Recipy

Recipy is a modern web application designed to simplify meal planning and recipe generation using AI technology. Built with Next.js, Tailwind CSS, and Airtable, Recipy offers a responsive design that works seamlessly across all devices. The application allows users to generate personalized recipes based on their available ingredients, dietary restrictions, and the number of people they are cooking for. Users can preview recipes with detailed nutritional information and manage their recipes efficiently using Airtable.

The inspiration for Recipy came from the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. With limited grocery shopping options and the need for repetitive meal choices, the creators aimed to make meal planning easier for everyone, including front-line workers. Recipy provides a user-friendly interface where users can input their ingredients, and the app suggests a variety of dishes and meals that can be made. The front-end of the application is built using Next.js, React, and TypeScript, while the styling is done with Tailwind CSS. The database is managed using Airtable, and AI integration is achieved through the OpenAI API. State management is handled using React Hooks.

The development team overcame several challenges to create a well-formatted and responsive website. They are particularly proud of the input UI, which is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly. For some team members, this was their first time developing a full-stack web application, and they are pleased with the coordination and outcome. The team learned how to use React's lifecycle methods to make the website more dynamic and how to properly pass data between the front and back-ends.

Future plans for Recipy include implementing an image recognition tool that allows users to upload an image of their ingredients. The app will automatically detect the ingredients and search for appropriate recipes. The API provides additional information about each recipe, such as nutritional facts, which could be used to add features like filters to the queried recipes or additional information displays.

To install Recipy, users can runpip install recipyor clone the repository and runpython setup.py install. Dependencies can be installed manually by runningpip install -r requirements.txt. Users can upgrade from a previous release by runningpip install -U recipy. Previous versions of Recipy required MongoDB to be installed and set up manually, but this is no longer required as a pure Python database (TinyDB) is used instead. The GUI is now fully integrated into Recipy and does not require separate installation.