The quick guide
How to use Chive.
This guide walks through how to make the most of Chive. Jump to any section from the bar above.
Browse your recipes
Track
Cook
Shop
Repeat
How Chive works
Track
A pantry built as you shop. Every item from your grocery list lands in the pantry with best-before dates, photos, and nutrition.
Cook
Get recipe ideas from what you have in stock. Import your own recipes from anywhere, and add missing ingredients to your grocery list.
Shop
A grocery list that works for you. Quick-add with Siri, auto-sorted by aisle, price estimates from your store, and send your list to the Instacart® app in one tap.
Repeat
Used up or expired, items come back to your list. Chive flags the staples you’re running low on, so you restock before you run out.
Each step feeds the next, and the more you use it, the more powerful it becomes.
The basics
Find your way around.
Four tabs run along the bottom. The round + button opens actions for the tab you are viewing.
List holds what you want to buy. Pantry tracks what you have and opens as the main screen. Recipes is your cookbook. Settings holds preferences and account tools.
On Pantry or List, tap + to add food by photo, barcode, receipt, or product search, or to add an item to your grocery list.
On Recipes, tap + to import from a link or social post, paste recipe text, scan a cookbook page, or write a recipe. If an action is missing, check which tab you are viewing.
Ask Chive appears at the bottom-right on most screens. Tap it to type, or press and hold to talk.
Setup
How to set up your kitchen.
The setup wizard opens the first time you use Chive. Complete these four steps to prepare your home.
1
Choose your region
Choose Canada, the US, or Australia. Chive sets the currency, units, and date format to match.
2
Name your home and choose stores
A home is the kitchen you manage in Chive. Your stores determine which product names and price estimates Chive shows.
3
Set up your zones
Zones are storage locations. Chive starts with Fridge, Freezer, Pantry, Counter, Spice Rack, Bar, and Household Supplies. Add custom zones with their own icon and colour. You can change which item categories go to each zone in Settings.
4
Import your data (optional)
To bring data from ReciMe, Paprika, Kitchen Pal, Pantry Check, a saved CozZo CSV, or a spreadsheet, open Settings → Import & Export at any time.
Grocery list
Build and use your grocery list.
Your list groups itself by aisle and shows price estimates from your stores.
Add an item. Type in the search bar at the top of the Grocery List. On iPhone, you can also use Siri or the Chive widget.
Use Suggestions. Tap the empty search bar to see items Chive predicts you may need, based on what you use up, repurchase, or have expiring. Tap a suggestion to add it.
Edit or remove an item. Tap it to select, rename, change its quantity, or delete it. Swipe either direction to remove it quickly.
Shop in person. Check off items as you shop, then tap Add to Pantry to move what you bought into your pantry.
Shop with Instacart®. Tap Shop on Instacart, then send your whole list or only checked items. When you return, Chive asks before moving them into your pantry.
Scan a receipt. Capture prices and add purchases that were not on your list.
Scan a barcode. Tap + on the Grocery List, then Scan Barcode to compare nearby prices or add the product to your list.Beta
Add the iOS widget. On the iPhone Home Screen, touch and hold, tap +, search for Chive, and choose a size. The widget includes quick actions for barcode scanning and photos, plus pantry statistics.
Add by voice with Siri. On iPhone, open Settings → Siri & Shortcuts, turn on Reminders Sync, and choose a Reminders list. Ask Siri to add an item to that list from your iPhone, Apple Watch, HomePod, or CarPlay. Chive imports and clears those reminders the next time you open the app.
Pantry · adding items
How to add items to your pantry.
From Pantry, tap the + button in the bottom bar and choose how you want to add food.
Search & Add: find an existing product or create one, then add it to your pantry.
Add to Grocery List: add the item to your shopping list instead of your pantry.
Scan code: scan one barcode, scan several items in sequence, or follow a supported partner QR code to add a food-box delivery and its recipes.
Scan Receipt: photograph a receipt to add its items and prices.
Snap Items: photograph several items together and let Chive identify them.
Forward email receipts: send store receipts to the private address in Settings → Email Receipts. They appear in your review queue automatically.
When available, Chive adds a suggested best-before date, photo, and nutrition information to each item.
The + menu changes on Recipes; use it there to add or import recipes.
Pantry · managing
How to manage your pantry.
Your pantry is everything you have on hand, sorted into zones.
Update quantity. Tap an item, then use + or −. Using − on the last unit marks the item empty and offers Undo.
Open full details. Press and hold an item to view its photo, price history, nutrition, and other fields.
Manage several items. Tap Select to restock or remove items in bulk.
Move an item. Press and hold it, then change Location in its details.
Low adds an item you still have to your grocery list. Restock does the same after it is gone.
Expiring food
How to stay on top of expiring food.
The Expiring banner shows food that is expired or needs attention soon.
Set reminders. Open Settings → Notifications, turn on expiry and low-stock alerts, and choose how much warning you want.
Act from the banner. Mark an item kept, used up, or tossed, or add it to your grocery list.
Complete the Weekly Review. It runs Sunday evening by default; change the schedule in Settings → Notifications. Review each expiring item, choose Keep or Used up, and begin next week’s list.
See what’s expiring and act on it
Cook
How to cook from what you have.
Use your pantry to find recipes, check ingredients, and track what you cook.
On Recipes, open Sort & Filter. Filter by pantry readiness, cook history, meal details, diet, cuisine, source, or tags. You can save supported filters as a smart collection.
Open a recipe and tap Do I have everything? Chive matches its ingredients to your pantry. Add individual ingredients to your grocery list, or add everything missing at once; quantities adjust to your servings.
Ask Chive “What can I make right now?” for ideas based on your pantry.
Modify a recipe. Open it, tap the chat icon, and describe the change. Review the result, then save it as a new version, replace the original, or revert.
Cook step by step. Tap Start Cooking, swipe between steps, and tap a time to start a timer. Use the chat icon—or press and hold—to ask for help.
Record the meal. Tap Log This Cook to rate it and save leftovers. Chive updates your pantry and offers to restock what you used.
Recipes · import
How to import recipes from anywhere.
Add a recipe from a social post, website, text, or cookbook photo.
Social post: on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or Pinterest, tap Share and choose Chive. You can also paste the post link into Chive.
Website: paste the recipe link and tap Import Recipe.
Text: paste a caption, email, or note and tap Extract Recipe.
Cookbook: photograph a page and tap Keep page. Repeat for additional pages, then tap Done.
Each import first enters the Import Inbox. Review it, retry it if needed, then save it to Recipes.
Chive creates a recipe card with scalable ingredients and per-serving nutrition when available. It also keeps the source link.
Import from anywhere
Any linkPasted textCookbook photoA screenshot
One clean recipe cardPlan
How to plan your week with Up Next.
Up Next is a queue for recipes you plan to cook soon. Use it to schedule meals and shop for missing ingredients together.
Queue a recipe. Tap its pot icon to add it to Up Next.
Schedule it. Choose a day, or leave it in On deck until you decide. Scheduled meals appear under This week.
Reschedule it. Use the date chip or overflow menu to choose another day or return it to On deck.
Shop for the plan. Tap Add to list to add missing ingredients from all planned meals. Chive removes duplicates.
Complete a meal. Tap Log cook to rate it, save leftovers, and optionally deduct ingredients from your pantry. Logging removes the recipe from Up Next.
Queue and schedule what you’ll cook
Assistant
How to use the assistant.
Ask Chive uses your pantry, recipes, and saved preferences to give kitchen-specific answers. It asks for approval before adding anything to your grocery list.
Start a conversation. Tap the chat bubble to type. To speak, press and hold, then tap to send. Chive can also read answers aloud.
Add ingredients. Ask Chive to prepare them for your list. It combines duplicates, scales quantities, sorts by aisle, and asks before adding them.
Create a recipe. Ask for a specific dish, such as “shrimp fried rice using what I have.” Chive builds a full recipe and shows its progress.New
Use a photo. Photograph ingredients or a finished meal to get a matching recipe suggestion.
Get cooking help. Ask a technique question, such as “How do I get a good sear?” You can ask hands-free while cooking.
Personalize answers. In Settings → Chat Personalization, add details such as “We’re vegetarian” or “Family of four.”
Send feedback. Ask to report a bug or request a feature, tap Report this, review the prefilled report, and submit it.
Connect another AI app (Chive+). Open Settings → Connect AI apps to approve access for ChatGPT, Claude, or another compatible app. You can revoke access at any time.
What can I cook tonight with what I have? Add the ingredients for mushroom risotto to my list. How do I get a good sear on a steak? Help me organize my recipes into collections.
Share
Share a recipe, list, or home.
Public links share one recipe or grocery list. Home invitations give another Chive user access to your shared kitchen.
Share a recipe. Open it and tap Share recipe. Anyone with the public link can view it without an account; Chive users can save a copy.
Share your grocery list. Open the Grocery List and tap the share button. The public link always shows the current list; Chive users can copy it. Reopen the share dialog to disable either type of public link.
Share your complete home. Open Settings → Home and tap Generate & Copy Invite Link. Each link works once and expires after 7 days. Members share the same pantry, list, and recipes.
Manage members. In Settings → Home, remove a member or transfer home ownership at any time.
Add another home (Chive+). In Settings → Home, tap Add a home to create a separate kitchen. When you have multiple homes, use the switcher at the top of the app to move between them.
Share any saved recipe
Settings
Review your key settings.
Open the Settings tab to manage these preferences and account tools.
Notifications: turn on expiry and low-stock alerts, choose the warning period, and schedule the Weekly Review.
Zones: create, reorder, rename, recolour, or change the icon for a storage location.
Default assignments: choose which zone receives each item category automatically.
My Stores: enable up to five retailers for price estimates. In the US, choose your nearest Kroger.
Chat Personalization: add household details that Ask Chive should use in its answers.
Connect AI apps (Chive+): connect an approved home to ChatGPT, Claude, or another compatible app, and review or revoke access.
AI features (iPhone): choose on-device dictation or the cloud engine for press-and-hold voice questions.New
Also here: Allergens & diets (beta), Appearance (light or dark, text size, haptics on iOS), Region & units, and Import / Export for ReciMe, Paprika, Kitchen Pal, Pantry Check, a saved CozZo CSV, or a spreadsheet.
Everything in one place
Power feature · Chive+
Optional: connect another AI app.
With Chive+, apps that support Model Context Protocol (MCP), including ChatGPT and Claude, can use one Chive home you approve.
In Chive, open Settings → Connect AI apps and copy the hosted MCP URL.
In the other app, add a custom MCP server or integration and paste the URL.
Sign in to Chive, choose a home, review the requested access, and approve it. You do not need to copy a password or token.
Ask questions such as “What’s expiring this week?” or “What can I make for dinner?”, or request an action such as “Add oat milk to my list.”
Review or revoke connected apps from Settings → Connect AI apps. Each connection remains limited to the home and access you approved.
If the other app does not support the hosted connection, Mac and Windows users can use the legacy Claude Desktop connector.
Connect AI apps
Hosted Chive connectionWhat’s expiring this week?What can I make for dinner?Add oat milk to my list.
Free vs Chive+
What you get on each plan.
The Free plan includes Chive’s core kitchen tools with monthly and capacity limits. Chive+ removes those limits and adds price comparison, more household members, and multiple homes.
Free
Core pantry, grocery list, recipe, and barcode-scanning tools.
AI features each month: 10 chats, 7 photo scans, 2 receipt scans, 2 cookbook scans, 3 recipe imports, 5 voice adds.
Up to 75 pantry items, 2 recipe collections, and 2 people in your household.
Best for one person managing a single kitchen.
Chive+
No monthly caps on AI chat, scanning, voice, or recipe imports.
Unlimited pantry items and recipe collections, plus full purchase & price history.
Price comparison across your stores, up to 6 household members, and multiple homes.
Comes with a 14-day free trial. Manage or cancel anytime: iOS via the App Store, web via the billing portal.
Review your usage or upgrade in Settings → Plan & Billing. Reaching a limit never deletes your data.
That’s the loop
Now go make dinner. Chive’s got the rest.
Shop from a list, track what you buy, cook what you have, and let the list refill itself. Each step feeds the next.
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