mealie-cli

mealie-cli is a small Rust command-line client for the Mealie REST API. It is designed for both interactive use and automation: commands are readable by default, with stable JSON formats available when a script needs them.

Build the mealie binary from this repository:

cargo build --release

The executable is written to:

target/release/mealie

Set both environment variables before running commands:

MEALIE_URL=https://mealie.example.com
MEALIE_TOKEN=<token>

Check configuration, connectivity, and authentication without exposing the token:

mealie status

The command exits with the existing stable error code for the first failed check. Use --json or --ndjson to receive the same status as a stable machine-readable record.

MEALIE_URL may include a trailing slash. MEALIE_TOKEN is sent as a bearer token and is never printed by the CLI.

HTTPS is required by default. For a deliberately insecure local or isolated network, explicitly opt in to HTTP:

USE_INSECURE_HTTP=yes

This override allows the bearer token to travel without transport encryption and should not be used on untrusted networks.

Human-readable output is the default. Lists use aligned tables, detail commands use labelled fields, and mutations say what changed:

NAME           SLUG           ID
Pesto Chicken  pesto-chicken  2f34...

Use --json for one pretty JSON array or --ndjson for one JSON object per line:

{"ok":true,"type":"recipe","id":"uuid","slug":"recipe-slug","name":"Recipe Name"}

Global output flags:

--json     print one pretty JSON document
--ndjson   print NDJSON
--quiet    quiet mode; print only IDs for successful changes

Errors are written to stderr and include a practical hint when one is available:

Error: MEALIE_URL is required
Hint: Set MEALIE_URL and MEALIE_TOKEN, then run the command again.

With --json or --ndjson, errors remain machine-readable on stderr:

{"ok":false,"error":"not_found","message":"get recipe returned 404"}

Stable error codes:

missing_config
invalid_args
not_found
ambiguous
authentication
api_error
network_error

Check whether the CLI is ready to use:

mealie status

Search recipes:

mealie recipes search "pesto chicken" --limit 5

Get a recipe and its complete ingredient list by slug or exact name:

mealie recipes get butter-chicken

List meal plans:

mealie plan list

With no date flags, this lists from today through Sunday using the local timezone configured on the computer running the command. Date flags accept YYYY-MM-DD, today, tomorrow, yesterday, and signed offsets such as +2d, -1d, +1w, or -1w:

mealie plan list --from today --to +3d
mealie plan set --date tomorrow --type dinner --title "Bolognaise"

Filter meal plans by type:

mealie plan list --from 2026-05-13 --to 2026-05-16 --type dinner

View a complete Monday-to-Sunday week, including days with no meals. With no options it shows the current local week; use an anchor date or signed whole-week offset to choose another week:

mealie plan week
mealie plan week --date 2026-05-13
mealie plan week --offset -1

The human view is grouped by day and switches to a stacked ASCII-only form when COLUMNS is below 60. --json and --ndjson keep emitting the existing stable plan_entry records (or the existing empty record), so terminal layout never changes automation output.

Create or replace a plain-text meal plan entry:

mealie plan set --date 2026-05-13 --type dinner --title "Bolognaise"

Create or replace a meal plan entry from a recipe slug or exact name:

mealie plan set --date 2026-05-16 --type dinner --recipe pesto-chicken-stew-with-cheesy-dumplings

Delete a meal plan entry:

mealie plan delete --id 123

Valid meal types:

breakfast lunch dinner side snack drink dessert

plan set is intentionally conservative:

• It requires exactly one of --title or --recipe.
• Recipe references first match an exact slug. If the slug does not exist, they may match one exact case-insensitive recipe name. Multiple exact name matches return an ambiguous error with candidate names and slugs; fuzzy search results are never chosen.
• Existing entries are replaced only for the same date + type.
• The CLI deletes and recreates entries instead of updating in place, avoiding accidental preservation or mutation of unknown API fields.

Run the test suite:

cargo test

Check formatting:

cargo fmt --check

Run clippy as CI does:

cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings