WeCook

WeCook checks your pantry, saved recipes, and cookbooks to suggest what you can cook — and instantly adds missing ingredients to your cart.

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Inspiration

WeCook was inspired by the everyday struggle of deciding what to cook with the ingredients you have. People save recipes from cookbooks or videos but often forget to check what’s available in their pantry. We wanted to combine AI with app development to make cooking easier, reduce food waste, and save time.

What it does

WeCook is an AI-powered cooking assistant that: Lets users add pantry items via grocery bill, fridge photo, or manual entry Lets users add cookbooks via PDF, title/author, or manual recipe entry Lets users add YouTube video links, automatically extracting ingredients and instructions Suggests recipes based on available ingredients and selected meal types Automatically adds missing ingredients to a shopping cart

How we built it

Frontend: Jetpack Compose (Android) and SwiftUI (iOS) for smooth, cross-platform UI Backend: Firebase Auth, Firestore, and Storage to manage user data, recipes, and images AI & Automation: Gemini UX Design: 5-tab layout (Pantry, CookBooks, Videos, Cooking, Cart) for intuitive navigation

Challenges we ran into

Variable data quality: Bills, photos, and cookbooks had inconsistent formatting Parsing recipes: Cookbooks and video captions varied in style, requiring robust AI handling UI syncing with AI outputs: Ensuring extracted ingredients and instructions appeared correctly Time constraints: Limited hackathon time meant prioritizing core features

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Seamlessly integrated AI to extract ingredients from multiple sources Automated the shopping workflow, allowing users to add missing ingredients directly to a cart

What we learned

AI can solve real-world tasks like cooking efficiently when paired with thoughtful UX Handling unstructured data (photos, PDFs, videos) requires iterative testing and refinement Designing cross-platform apps requires careful planning to maintain consistency Clear user flows are critical for making complex AI features feel simple and intuitive

What's next for WeCook

Improve ingredient extraction accuracy and AI parsing Add meal planning and nutrition insights Integrate with online grocery services for one-click shopping Expand recipe discovery and personalized recommendations based on user preferences

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