Frequently Asked Questions

What is Home Cook Assistant?

Home Cook Assistant is a free AI-powered cooking companion that helps you manage recipes, track your pantry, plan meals, and generate shopping lists. It is built for everyday home cooks who want to spend less time planning and more time cooking.

How does recipe importing work?

Paste any recipe URL and our AI reads the page, extracts the ingredients, instructions, and nutrition information, and saves it to your personal collection in a clean, consistent format. You can also snap a photo of a recipe from a cookbook or handwritten card and the AI will digitize it for you.

What are AI credits?

Credits are used for AI-powered features like recipe generation, URL importing, recipe chat, and AI variations. Different operations use different amounts. Free accounts receive 10 credits per month. Purchased credit packs never expire and are used after your monthly allowance runs out.

Is my recipe data private?

Yes. Recipes you save are private by default and only visible to members of your household. You can choose to publish a recipe to the community, which creates a separate public copy. Your private recipe remains yours and can always be edited freely. Deleting your private copy does not remove the published version.

How does the community recipe library work?

The community library contains recipes shared by other users. Every submitted recipe goes through an AI-assisted review process, and flagged recipes are reviewed by a human moderator before appearing publicly. You can browse, search, and save any community recipe to your personal collection for free.

What is a collaborative home?

A home is a shared space for up to 4 people (family, roommates, partners). Everyone in a home shares the same pantry, shopping list, and meal calendar. Recipes are shared too — any member can view, edit, or cook meals planned by other members.

How does the pantry work?

The pantry tracks what ingredients you have at home. When you generate a shopping list from your meal plan, the app automatically subtracts pantry items so you only buy what you need. When you mark a meal as cooked, the ingredients are removed from your pantry. You can undo this if you change your mind.

What is Menu Roulette?

Menu Roulette picks random recipes from your saved collection (and optionally the community library) to fill your meal plan. You choose how many mains, sides, and desserts you want, lock any picks you like, and re-roll the rest. It is a great way to break out of cooking ruts.

What is BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)?

BYOK lets you use your own API keys for Google Gemini or Anthropic Claude instead of our shared keys. This gives you unlimited AI usage at a lower subscription cost. Your keys are stored encrypted and never shared. You are responsible for any charges on your own API accounts.

How accurate is the nutrition information?

Nutrition values (calories, protein, carbs, fat, fiber, sodium) are estimated by AI based on the recipe ingredients and serving size. They are approximate and should not be relied upon for medical, dietary, or allergy-related decisions. Always consult a qualified professional for precise nutrition guidance.

Can I use the app on my phone?

Home Cook Assistant works on any device with a web browser — desktop, tablet, or phone. The interface adapts to your screen size automatically. A native Android app is also available for download.

How do I delete my account?

You can request account deletion by emailing hello@homecookassistant.app. We will delete your account and all associated data within 30 days. Published community recipes that have been detached from your account will remain in the community library unless you explicitly request their removal.

Who built this?

Home Cook Assistant is built and operated by KiloByte Software LLC, a software company based in Georgia, USA. For questions, suggestions, or support, email us at hello@homecookassistant.app.