Build Pestle

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Saved on this device only. Tick prerequisites first, then work the phases in order · do not start one until the checks above it pass.

A household recipe box whose hard problems are a cooking mode that keeps working when the browser throttles it, a shopping list two people can tick offline without losing an item, and keeping the whole box portable enough to leave.

estimated effort one sittingthe files for this build are in the project pack

RuntimeNext.js with TypeScript, installed to the home screen as a local-first web appStorageSQLite on a small server for the household, with a local copy in the browserTimersStored end timestamps, remaining time computed from the clock on every renderList syncPer item state with last-writer-wins on the item, never on the listPortabilityWhole-box export as JSON plus images, importable into an empty instance

Before step 1

Everything below is assumed from the first step. Tick each one when you actually have it, not when you plan to.

installfree
Why Runs the household server and the build.
Get it nodejs.org or your version manager. open ↗
Verify node --version prints v22 or higher
have readyfree
Why Cooking mode, the wake lock and the timer reconciliation can only be judged on the device that will be on a worktop with wet hands.
Get it Open the app on the phone over the local network and add it to the home screen.
Verify A timer started and backgrounded reports correctly on return
have readyfree on hardware you own, or a few pounds a month
Why The household needs one place to agree with, and the wake lock and installability both want a secure origin.
Get it Any small machine or home server with a local certificate, or a cheap instance with a real one.
Verify Two devices reach the same household over a valid certificate
have readyfree
Why The list merge is the part most likely to lose data and it cannot be tested with one device.
Get it Any second phone, tablet or browser profile that can be put into aeroplane mode.
Verify Both devices edit offline and reconcile without loss

Data model

Create these before the first phase that stores anything. Changing a table later is the expensive kind of change.

- recipes(id, title, source_url, source_name, servings, notes, created_by, updated_at)
- ingredients(recipe_id, position, quantity, unit, item, note) · structured rather than a free text line, because the list depends on it
- steps(recipe_id, position, text, timer_seconds) · a step may carry a suggested duration that becomes a timer
- cooks(id, recipe_id, started_at, current_step, finished_at) · one run through a recipe, so you can leave and come back
- timers(id, cook_id, label, ends_at, acknowledged_at, cancelled_at) · an end time, never a remaining count
- list_items(id, household_id, text, quantity, unit, source_recipe_id, state, state_changed_at, changed_by) · state is needed, in trolley or done
- members(id, household_id, name, joined_at) and households(id, name, invite_code, created_at)

Environment variables

These go in a .env file the app reads at startup. The pack's .env.example is this table as a file · copy it, never commit the filled-in version.

Variable	Needed	Example	Where the value comes from
`DATABASE_PATH`	required	`./data/household.db`	Recipes, lists, cooks and timers. Back this up; recipes are typed once.
`IMAGE_DIR`	required	`./data/images`	Recipe photos. Included in every export as files.
`PUBLIC_BASE_URL`	required	`https://kitchen.local`	Used in invite links and needed for a secure origin.
`INVITE_CODE_TTL_HOURS`	required	`48`	How long a household invite code stays valid.
`MAX_IMAGE_BYTES`	required	`2097152`	Per photo, after the device resizes it.
`BACKUP_DIR`	required	`./backups`	Scheduled archives of the database and images together.

The build, in order

1
A box that opens in a kitchen
Recipes are structured, editable and readable on a phone with no signal.
1. Everything downstream depends on quantity and unit existing.
  Files src/db/schema.tssrc/lib/ingredients.ts
2. A stale copy you know about is fine; one you do not is not.
  Files src/lib/offline.ts
3. Doubling a cake does not double the bake.
  Files src/lib/scale.tstests/scale.test.ts
done when · tick each as it passes
watch out
- Storing ingredients as one text line per row is quick and makes every later feature impossible, because a shopping list cannot merge two hundred grams of butter with a knob of butter when neither has a quantity or a unit. Store quantity, unit and item separately from the start and accept a fiddlier entry form.
next phase
2
Cooking mode, and clocks you can trust
The screen stays on when it can, and every timer is correct when you come back to it.
1. The clock is the only thing that keeps running.
  Files src/lib/timers.tstests/timers.test.ts
2. The lock is dropped when the page goes away and does not come back by itself.
  Files src/lib/wakelock.ts
3. One honest sentence beats a silent failure over a hot pan.
  Files src/app/cook/page.tsx
done when · tick each as it passes
watch out
- Building the timer as a countdown in a repeating callback means that when the phone locks or the tab goes to the background the callback is throttled or stopped, and the user returns to a timer showing four minutes left that should have rung twenty minutes ago. Store the end time, compute from the clock, and reconcile on every wake.
next phase
3
A list two people can tick at once
Two members editing the list offline both keep their changes.
1. This is the difference between a household tool and an argument.
  Files src/lib/list-sync.tstests/list-merge.test.ts
2. A stale device will otherwise bring the milk back.
  Files src/lib/list.ts
3. So removing a meal from the plan can remove its items.
  Files src/lib/list.ts
done when · tick each as it passes
watch out
- Syncing the list as one document and taking whichever copy was saved most recently means the person in the shop who ticked off eight things overwrites the person at home who added three, and nobody finds out until dinner. Merge per item on the time its own state changed, and keep deletions as tombstones so a slow device cannot resurrect them.
4
A household, and the door outproduct builder
People can join and leave cleanly, and the whole box can be exported and reimported.
1. They are the part nobody can recreate.
  Files scripts/export.tstests/export.test.ts
2. People leave households; their recipes should not.
  Files src/lib/members.ts
3. The first restore should not be the one that matters.
  Files tests/restore.test.ts
done when · tick each as it passes
watch out
- Exporting recipes as JSON while leaving the photos on the server means the export looks complete and is missing the only part nobody can retype, and people discover this when the server is already gone. Export images as files alongside the JSON, reference them by relative path, and test the import into an empty instance rather than assuming it.

what this build does not replace

Scraping recipes from other people's sites.
Retailer ordering and barcode product data.
Smart home and appliance integrations.
Nutrition figures.
native Apple polish, recipe import, hands-free mode, sync, and family sharing
frictionless family sync
retailer and smart-home integrations
large recipe or product database
mobile polish

after v1, if you want it

A weekly plan that feeds the list and can be undone as one action when the week changes
A printable list grouped by shop aisle, which is the feature people actually use in a supermarket
A pantry with rough quantities, which only becomes useful once the list merge has been trusted for a while

Need the files? The project pack on the verdict page hands your agent the whole brief · more home.