Usage

ClipCookBook is designed to be as simple as possible to use. This guide explains the basic features of the website.

Adding a Recipe

To save a new recipe, follow these steps:

  1. Click the + Add button in the navigation bar at the top of the page.
  2. Paste the link of a recipe video (for example from an Instagram Reel, TikTok video, or YouTube Short) into the input field.
  3. Optionally enable Deep Search when the caption is empty or incomplete and you want the AI to analyze the video itself.
  4. Click Extract.
  5. The application will download the video in the background, analyze it, and write out the ingredients and preparation method for you. This can take a few seconds to a minute, depending on the size of the video and your internet connection.
  6. Once complete, you'll be redirected to the specific recipe page or the homepage, ready to enjoy your new recipe!

How AI decides text vs video

With PROCESS_METHOD=ai (the default):

  • Deep Search on → skips text-only analysis and goes straight to video AI.
  • Very short caption (roughly under 40 characters) → also goes straight to video AI.
  • Substantial caption that is clearly not a recipe → import fails without downloading/analyzing video.
  • If text AI and video AI both fail, the import fails with a clear error (no silent fallback to a heuristic parser).

Instagram notes

Instagram often requires a valid cookie file for video downloads. Without it, ClipCookBook may still import a recipe from public caption/thumbnail metadata, but without the video. Manage cookies at /cookies — see Instagram & Cookies.

The Homepage / Overview

On the homepage you'll find all your saved recipes. These are presented in a clear list of videos.

You can:
- Scroll through all your recipes.
- Immediately see the results of the extracted ingredients and instructions.
- Click the Share button to give friends or family access to specific recipes.

Sharing Recipes

Each recipe has a special "share" link (for example /share/[id]). This link is accessible to anyone (if you make your server available over the internet), without having to log into your management environment.

Email alerts

If SMTP is configured and SMTP_ALERT_TO is set, you can receive one-off or operational emails for:

  • Failed automatic backups
  • Missing media
  • Expired or invalid Instagram / yt-dlp cookies (once, until cookies work again)

Errors or Strange Extractions?

The AI is generally very accurate, but depending on the complexity or speed of speech in the source video, small errors may appear in the ingredients or steps. Always check the video fragment in the player just to be sure when you're about to cook a recipe.