Why build another recipe app?

TL;DR: There's no shortage of recipes anymore. But somewhere along the way, they stopped meaning anything.

I found most of my early recipes the same way everyone does: scrolling online, saving stuff from social media, maybe bookmarking a blog I'd never revisit. But the recipes I actually care about didn't come from the internet. They came from my great-grandma, passed to my grandma, then to my parents, and eventually to me. They came with context. With stories. With someone saying "don't skip that step, trust me."

Now we've got more recipes than anyone could cook in a lifetime, and AI just made that pile bigger. Most of them are forgettable. I wanted to build something that goes the other direction, a place where recipes feel like they belong to someone. Where they're worth holding onto and passing down, not just pinning and forgetting.

Using AI for recipes (the right way)

AI isn't great at making up recipes. And that's fine, because that's not what Remi is for.

Remi uses AI as a tool, not a chef. It helps you bring recipes into your cookbook: from photos of handwritten cards, screenshots, or URLs. And once a recipe is in your book, you can chat with Remi right from the recipe to adapt it or ask questions. It can even search the web for new recipes to add.

What the AI actually does

There are two places where AI shows up, and each one is about removing annoying busywork:

Recipe Import: Take a photo of a handwritten recipe card or paste in a URL. Remi pulls out the ingredients, steps, and timers so you're not sitting there retyping your aunt's cursive for twenty minutes.

Recipe Assistant: Every recipe has a built-in chat called "Ask Remi." Need grandma's lasagna to be gluten-free? Want to convert something for the slow cooker? Just ask. Remi can also search the web for recipes if you're looking to add something new to your book. The original always stays untouched.

Everything runs on a simple credit system. Any time you use an AI feature, you can see how many credits it used. No surprise charges.

Built for families, not content

Each family book supports up to 12 members with role-based access (viewer, reader, manager, owner), so you can control who does what at the book level.

You can attach notes and photos to any recipe. Because sometimes the story behind the dish is the whole reason you're making it in the first place.

You can also create recipe variants, so grandma's original can stay untouched while everyone branches off with their own twist.

Quick tech note

For anyone curious about what's under the hood:

• AI: Vercel AI SDK with Tavily for web search
• Recipes: Cooklang, a structured, plain-English format that makes scaling and editing actually reliable
• Frontend: React 19, TanStack Start & Router, Tailwind, shadcn/ui
• Backend: Drizzle ORM, Postgres, Cloudflare R2
• Payments: Stripe with one-time purchases and optional credit packs