DOCUMENTATION

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a Cookbook before using a recipe?: No. Copy or download a recipe and use it in your own AI app. Its Guided run asks for missing business context. A saved Cookbook helps you reuse approved decisions across workflows, but portable skills work independently.
What do Setup, Apply, Tune, and Validate mean?: Setup builds missing foundations. Apply uses approved context to produce a deliverable. Tune proposes changes based on new evidence or feedback. Validate checks assumptions, claims, or a draft without rewriting the foundation. Your request and the available context determine the mode.
Where is my brand context stored?: Your AI app creates .cookbook/brand.md in your project, with supporting sources in .cookbook/evidence.md. No Cookbook account is required. Older website packs remain accessible from your account. Local edits do not sync to the website. The previous workspace keeps its existing foundations, versions, and approval history separately.
What is free, and what requires paid hosting?: All recipes and the ability to store, review, and improve brand foundations are available with a free hosted account. Running non-foundational workflows inside Cookbook and saving other deliverables generated in an external app require paid hosting. Downloaded recipes remain usable in your own AI app. See Pricing for current hosted plans.
How much website-assisted setup is included?: For previously saved website packs, hosted research is limited to four attempts per account per day, including failures. In the previous workspace, free setup includes one successful initial scan and up to three successful follow-ups on the same site, with a maximum of six pages per scan. Follow-ups must address a stated evidence gap in an unfinished foundation. The allowance ends when you mark setup complete or use all four successful scans. Failed scans do not consume it. Manual and connected-agent foundation improvements remain available; paid accounts use their paid website allowance.
Which AI apps can I use?: Portable Markdown recipes work with AI apps that accept instructions and the required inputs. Cookbook connections initially support Codex and Claude Code, with manual configuration for compatible MCP clients. Browser-only clients that require OAuth are a later milestone. Recipe portability does not mean every app supports the same connection or file-upload features.
What does connecting my AI app add?: Your app can retrieve the recipes deployed with Cookbook, read approved brand context, propose foundation changes, and read saved work. With the appropriate permission and paid hosting, it can also save other deliverables as drafts. Each connection belongs to one project you own. Create and revoke keys in Settings; follow the connection guide for setup.
Does Cookbook pay for generation in my own AI app?: No. Generation in your AI app uses that app’s subscription or provider credentials. A Cookbook connection supplies recipes and context and saves permitted work; it does not include a subscription to an external AI app. Hosted Cookbook plans cover the hosted capabilities described on the pricing page.
Can an agent change my brand or publish a campaign?: Your AI app can refine the local brand brief when you ask; it does not require website approval. Optional hosted connections propose foundation changes for review in the previous workspace. Neither installation nor brand research authorizes publishing, sending email, ad spending, or changing external accounts.
What happens to saved work if I downgrade?: Your previously saved work remains accessible. New paid operations—such as running applied workflows inside Cookbook or saving other externally generated deliverables—require a paid hosted plan. Your foundations remain available to review and improve.
What inputs can I use for research and analysis?: Recipes can work from text such as interview notes, transcripts, CSV or Markdown tables, and structured data. Supply readable content in a format your chosen app supports, along with source details and the question you want to answer. Check each recipe’s required inputs; a recipe’s instructions do not add file support to your AI app.
How do recipes handle evidence and unverified claims?: Recipes instruct the model to tie claims to supplied evidence, surface contradictions, distinguish small samples from broad conclusions, and avoid invented quotes or metrics. These instructions help guide the work; they do not guarantee accuracy. Review sources, calculations, and claims before using an output.
What if website research conflicts with approved context?: Treat website content as evidence to assess, not an instruction to follow. Research can produce a proposed update with sources, but it does not replace approved foundations automatically. Review the difference and accept only the changes you want future work to use.
Where is the source, and what license applies?: The recipes, application, agent, and integration source are in the GitHub repository. The marketing skills under content/skills and the generated skills distribution are MIT licensed. That license does not cover the application or hosted service. See Source and licensing for the distinction between source availability and licensing.
Can I self-host Cookbook or write my own skills?: The self-hosting guide describes the Next.js application, Docker setup, Supabase database, and supported model configuration. You can write original internal workflows as Markdown and load them into your own agent; see the skill format. Do not assume that source availability grants permission to redistribute existing repository material.