# Planning assistant

Source: https://docs.gdc-world.net/recipe-book/planning-assistant/

## Open the assistant

The planning assistant proposes dinners for a whole shopping cycle at once. You review the proposal day by day, change what you don't like and then accept it. Nothing is saved until you do.

*[Image: From Plan my week to an accepted plan: open, set the options, get a suggestion, reroll or skip days, accept.]*

1. In the [Planner](https://mealplanner.gdc-world.net/planner), tap **Plan my week**. The assistant opens above the calendar, and the button changes to **Hide assistant**.
2. Check the options (see below).
3. Tap **Suggest a plan**. The suggested dinners appear in the days of the week.
4. Reroll or skip single days until you like the plan.
5. Tap **Accept plan**.

The assistant plans the cycle on screen, shown at the top as **Next shopping cycle** with its dates. A cycle that has already started cannot be planned, so the assistant then takes the next one. For the remaining days of the current cycle, use the ✦ button on a day (see [Suggestions for one day](https://docs.gdc-world.net/recipe-book/planning-assistant/#day-suggestions)).

While the assistant is open, the week shows exactly that cycle, and ‹ › step one cycle at a time.

What the assistant may suggest:

- Only recipes in the **Active** phase. New recipes start in Testing and are not suggested until you make them Active. See [Recipe phases](https://docs.gdc-world.net/recipe-book/recipes/#phases).
- Only recipes whose category has a dinner role. The roles decide how a plate is put together: a **Main dish** stands alone; a **Protein / meat**, **Side** or **Vegetable** is combined with recipes of the other roles. Categories set to **Not planned** (desserts, drinks) are never suggested. See [Categories](https://docs.gdc-world.net/recipe-book/settings/#categories).
- Each recipe at most once per proposal.

If no category has a role yet, the assistant says so and cannot suggest anything.

## Shopping day

The assistant is where you set your grocery shopping day. It decides where each cycle starts and what the shopping list covers.

*[Image: The planning assistant with its options: shopping day, days to fill, cook-free days, balance and never suggest.]*

**1** moves only this one shopping day a day earlier (the arrow › beside it moves it later).

**2** **Days to fill** chooses which days get a suggestion.

**3** **Cook-free days** sets the number of leftover nights.

**4** **Never suggest** leaves out recipes with certain tags.

**5** **Suggest a plan** builds the proposal.

The options are explained in the next sections.

- **Grocery shopping day:** tap a weekday to set your regular shopping day. The week view then starts on that day.
- **Shopping day:** below the weekdays, ‹ and › move only this cycle's shopping day by one day. The cycle becomes a day shorter or longer, and the next one adjusts. **reset** puts it back on the regular weekday.

The shopping day applies to everyone in your household.

## Options

The options control which days are filled and which dinners are preferred. If a proposal is already showing, it is rebuilt as soon as you change an option.

**Days to fill:**

- **Only empty days:** days that already have a dish stay as they are.
- **Whole cycle:** every day that is not locked is planned anew. Accepting replaces what was there.
- **Combine components:** when ticked, a plate can be a main dish on its own or two to three components (for example meat, side and vegetable). When not ticked, only main dishes on their own are suggested.

**Cook-free days:** use − and + to reserve 0 to 4 leftover nights. They are spread from the end of the cycle and shown as **Cook-free**. At least one day is always cooked.

**Balance for** shapes the choice. Tap a criterion to turn it off or on again:

- **Season: summer** or **Season: winter** (whichever it is now): prefers recipes tagged with the current season and avoids those tagged with the other one.
- **Quick on weekdays:** quick dishes (tagged quick, or 30 minutes or less) on work nights, longer cooking at the weekend.
- **Avoid recent repeats:** recipes that are already in the plan around this time come last.
- **Mind the appliances:** a plate never needs an appliance more often than it can be used at the same time, for example only one oven dish. The limits are set under [Devices](https://docs.gdc-world.net/recipe-book/settings/#devices).
- **Easy on shopping day:** on the shopping day itself, quick and easy dishes are preferred and long ones avoided.

Then tap **Suggest a plan**.

## The proposal

The proposal is a draft shown in the days of the week. You can change it as often as you like before saving it.

*[Image: A proposal in the week: suggested dinners with Reroll and Skip, a cook-free day and a day without suggestion.]*

**1** **Reroll** replaces this day's suggestion with a different one.

**2** **Skip** turns the day into a cook-free day.

**3** **Reshuffle all** builds a completely new proposal.

**4** **Accept plan** saves the suggested dinners into the plan. The assistant closes and the planner shows the planned cycle.

Other things you see:

- **Suggested** marks a proposed dinner; a plate can list several recipes.
- **Cook-free** marks a leftover night. Tap the round arrow to get a dinner for it after all.
- Days that already had dishes (with **Only empty days**) and locked days keep what they have.
- **Discard** throws the proposal away. Hiding the assistant keeps the proposal until you accept or discard it.

### No suggestion

**No suggestion** means nothing suitable was left for that day. The line above the week then says how many days could not be filled. Common reasons:

- Too few **Active** recipes with a dinner role. Make more recipes Active, or check the roles under [Categories](https://docs.gdc-world.net/recipe-book/settings/#categories).
- **Never suggest** excludes too much.
- **Mind the appliances** rules out the remaining combinations. Turning it off may fill more days.

Tap the round arrow on the day to try again, or add a recipe yourself from **Add to plan**. A day without a suggestion stays empty when you accept.

## Suggestions for one day

Sometimes you only need an idea for one evening. The ✦ button at the bottom of every day in the week view suggests a dinner for just that day. It works in any week, with or without the assistant open. Locked days have no ✦ button.

1. Tap ✦ on the day. A card marked **Suggested** appears.
2. Use the buttons on the card:
   - **Reroll** (round arrow): another suggestion.
   - **Plan it** (tick): saves the suggestion. It replaces any dishes already on that day.
   - **Dismiss** (cross): removes the suggestion; nothing is saved.

If nothing fits, the card says **No suggestion**. Remove it with **Dismiss** and add a recipe yourself.

The suggestion follows the same rules and options as the assistant and avoids recipes already planned nearby. On a day that is part of an open proposal, ✦ rerolls that day instead.

## Never suggest

Some weeks you want to leave certain dishes out, for example nothing spicy while a guest is staying. **Never suggest** lists your tags.

Tap a tag to skip every recipe with that tag. It appears crossed out. Tap it again to allow it.

- The list starts from the default under [Planning](https://docs.gdc-world.net/recipe-book/settings/#planning). Changes made here last until you reload the app.
- Skipped recipes can still be planned by hand.