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Guide 12 · FAQ + Troubleshooting

FAQ + Troubleshooting

Everything from the in-app Help FAQ, organized by surface and expanded with the honest notes already threaded through the other 12 guides — ending with the real way to report a bug or ask for something new.

Using FoodGenie

  • Do I have to add a minimum number of items during onboarding?

    No — the staples step during setup is entirely optional, with no target count to hit. Add one item or fifty, and add more anytime later from the Kitchen page.

  • Will a tip card I dismissed come back?

    No — once you dismiss a tip on a device, it's gone for good there. It's stored on that device, not your account, so a different device will still show it once.

Recipes & the Clipper

  • Why does my imported recipe need review before it's saved?

    Recognizing ingredients from a page, photo, or pasted text isn't perfect. The short review step lets you confirm or fix anything before it saves — and, for public imports, before it publishes.

  • I pasted a URL and got a preview card, but pasting text skipped straight to review — is that a bug?

    Not a bug — that's the intended difference. A URL import has structured page data to double-check the parse against first, so you get a preview card. A pasted block of text doesn't have that same structured source to compare against, so it drops you straight into the review wizard instead. Guide 2 covers both paths in full.

Kitchen & inventory

  • What happens if I don't set an expiry date?

    FoodGenie estimates a shelf life by food type, so the freshness chips still work without one. You can set an exact date on any item at any time.

  • I scanned a receipt and one line looks flagged — what does that mean?

    Every scanned line stays visible next to the raw text FoodGenie read off the receipt, so a bad read is easy to catch. Anything the matcher isn't confident about is flagged for a quick check before it commits — it never silently assigns the wrong ingredient. Receipt prices are shown for reference only; they're never saved to your inventory.

  • I marked an ingredient as used, but Cook Now still shows I have it — why?

    Marking something used or wasted zeroes its quantity for your records, but the row itself stays, and matching doesn't currently check that history. It can keep counting as “have” until you actually remove it from your kitchen inventory, not just mark it used — see guide 9 for the full explanation.

Shopping

  • Do I need to connect a Kroger account?

    No — the shopping list works fine without it. Connecting (from the Shopping list page) adds live prices, aisle info, and a one-tap send-to-cart.

  • Why does a price on my shopping list look out of date?

    Because it can genuinely be up to a full day old, not a minute — FoodGenie caches Kroger price quotes server-side for up to 24 hours due to a daily limit on how often it can ask Kroger. The always-available “Refresh” button re-checks things on your end, but can still hand back that same day-old number. See guide 5's “Prices, honestly” section for the full breakdown.

Meal planner & menus

  • I turned off every meal type and my week grid looks empty — is something broken?

    Nothing’s broken — the grid tells you plainly: “All meals hidden — turn a meal back on to plan.” Turn breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks back on and your plan reappears exactly as you left it.

  • I asked for Plan my week and it didn't actually add anything — why?

    Building the proposal is a read-only preview, on purpose — nothing is written to your plan until you tap Confirm. A one-tap Undo removes exactly what that confirm just added, if you change your mind.

  • I added a Food Guide ingredient to a new menu and it shows as plain text, not a photo card — why?

    Depends which door you used. Adding a Food Guide item while building on a menu you already have renders a full photo card. Adding one while first creating a brand-new menu currently lands as plain text instead — same food, two different creation paths. Use “+ Add dish” on an existing menu for the richer result.

The Genie & AI content

  • What does the "Created by the Genie" badge mean?

    The recipe was written and saved by the Genie itself, not imported from anywhere — the badge reads "AI-generated, review before relying on it," and it’s separate from the general AI note every recipe carries.

  • Why does every recipe say to verify times, quantities, and allergens — even ones I imported myself?

    Because AI is part of how every import gets parsed and enriched, not just the ones the Genie wrote from scratch — so the disclaimer shows on every recipe page, regardless of authorship.

  • Does the Genie know about everyone's allergies in my household, all the time?

    Yes, both ways. In an interactive chat, it aggregates every household member’s allergens and dislikes, not just yours. The automated “plan my week” fill now screens the same household-wide allergen set too — member dislikes and taste preferences stay the requester’s own, and it’s still best-effort (sulfites, mustard, and anything missing from a member’s profile can’t be screened automatically). See guide 10’s “Dietary signals & the Genie” section for the full explanation.

Households & sharing

  • I invited someone — why can't they see our meal plan yet?

    An invite only takes effect once the recipient actually accepts it (signing up or signing in from the invite link) — nothing is shared with them before that.

  • Does my guest need a FoodGenie account to open an event link and RSVP?

    No — an event share link works for anyone, signed in or not. They see the invitation, the menu, and can RSVP directly, no sign-in wall in the way. See guide 10’s “Events & RSVP links” section for the full explanation.

  • Can I belong to two households and switch between them?

    Not yet — every account belongs to exactly one household at a time today. Joining a different household replaces your current one rather than adding a second. Guide 10 covers this in full.

Account, privacy & data

  • Where can I read about privacy and my data?

    See Privacy & data — what we collect, why, and the controls to export or delete it — plus guide 11 for the full walkthrough of what’s actually self-serve today.

  • Can I export everything FoodGenie has on me?

    Not everything yet — today’s export covers your profile, dietary settings, and consent history, generated immediately as a real downloadable file. Recipes, meal plans, and inventory aren’t included yet.

  • I asked to delete my account — is my data gone right away?

    Your account deactivates and signs you out immediately. Actually erasing your data is, during our closed beta, a manual process a person on the team completes — typically within 30 days, not an instant automated purge. Guide 11 has the full explanation.

Report a bug or request a feature

Look in the left sidebar, right above your account menu — two buttons, “Report Bug” and “Feature Request,” are always there while you’re signed in.

  1. Open the form

    Either button opens a small form — it auto-fills the page you were on, so you don’t have to describe where you were.

  2. Say what happened, or what you’d like

    A short message (5 to 5,000 characters) is all it takes.

  3. Send it

    That’s the whole flow — no ticket number to track down, no separate site to visit.

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