Saving Recipes

This guide covers storing, organizing, and finding goose recipes when you need to access them again later.

Desktop UI vs CLI

• goose Desktop has a visual Recipe Library for browsing and managing saved recipes
• goose CLI stores recipes as files that you find using file paths or environment variables

Understanding Recipe Storage

Before saving recipes, it's important to understand where they can be stored and how this affects their availability.

Recipe Storage Locations

Type	Location	Availability	Best For
Global	~/.config/goose/recipes/	All projects and sessions	Personal workflows, general-purpose recipes
Local	YOUR_WORKING_DIRECTORY/.goose/recipes/	Only when working in that project	Project-specific workflows, team recipes

Choose Global Storage When:

• You want the recipe available across all projects
• It's a personal workflow or general-purpose recipe
• You're the primary user of the recipe

Choose Local Storage When:

• The recipe is specific to a particular project
• You're working with a team and want to share the recipe
• The recipe depends on project-specific files or configurations

Storing Recipes

goose Desktop

Save New Recipe:

1. To create a recipe from your chat session, see: Create Recipe
2. Once in the Recipe Editor, click Save Recipe to save it to your Recipe Library

Save Modified Recipe:

If you're already using a recipe and want to save a modified version:

1. Click the button with your current model at the bottom of the window
2. Click View Recipe
3. Make any desired edits to the description, instructions, or initial prompts
4. Click Save Recipe

info

When you modify and save a recipe with a new name, a new recipe and new link are generated. You can still run the original recipe from the recipe library, or using the original link. If you edit a recipe without changing its name, the version in the recipe library is updated, but you can still run the original recipe via link.

goose CLI

When you create a recipe, it gets saved to:

• Your working directory by default: ./recipe.yaml
• Any path you specify: /recipe /path/to/my-recipe.yaml
• Local project recipes: /recipe .goose/recipes/my-recipe.yaml

note

The CLI saves recipes as .yaml files. While the CLI can run recipes in .json format, it does not provide an option to save recipes as JSON.

Importing Recipes

goose Desktop

Import a recipe using its deeplink or recipe file:

1. Click the button in the top-left to open the sidebar
2. Click Recipes in the sidebar
3. Click Import Recipe
4. Choose your import method:
   • To import via a link: Under Recipe Deeplink, paste in the recipe link
   • To import via a file: Under Recipe File, click Choose File, select a recipe file, and click Open
5. Click Import Recipe to save a copy of the recipe to your Recipe Library

Recipe File Format

goose Desktop accepts .yaml, .yml, and .json files, but the CLI only supports .yaml and .json. For full compatibility across both interfaces, avoid .yml extensions.

All recipe formats follow the same schema structure.

goose CLI

Recipe import is only available in goose Desktop.

Finding Available Recipes

goose Desktop

Access Recipe Library:

1. Click the button in the top-left to open the sidebar
2. Click Recipes to view your Recipe Library
3. Browse your available recipes, which show:
   • Recipe title and description
   • Last modified date
   • Whether they're stored globally or locally

Desktop vs CLI Recipe Discovery

The Desktop Recipe Library displays all recipes you've explicitly saved or imported. It doesn't automatically discover recipe files from your filesystem like the CLI does.

goose CLI

Use the goose recipe list command to find all available recipes from multiple sources:

Basic Usage

# List all available recipes
goose recipe list

# Show detailed information including titles and full paths
goose recipe list --verbose

# Output in JSON format for automation
goose recipe list --format json

Recipe Discovery Process

goose searches for recipes in the following locations (in order):

1. Current directory: . (looks for *.yaml and *.json files)
2. Custom paths: Directories specified in GOOSE_RECIPE_PATH environment variable
3. Global recipe library: ~/.config/goose/recipes/ (or equivalent on your OS)
4. Local project recipes: ./.goose/recipes/
5. GitHub repository: If GOOSE_RECIPE_GITHUB_REPO environment variable is configured

Example Output

Default text format:

$ goose recipe list
Available recipes:
goose-self-test - A comprehensive meta-testing recipe - local: ./goose-self-test.yaml
hello-world - A sample recipe demonstrating basic usage - local: ~/.config/goose/recipes/hello-world.yaml
job-finder - Find software engineering positions - local: ~/.config/goose/recipes/job-finder.yaml

Verbose mode:

$ goose recipe list --verbose
Available recipes:
  goose-self-test - A comprehensive meta-testing recipe - local: ./goose-self-test.yaml
    Title: goose Self-Testing Integration Suite
    Path: ./goose-self-test.yaml
  hello-world - A sample recipe demonstrating basic usage - local: ~/.config/goose/recipes/hello-world.yaml
    Title: Hello World Recipe
    Path: /Users/username/.config/goose/recipes/hello-world.yaml

JSON format for automation:

[
  {
    "name": "goose-self-test",
    "source": "Local",
    "path": "./goose-self-test.yaml",
    "title": "goose Self-Testing Integration Suite",
    "description": "A comprehensive meta-testing recipe"
  },
  {
    "name": "hello-world",
    "source": "GitHub",
    "path": "recipes/hello-world.yaml",
    "title": "Hello World Recipe",
    "description": "A sample recipe demonstrating basic usage"
  }
]

Configuring Recipe Sources

Add custom recipe directories:

export GOOSE_RECIPE_PATH="/path/to/my/recipes:/path/to/team/recipes"
goose recipe list

Configure GitHub recipe repository:

export GOOSE_RECIPE_GITHUB_REPO="myorg/goose-recipes"
goose recipe list

See the Environment Variables Guide for more configuration options.

Manual Directory Browsing (Advanced)

If you need to browse recipe directories manually:

# List recipes in default global location
ls ~/.config/goose/recipes/

# List recipes in current project
ls .goose/recipes/

# Search for all recipe files
find . -name "*.yaml" -path "*/recipes/*" -o -name "*.json" -path "*/recipes/*"

tip

The goose recipe list command is the recommended way to find recipes as it automatically searches all configured sources and provides consistent formatting.

Using Saved Recipes

goose Desktop

1. Click the button in the top-left to open the sidebar
2. Click Recipes
3. Find your recipe in the Recipe Library
4. Choose one of the following:
   • Click Use to run it immediately
   • Click Preview to see the recipe details first, then click Load Recipe to run it

goose CLI

Once you've located your recipe file, run the recipe or open it in goose Desktop.

Format Compatibility

The CLI can run recipes saved from goose Desktop without any conversion. Both CLI-created and Desktop-saved recipes work with all recipe commands.