What the connection changes
Once connected, the assistant reads and works with your own data rather than general cooking knowledge. That covers four things: your recipes with their ratings and cookbooks, your pantry with expiry dates, your weekly plan, and your shopping list.
The question this unlocks is the one no general assistant can answer: what can I cook tonight from what is already here, and what would I still need to buy?
Two ways to connect
Both routes end at the same address. The only difference is how the assistant proves who you are.
Anything running in a browser — Claude on the web, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Gemini — connects by signing in
Anything running on your own machine — Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, the Gemini CLI — connects with an access token
The address is the same either way: https://www.99pandas.de/mcp — use it exactly like that, including www
Connecting by signing in
Open the connector settings in your assistant and add a custom one, then paste the address above. A window opens, you sign in, and you approve the access. Nothing to copy, and your password never goes to the assistant.
Step-by-step instructions for Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini, each with a button straight into that assistant's settings, are in PandaChef under Settings → Connect AI assistants. The vendors rename their menus regularly; if a step no longer matches, look for connectors, apps, or MCP. Custom apps in Gemini currently need a personal Google account, are 18+, and are not available in every country.
Once you have approved the access, the assistant appears under Connected apps on the same settings screen — that is how you know it worked, and where you disconnect it later.
Connecting with an access token
For tools that run locally, create a token instead. Open Settings → Connect AI assistants, switch to the Developers tab, name the token after the device it will live on, and create it. The token is filled straight into ready-to-paste commands for Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code and the Gemini CLI. It is shown once and never again, so copy what you need right away.
Give every device its own token. A lost laptop then costs you one token instead of all of them, and you can revoke it from the same screen. Changing your password revokes every token at once, by design.
The questions worth asking
The fastest way to check the connection works is to ask something only your own account can answer, like what is currently in your pantry. After that, these are the prompts that earn their keep:
This is what is in my fridge — which of my recipes can I cook, and what is missing for each?
Which of my best-rated recipes could I cook, and what would I still need to buy?
What can I cook without going shopping at all?
What should I use up this week before it goes off?
Add the missing ingredients for the lasagne to my shopping list
Plan my week — one vegetarian dish a day, nothing over 30 minutes
Import this recipe from a link, a photo of a cookbook page, or a picture of a dish
Read me the ingredients, then walk me through the steps one at a time
What the assistant can change
The connection is not read-only. The assistant can save recipes, add pantry items, set plan entries, and write to your shopping list — and it can also clear a list or remove a recipe from a cookbook. Well-behaved assistants ask before anything destructive, because each tool declares what it does.
Do not rely on that alone. Saying what you want is the better habit: asking to see the list first costs nothing, and it is worth being deliberate before asking anything to be emptied.
One limit worth knowing
Matching your pantry against a recipe compares ingredient names, not amounts. One egg in the fridge counts as covering a recipe that calls for six, so the list of what is missing errs on the optimistic side. Glance at it before you shop.
Similar names count as the same thing too, which is usually what you want — egg covers eggs — and occasionally not.
Frequently asked questions
Can ChatGPT see my own recipes?
Only if you connect it to your recipe account. Without a connection it answers from general knowledge and has no access to your collection, pantry or meal plan. Once connected it works with your own data.
Do I have to give the assistant my password?
No. Browser-based assistants send you to a sign-in page where you approve the access, and local tools use an access token you can revoke at any time. Neither route passes your password to the assistant.
What can I ask once it is connected?
The questions that need your own data: what you can cook from what is in the fridge, what is missing for a particular recipe, which of your best-rated recipes are cookable tonight, what to use up before it expires, and building a week's plan and shopping list.
Can the assistant change my data or only read it?
Both. It can save recipes, update your pantry, plan meals and write to your shopping list. Every tool tells the assistant whether it reads or writes, so a good client asks before anything destructive — and you can always ask to see a change before it is made.
How do I disconnect an assistant?
Revoke its access token in your settings, or remove the connector in the assistant itself. Each device should have its own token so you can revoke one without affecting the rest.