Sizzle

[!WARNING] Sizzle is very early in development. Expect rough edges and breaking changes between releases.

Features

• Share from anywhere. One tap in your iPhone's share sheet sends a recipe page to Sizzle. Or paste several links at once, or the recipe text. Sharing guides cover iPhone, Android and computers.
• YouTube too. Share a cooking video and Sizzle reads the recipe from its description, or from the recipe page it links to. Open the original video from the method, with its duration, description timestamps and written-recipe link when available. Recipes that are only spoken in the video aren't supported yet.
• Just the recipe. Ingredients, steps and the best photo. No ads, pop-ups or life story.
• No AI required. Sizzle reads a site's recipe data, or you write the recipe yourself. Add an Anthropic API key to handle pages without recipe data, pasted text, and screenshots of recipes Sizzle can't fetch.
• Fast to browse. A photo grid or compact list with full-text search and filters for course, cuisine, diet, main ingredient and time.
• Remember what you cook. Save favorites and use “I made this” to track when and how often you cook each recipe.
• Make it look like yours. Six themes, each in light and dark, or let it follow your device. Everyone in the house can pick their own, or make a new one in the theme editor.
• Yours. One small container with SQLite on your own server. No accounts, no tracking.

Themes

Sizzle starts in the dark Sunny side up theme. Pick another look, or light, dark or auto, any time from the Appearance button in the header. Want something else? Set SIZZLE_THEME_EDITOR=true to turn on the theme editor, then Customize any theme and save it as your own. Built-in themes live in config/themes.json; see docs/themes.md to add one.

Try on your computer

With Docker running, start a separate trial at http://localhost:3001. No account or AI key is needed. Only this computer can connect; the trial has its own storage volume.

docker run -d --name sizzle-try \
  -p 127.0.0.1:3001:80 \
  --read-only --security-opt no-new-privileges:true \
  --tmpfs /rails/tmp:uid=1000,gid=1000,mode=0755 \
  --tmpfs /tmp:mode=1777 \
  -v sizzle-try-storage:/rails/storage \
  ghcr.io/leemac/sizzle:latest

Allow a moment for the first start, then open the address above. You can write a recipe or optionally load the bundled sample cookbook. Browse a recipe, try cooking mode, and use Settings → Your data → Download cookbook.

docker stop sizzle-try stops the trial and keeps your recipes; docker start sizzle-try resumes it. See the trial guide for removal instructions. To use Sizzle from your phone, follow the server installation below.

Install

You need Docker with Compose on a home server, NAS, Raspberry Pi 4/5 or VPS. Images are published for amd64 and arm64.

1. Download the compose file and settings from the latest release:

   mkdir sizzle && cd sizzle
   curl -fsSLO https://github.com/leemac/sizzle/releases/latest/download/docker-compose.yml
   curl -fsSL https://github.com/leemac/sizzle/releases/latest/download/env.example -o .env
   

2. Generate a share API token:

   openssl rand -hex 32
   

   Open .env in a text editor and paste the generated value after SIZZLE_API_TOKEN=. Save the file before continuing. This token protects the share API, not the web UI.

   • SIZZLE_HOSTS: only if you'll open Sizzle at a domain name like recipes.example.com. IP addresses, bare hostnames and .local, .lan, .home.arpa and .ts.net names work without it.
   • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: optional. Each AI extraction is a paid Claude request.

   Every other setting is explained in .env.example.

3. Start it:

   docker compose up -d --wait
   

When the command succeeds, open http://<your-server>:3000 (or http://localhost:3000 on the server itself). Write a recipe or import a recipe link first, then choose Share from your phone to set up sharing. If startup fails, see troubleshooting.

After changing .env, run docker compose up -d --force-recreate --wait to apply the settings. docker compose restart does not reload .env.

[!IMPORTANT] Sizzle has no login yet. Keep it on your home network or a private network like Tailscale, and read SECURITY.md before exposing it anywhere else.

To upgrade, run docker compose pull && docker compose up -d. Everything Sizzle stores lives in the sizzle-storage volume, so back that up. Self-hosting covers pinning a version, upgrades, backups and building from source.

Develop

bin/setup --seed                 # needs the Ruby in .ruby-version, Node 22 and libvips
bin/dev                          # http://localhost:3000
npx playwright install chromium  # once, for browser tests
bin/ci                           # all checks and tests

Sizzle is built in the open as a software factory: well-specified issues are worked by AI agents and reviewed by people. Start with AGENTS.md for the architecture, conventions and security rules, then CONTRIBUTING.md and docs/factory.md.

License

AGPL-3.0. Run, modify and share Sizzle freely; if you offer a modified version as a service, share your changes. Bundled assets such as the Bricolage Grotesque font keep their own licenses: see THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.