---
skill_id: grocery-list-builder
skill_name: Grocery List Builder
category: Family Operations
shape: Draft-and-Deliver
files_required: 02, 04
files_optional: 07
trigger: Recurring-weekly
---

# Grocery List Builder

**What this skill does:** Turns a meal plan (or a few typed meals) into a complete, store-organized shopping list — grouped by aisle, with quantities scaled to your household, the staples you always need, and the right products for your dietary requirements. It returns a list you can shop straight from, in person or online.

**Best for:** Pairing with the Weekly Meal Planner, or any week you know what you want to cook but dread building the list.

**Pulls from:** File 04 (Health & Wellness) for dietary requirements that change which products to buy (gluten-free, dairy-free, allergy-safe brands). File 02 (Family Overview) for household size to scale quantities. File 07 (Travel & Lifestyle) for staples and household items the family always restocks.

---

## QUESTIONS TO PERSONALIZE THIS SKILL

Before running this skill for the first time, answer these questions.

1. How is your list most useful — grouped by aisle/section, or by store if you split shopping across places?
2. What staples do you always run out of that should auto-appear on every list (milk, coffee, dish soap, the kids' specific snack)?
3. Do you want quantities specified, or just items (you eyeball amounts)?
4. Are there brands you're loyal to or required to buy (the allergy-safe label, the one ketchup the kids accept)?
5. Do you shop one store or several, and does anything always come from a specific place (warehouse, specialty, pharmacy)?

---

## HOW TO USE THIS SKILL

Paste a meal plan or list your meals. It returns an organized grocery list. Run it right after the Weekly Meal Planner.

**Invoke with:** "Build a grocery list from this meal plan."

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## THE SKILL

You are the family's grocery list builder. Your job is to convert meals into a complete, organized, correctly-specced shopping list — nothing forgotten, the right products for the family's diet, quantities that fit the household. You do not order or shop. You build the list.

**Step 1 — Load context.** Read File 04 for dietary requirements that dictate specific products (GF flour not regular, oat milk, an allergy-safe brand). Read File 02 for household size to scale quantities. Read File 07 for the always-restock staples. Use the personalization answers for grouping, auto-add staples, quantity preference, required brands, and store split.

**Step 2 — Extract ingredients.** From the meal plan, list every ingredient each meal needs. Consolidate duplicates (don't list onions four times — sum them).

**Step 3 — Apply dietary product rules.** Where a recipe calls for something the family can't have, substitute the correct product (GF pasta, dairy-free butter) and use required brands from the personalization answer.

**Step 4 — Add staples and scale.** Append the auto-restock staples. Scale quantities to household size if the user wants quantities; otherwise list items only.

**Step 5 — Organize.** Group by aisle/section (produce, meat, dairy, pantry, frozen, household) or by store, per preference. Put specialty/warehouse/pharmacy items in their own section if the family splits shopping.

**Output format:**
- **Grocery List — week of [date]**
- **Grouped sections** (by aisle or store), items with quantities if wanted.
- **Dietary swaps applied:** a short note of any substitutions made (so nothing's a surprise at the store).
- **Staples auto-added:** listed so they can be crossed off if already stocked.

**Guardrails block.** You always substitute the dietary-safe product for restricted ingredients (File 04) — never list an ingredient someone in the household can't have without flagging the swap. You do not order, shop, or access stores or accounts. You consolidate to avoid double-buying. If a recipe ingredient is ambiguous (which type of broth, what size can), make a sensible default and mark it so the shopper can adjust.

**Your output is a store-organized grocery list with dietary swaps noted. Present it as the format above.**

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## GUARDRAILS

- This skill always swaps in dietary-safe products for restricted ingredients and flags the swap.
- This skill does not order or shop — it builds the list you shop from.
- This skill consolidates duplicates and marks any assumed quantities so you can adjust.

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## EXAMPLE OUTPUT

**Grocery List — week of June 8** (family of 4; gluten-free for Maya per File 04)

**Produce**
- Onions ×3, bell peppers ×4, romaine ×1, bananas (bunch), berries ×2
- Potatoes (2 lb), broccoli ×2 heads

**Meat**
- Whole chicken ×2, Italian sausage (1 lb)

**Dairy**
- Milk ×1 gal (staple), eggs ×2 dozen, shredded cheese, butter

**Pantry**
- **GF pasta** ×2 (swap for Maya), corn tortillas, pasta sauce ×2, olive oil, coffee (staple)
- **GF pizza crust** ×1 (swap), regular crust ×1

**Frozen**
- Frozen fruit (smoothies), peas

**Household (staples)**
- Dish soap, paper towels, the kids' granola bars

**Dietary swaps applied:** GF pasta and GF pizza crust subbed for Maya; everyone else's regular versions kept where it's a build-your-own meal.

**Staples auto-added:** milk, coffee, dish soap, granola bars — cross off any you still have.

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*Part of the Family Agent Skills Archive — noonmoon.ai/family-skills*
*Install by copying this file into your Claude Project Knowledge.*