Tips & FAQ

Getting the most out of LENA

• Rate what you cook. Ratings power your Dashboard recommendations — the more you rate, the better "Due for a revisit" and "Recommended for you" get.
• Keep pantry counts honest. Generated grocery lists subtract what you already have — accurate stock means shorter, more accurate lists.
• Put real durations on recipe steps for anything you'd cook at an event — the timeline gets dramatically more accurate.
• Scan barcodes when you unpack groceries — it's ten seconds per bag and keeps pantry counts honest.
• Serve dishes a little early in event timelines; holding food warm beats waiting on it.
• Categorize recipes as you add them. A few taps on the recipe page and every future search — yours and your household's — gets easier. Filters combine, so "Dinner + Italian + Easy" is one short list.
• The recipe list learns you. Favorites first, then dishes your household has cooked, then ones you've viewed — so opening a recipe today nudges it up tomorrow's list.

Common questions

Someone in my family can't find me to send an invite. Turn on "Let other users find me by name or email" on your Profile page. Both people need it on to be searchable.

I joined a household — where did my stuff go? It came with you. Meal plans, grocery lists, and events move into the shared household when you accept an invite.

I edited a recipe that's in an upcoming event — did I just change the event? No. Events take a private copy of recipe steps and ingredients when the dish is added. To pull in your new edits, open the event slot and hit Sync from recipe. Editing inside the event likewise never touches the shared recipe.

My event timeline shows red rows. Two steps want the same appliance at the same time. Adjust serve times or step timing yourself — or, with an AI provider configured, tap Suggest Fixes and review the proposed changes one at a time.

Where did the Wine pairing / Cocktail ideas buttons go? Those need a birthdate on your Profile showing 21+ — the check is server-side. Until it's set, the buttons hide (and the API declines politely). See Privacy & Local AI.

Where's the Ask Dot link / Suggest buttons? If no AI provider is configured on the server (LENA_AI_PROVIDER), every AI surface stays hidden — nothing is broken, there's just no model to call. See AI Assistant.

Why does the timeline say "Est."? That step has no duration, so LENA estimated one time slot. Give the step a real duration (in the event's step editor, or on the recipe for future events) for a sharper schedule.

A generated grocery list includes things I already have. The generator subtracts your pantry stock from what the plan needs — if a line still appears, the recorded stock didn't fully cover it. Update your pantry count (or check the unit — incompatible units can't be subtracted), then regenerate the list.

I tapped Generate Grocery List twice — did I make two lists? No. Generating for the same meal plan refreshes the existing list in place: it recomputes the "From Menu" lines against the current plan and pantry, and keeps anything you added manually. Same goes for double-taps and retries anywhere in the app — mutations are idempotent, so a repeat applies once.

I scanned a barcode and nothing was found. That item isn't in the catalog yet — fill in its details and submit it. Once an admin approves it, the barcode will resolve for everyone.

Why don't I see Users / Pending Items / Pending Reviews? Those pages are admin-only — on the web they live under the Administration caption at the bottom of the sidebar (and nested under Recipes for review pages). If you think you should have them, check with whoever manages your LENA instance.

What's planned

Roadmap items that aren't in the app yet (don't go looking for them!):

• Social-video recipe imports, nutrition tracking, and more — see the project's feature notes for the full list