Merran 0.1.0-alpha.5

🎉 Highlights

• Connect external AI apps with MCP. Compatible clients can use OAuth or a scoped API key to read permitted recipes, plans, shopping lists, and pantry data. They can suggest new recipes, recipe edits, meals, and list items; every change waits for review in Merran.
• More ways to sign in. Operators can enable passkeys, authenticator-based two-step sign-in with recovery codes, or single sign-on through one OIDC provider.
• Household-scoped connected apps. OAuth connections for MCP and REST use explicit household consent and permissions. People can review and disconnect apps in Settings.
• Clearer everyday workflows. Recipe proposals show before-and-after changes more clearly, Settings has section navigation, and forms and confirmations open in bottom drawers on phones.

✨ New features

• Selective ci @kjohnson2719 (#29)
• Add MCP access with scoped API keys and reviewable proposals @kjohnson2719 (#30)
• Add passkeys, two-factor authentication, OIDC sign-in, and OAuth connections @kjohnson2719 (#31)
• Improve proposal comparisons, recipe previews, and mobile review @kjohnson2719 (#33)
• Organize settings and add section navigation @kjohnson2719 (#34)
• Use drawers for mobile dialogs @kjohnson2719 (#36)

🐛 Bug fixes

• Clamp long recipe descriptions on desktop @kjohnson2719 (#35)
• Use shared Select styling across the app @kjohnson2719 (#37)

📚 Documentation

• Release alpha.4 reconciliation @kjohnson2719 (#28)
• Record MCP OAuth and Bitwarden passkey verification @kjohnson2719 (#32)
• Prepare alpha.5 release documentation @kjohnson2719 (#38)

🧰 Maintenance

• Organize services and shared assistant tools @kjohnson2719 (#27)

🙏 New contributors

No one new this time.

Getting it

docker pull ghcr.io/merran-app/merran:0.1.0-alpha.5

With the compose file in the repo, docker compose pull && docker compose up -d. The browser extension's zips are below: load the one for your browser as an unpacked extension (see apps/extension/README.md).

The image is signed: cosign verify ghcr.io/merran-app/merran:0.1.0-alpha.5 --certificate-identity-regexp 'https://github.com/merran-app/merran/' --certificate-oidc-issuer https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com

Full changelog: v0.1.0-alpha.4...v0.1.0-alpha.5

Merran 0.1.0-alpha.4

🎉 Highlights

Alpha.4 makes Merran easier to use at the grocery store and more flexible when dinner plans change.

• 🛒 A dedicated shopping mode. Start a shopping trip for a focused aisle view with larger checkboxes and screen-awake support. Set unavailable items aside, try another store, and review purchases and outstanding items before finishing—all without needing a retailer connection.
• 🔄 Substitutions that follow through to dinner. Replace an unavailable ingredient across selected planned meals, with updated quantities, cooking instructions, and shopping needs. Get tailored ideas with optional AI or enter replacements yourself. Your library recipes stay unchanged unless you explicitly choose to update one.
• 🏪 Clearer store shopping. See which items need a product, are ready to send, or have already been sent to a cart directly from your list. Review products and pack sizes without losing your place, and inspect which meals contribute to each ingredient.
• 📅 Easier changes to the week. Drag meals between days, meal slots, and the any-day pool, with immediate updates and Undo. “Already planned” badges help you spot repeats when choosing meals and sides.
• ✉️ Household invitations and password recovery by email. Configure optional SMTP delivery to send styled invitations and let people reset forgotten passwords. Administrators can send a test message from settings.
• 🎊 A little celebration. Finishing a shopping list or cooking a meal gets a short shower of confetti, stars, or petals, with reduced-motion preferences respected.

Merran is still in alpha. Back up your data before updating, and keep the feedback coming.

✨ New features

• Add SMTP email delivery and styled household invitations @kjohnson2719 (#19)
• Password resets with smtp @kjohnson2719 (#20)
• Improve shopping list progress and store review @kjohnson2719 (#22)
• Celebrate the wins @kjohnson2719 (#23)
• Show weekly planning badges in meal pickers and recipe cards @kjohnson2719 (#24)
• Drag meals between days and the weekly pool with optimistic updates @kjohnson2719 (#25)
• Add shopping mode and planned meal substitutions @kjohnson2719 (#26)

📚 Documentation

• Record shopping and planning improvements from household use roadmap @kjohnson2719 (#18)

🙏 New contributors

No one new this time.

Getting it

docker pull ghcr.io/merran-app/merran:0.1.0-alpha.4

With the compose file in the repo, docker compose pull && docker compose up -d. The browser extension's zips are below: load the one for your browser as an unpacked extension (see apps/extension/README.md).

The image is signed: cosign verify ghcr.io/merran-app/merran:0.1.0-alpha.4 --certificate-identity-regexp 'https://github.com/merran-app/merran/' --certificate-oidc-issuer https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com

Full changelog: v0.1.0-alpha.3...v0.1.0-alpha.4

Merran 0.1.0-alpha.3

🐛 Bug fixes

• Include shared runtime dependencies in Docker images @kjohnson2719 (#17)

🙏 New contributors

No one new this time.

Getting it

docker pull ghcr.io/merran-app/merran:0.1.0-alpha.3

With the compose file in the repo, docker compose pull && docker compose up -d. The browser extension's zips are below: load the one for your browser as an unpacked extension (see apps/extension/README.md).

The image is signed: cosign verify ghcr.io/merran-app/merran:0.1.0-alpha.3 --certificate-identity-regexp 'https://github.com/merran-app/merran/' --certificate-oidc-issuer https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com

Full changelog: v0.1.0-alpha.2...v0.1.0-alpha.3

Merran 0.1.0-alpha.2

✨ New features

• Telemetry receiver and public totals page @kjohnson2719, @claude (#10)
• Turn on telemetry now the receiver is live @kjohnson2719, @claude (#11)
• Improve setup, onboarding, and first-meal guidance @kjohnson2719 (#14)
• Add provider registration and API key setup guidance @kjohnson2719 (#15)

📚 Documentation

• Expand integration and deployment guides and add public roadmap @kjohnson2719 (#8)
• Add complete Postgres, Kokoro, and optional Compose setup @kjohnson2719 (#12)
• Link the telemetry totals from the sidebar and footer @kjohnson2719, @claude (#13)
• Simplify installation with platform tabs and copyable environment settings @kjohnson2719 (#16)

🧰 Maintenance

• Plan tests pass on the week's last day @kjohnson2719, @claude (#9)

📦 Other changes

• Point README documentation links to the live Merran site @kjohnson2719 (#7)

🙏 New contributors

No one new this time.

Getting it

docker pull ghcr.io/merran-app/merran:0.1.0-alpha.2

With the compose file in the repo, docker compose pull && docker compose up -d. The browser extension's zips are below: load the one for your browser as an unpacked extension (see apps/extension/README.md).

The image is signed: cosign verify ghcr.io/merran-app/merran:0.1.0-alpha.2 --certificate-identity-regexp 'https://github.com/merran-app/merran/' --certificate-oidc-issuer https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com

Full changelog: v0.1.0-alpha.1...v0.1.0-alpha.2

Merran 0.1.0-alpha.1

🎉 Highlights

Merran’s first alpha
Dinner, planned. Your recipes. Your kitchen. Your server.
Merran is an open-source, self-hosted meal planner that brings recipes, meal planning, shopping, pantry tracking, and cooking together. An optional AI assistant helps with imports, substitutions, discovery, and planning—with changes presented for your review.
🍲 Your recipe library

• Keep recipes with photos, ingredient and instruction sections, servings, times, tags, ratings, and cooking notes.
• Scale servings and display measurements as written, in US units, or in metric.
• Search, filter, sort, and manage recipes in bulk.
• Restore previous recipe versions or recover recently deleted recipes.
• Track what you’ve cooked, pair recipes with sides and sauces, and review ingredient-based diet labels.
  📥 Bring your recipes with you
• Import recipes from a website, paste several links at once, or write your own.
• Migrate from Mealie through a backup, export, or server connection, and import Paprika recipes.
• Export and import a complete Merran household.
• With AI configured, import pasted text, photos, PDFs, and pages without structured recipe data.
• Import supported video links from TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook through the video module and AI.
• Follow recipe sites, explore starter collections, and discover recipes through AI web search.
• Share recipes and files from Android or an iPhone Shortcut.
  📅 Plan the week
• Schedule breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or keep a pool of meals to cook in any order.
• Use Fill the week, reroll suggestions, repeat last week, or schedule automatic weekly planning.
• Set household tastes, food restrictions, and theme nights.
• See why a meal was suggested, including ingredients on hand, food that needs using, variety, and available deals.
• Open Today for the next meal and ideas for tonight.
  🛒 Shop together and use what you have
• Build shopping lists from your plan, combining ingredients and quantities while accounting for pantry stock and staples.
• Organize multiple lists by aisle, remember usual buys, and update the list live across devices.
• Track pantry quantities, leftovers, and food to use soon.
• Put purchases away and deduct ingredients as meals are cooked.
• Review AI-extracted receipts before adding purchases to the pantry.
  👩‍🍳 Cook at the counter
• Follow a dedicated cooking view with preparation guidance, step ingredients, adjustable text, and kitchen timers.
• Keep the screen awake and return to your place.
• Hear steps read aloud and use supported voice commands.
• With AI, propose ingredient substitutions or turn cooking notes into recipe edits.
• Optional Kokoro and OpenAI voice support supplements the device’s built-in voice.
  ✨ Optional AI, with your own keys
• Connect Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, or an OpenAI-compatible provider such as Ollama.
• Use server or household keys, with administrator policies, monthly limits, and usage tracking.
• Chat with an assistant that understands the recipe or plan on screen and proposes changes for approval.
• Review recipe cleanup suggestions, find recipes online, and attach photos or PDFs.
• Enable optional recipe photography and nutrition calculations or estimates.
  Provider and model capabilities determine which AI features are available. Core recipes, planning, shopping, pantry tracking, and cooking work without AI.
  🧩 Browser extension and store connections
• Browser extension builds for Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.
• Import the current page, including recipes accessible through your browser’s signed-in session.
• Right-click pages or links to import recipes, or selected text to add shopping items.
• Keep your shopping list beside store websites in a side panel or sidebar.
• Optional Kroger integration supports product matching, prices, sales, cart transfers, recipe costs, and weekly budgets.
• Search other stores through their websites.
• Experimental: fill a Walmart cart through the extension, with human verification handled in your browser and checkout left to you.
  🏡 Built for your household—and your server
• Run in one Docker container with SQLite, or connect Postgres.
• Host separate households with invitations, roles, and household switching.
• Use responsive phone, tablet, and desktop layouts, home-screen installation, three palettes, and light or dark mode.
• Configure optional modules independently.
• Access a documented OpenAPI API, household-scoped API keys with permissions, and live events.
• Includes background jobs, health checks, update notifications, optional error reporting, and opt-in telemetry.
• Release packaging supports amd64 and arm64 container images, image signatures, an SBOM, build provenance, and browser extension archives.
  Alpha status
  This is an early release. Expect bugs and changes as Merran develops, and back up your data before updating. Optional integrations require their own configuration; browser-store listings, offline support, reminders, SSO, webhooks, and MCP support are not included in this alpha.
  Found a problem or have an idea? Open an issue and help shape what comes next.

🙏 New contributors

• @racquelrae made their first contribution in #1