable Tidy up new recipes in household AI settings to generate suggestions after imports.
2. Open the recipe’s suggestion or Review. Cooking notes can also produce proposed edits when AI is available.
3. Compare the existing and suggested sections, deselect unwanted changes, then apply the chosen sections or Dismiss.

Expected result: only the selected recipe sections change when you apply them. The cooking note itself is saved when you choose Save in the note form; the derived recipe edit is a separate proposal. Use More → Versions on the recipe to inspect earlier recipe versions.

What does not wait for a proposal card?

Approval is specific to the workflow. It is not a global “ask before every AI call” setting.

• Sending an assistant message sends content to its model and saves chat data. Generating a proposal can cost money even if you dismiss it.
• Choosing an AI import action can create a recipe directly after reading the input; inspect it afterward.
• Receipt reading creates a draft; adding selected lines to the pantry requires the receipt confirmation action.
• Requested or enabled background work such as photo generation, nutrition calculation, and automatic tidy-up can process data without a chat card. Tidy-up changes still wait for review, while computed nutrition or generated photos can be saved by their own workflows.
• Scheduled Plan each week is a separate, non-AI workflow that adds meals when enabled. It does not require a chat proposal each week.

Review optional settings before enabling automatic work. Provider transmission, provider billing, saving a draft, and applying a kitchen change are separate events.

Troubleshooting

What you see	What to do
A reply but no saved change	Look for a proposal card and apply it. Ask explicitly for a proposal if you only received advice.
A proposal is outdated	Reopen the current recipe and ask for a fresh change. Do not discard another person’s edits just to apply an older suggestion.
Nothing selected to apply	Select at least one proposed recipe section.
A card is already applied/dismissed	Check the current kitchen data. Generate a new proposal if another change is needed.
Assistant or attachment request fails	Check the task’s key, model capabilities and limits using AI troubleshooting.
A reply stops midway	Check the chat and affected data before retrying. A partial reply does not prove a proposal was applied.
A proposed meal or amount is wrong	Dismiss it or ask for a corrected proposal. Imported and generated content still needs review.

There is no universal undo for all proposal types. Use the affected feature’s normal editing controls; recipe versions help with recipe edits, while plan/list additions need to be corrected there. Deleting a chat does not undo applied changes.

Next steps

Plan your meals, edit recipes, or review AI privacy and retained data.