Create a Recipe from Your Session

Sometimes you finish a task in Goose and realize, "Hey, this setup could be useful again." Maybe you have curated a great combination of tools, defined a clear goal, and want to preserve that flow. Or maybe you're trying to help someone else replicate what you just did without walking them through it step by step.

You can turn your current Goose session into a reusable recipe that includes the tools, goals, and setup you're using right now and package it into a new Agent that others (or future you) can launch with a single click.

Create Recipe

Goose Desktop

warning

You cannot create a recipe from an existing recipe session - the "Make Agent from this session" option will be disabled.

1. While in the session you want to save as a recipe, click the menu icon ⋮ in the top right corner
2. Select Make Agent from this session
3. In the dialog that appears:
   • Name the recipe
   • Provide a description
   • Some activities will be automatically generated. Add or remove as needed.
   • A set of instructions will also be automatically generated. Review and edit as needed.
4. Copy the recipe URL and use it however you like (e.g., share it with teammates, drop it in documentation, or keep it for yourself)

Goose CLI

warning

You cannot create a recipe from an existing recipe session - the /recipe command will not work.

Create a Recipe File

Recipe files can be either JSON (.json) or YAML (.yaml) files. While in a session, run this command to generate a recipe.yaml file in your current directory:

/recipe

If you want to specify a different name, you can provide it as an argument:

/recipe my-custom-recipe.yaml

recipe file structure

# Required fields
version: 1.0.0
title: $title
description: $description
instructions: $instructions    # Define the model's behavior

# Optional fields
prompt: $prompt               # Initial message to start with
extensions:                   # Tools the recipe needs
- $extensions
activities:                   # Example prompts to display in the Desktop app
- $activities

Edit Recipe File

Once the recipe file is created, you can open it and modify the value of any field.

Optional Parameters

You may add parameters to a recipe, which will require users to fill in data when running the recipe. Parameters can be added to any part of the recipe (instructions, prompt, activities, etc).

To use parameters:

1. Add template variables using {{ variable_name }} syntax in your recipe content
2. Define each parameter in the parameters section of your YAML file

Example recipe with parameters

version: 1.0.0
title: "{{ project_name }} Code Review" # Wrap the value in quotes if it starts with template syntax to avoid YAML parsing errors
description: Automated code review for {{ project_name }} with {{ language }} focus
instructions: |
   You are a code reviewer specialized in {{ language }} development.
   Apply the following standards:
   - Complexity threshold: {{ complexity_threshold }}
   - Required test coverage: {{ test_coverage }}%
   - Style guide: {{ style_guide }}
activities:
- "Review {{ language }} code for complexity"
- "Check test coverage against {{ test_coverage }}% requirement"
- "Verify {{ style_guide }} compliance"
parameters:
- key: project_name
  input_type: string
  requirement: required # could be required, optional or user_prompt
  description: name of the project
- key: language
  input_type: string
  requirement: required
  description: language of the code
- key: complexity_threshold
  input_type: number
  requirement: optional
  default: 20 # default is required for optional parameters
  description: a threshold that defines the maximum allowed complexity
- key: test_coverage
  input_type: number
  requirement: optional
  default: 80
  description: the minimum test coverage threshold in percentage
- key: style_guide
  input_type: string
  description: style guide name
  requirement: user_prompt
  # If style_guide param value is not specified in the command, user will be prompted to provide a value, even in non-interactive mode

Validate Recipe

Exit the session and run:

goose recipe validate recipe.yaml

Validation ensures that:

• All required fields are present
• Parameters are properly formatted
• Referenced extensions exist and are valid
• The YAML/JSON syntax is correct

Share Your Recipe

Now that your recipe is created, you can share it with CLI users by directly sending them the recipe file or converting it to a shareable deep link for Desktop users:

goose recipe deeplink recipe.yaml

Use Recipe

Goose Desktop

There are two ways to use a recipe in Goose Desktop:

1. Direct Link

   • Click a recipe link shared with you
   • The recipe will automatically open in Goose Desktop

2. Manual URL Entry

   • Copy a recipe URL
   • Paste it into your browser's address bar
   • You will see a prompt to "Open Goose"
   • Goose Desktop will open with the recipe

Goose CLI

Configure Recipe Location

Recipes can be stored locally on your device or in a GitHub repository. Configure your recipe repository using either the goose configure command or config file.

Repository Structure

• Each recipe should be in its own directory
• Directory name matches the recipe name you use in commands
• Recipe file can be either recipe.yaml or recipe.json

Using goose configure

Run the configure command:

goose configure

You'll see the following prompts:

┌  goose-configure 
│
◆  What would you like to configure?
│  ○ Configure Providers 
│  ○ Add Extension 
│  ○ Toggle Extensions 
│  ○ Remove Extension 
│  ● Goose Settings (Set the Goose Mode, Tool Output, Tool Permissions, Experiment, Goose recipe github repo and more)
│
◇  What would you like to configure?
│  Goose Settings 
│
◆  What setting would you like to configure?
│  ○ Goose Mode 
│  ○ Tool Permission 
│  ○ Tool Output 
│  ○ Toggle Experiment 
│  ● Goose recipe github repo (Goose will pull recipes from this repo if not found locally.)
└  
┌  goose-configure 
│
◇  What would you like to configure?
│  Goose Settings 
│
◇  What setting would you like to configure?
│  Goose recipe github repo 
│
◆  Enter your Goose Recipe GitHub repo (owner/repo): eg: my_org/goose-recipes
│  squareup/goose-recipes (default)
└  

Using config file

Add to your config file:

~/.config/goose/config.yaml

GOOSE_RECIPE_GITHUB_REPO: "owner/repo"

Run a Recipe

Local Recipe

Basic Usage - Run once and exit (see run options and recipe commands for more):

# Using recipe file in current directory
goose run --recipe recipe.yaml

# Using full path
goose run --recipe ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml

Preview Recipe - Use the explain command to view details before running:

Interactive Mode - Start an interactive session:

goose run --recipe recipe.yaml --interactive

The interactive mode will prompt for required values:

◆ Enter value for required parameter 'language':
│ Python
│
◆ Enter value for required parameter 'style_guide':
│ PEP8

With Parameters - Supply parameter values when running recipes. See the run command documentation for detailed examples and options.

Basic example:

goose run --recipe recipe.yaml --params language=Python

GitHub Recipe

Once you've configured your GitHub repository, you can run recipes by name:

Basic Usage - Run recipes from your configured repo using the recipe name that matches its directory (see run options and recipe commands for more):

goose run --recipe recipe-name

For example, if your repository structure is:

my-repo/
├── code-review/
│   └── recipe.yaml
└── setup-project/
    └── recipe.yaml

You would run the following command to run the code review recipe:

goose run --recipe code-review

Preview Recipe - Use the explain command to view details before running:

Interactive Mode - With parameter prompts:

goose run --recipe code-review --interactive

The interactive mode will prompt for required values:

◆ Enter value for required parameter 'project_name':
│ MyProject
│
◆ Enter value for required parameter 'language':
│ Python

With Parameters - Supply parameter values when running recipes. See the run command documentation for detailed examples and options.

Privacy & Isolation

• Each person gets their own private session
• No data is shared between users
• Your session won't affect the original recipe creator's session

Core Components

A recipe needs these core components:

• Instructions: Define the agent's behavior and capabilities

  • Acts as the agent's mission statement
  • Makes the agent ready for any relevant task
  • Required if no prompt is provided

• Prompt (Optional): Starts the conversation automatically

  • Without a prompt, the agent waits for user input
  • Useful for specific, immediate tasks
  • Required if no instructions are provided

• Activities: Example tasks that appear as clickable bubbles

  • Help users understand what the recipe can do
  • Make it easy to get started

What's Included

A recipe captures:

• AI instructions (goal/purpose)
• Suggested activities (examples for the user to click)
• Enabled extensions and their configurations
• Project folder or file context
• Initial setup (but not full conversation history)

To protect your privacy and system integrity, Goose excludes:

• Global and local memory
• API keys and personal credentials
• System-level Goose settings

This means others may need to supply their own credentials or memory context if the recipe depends on those elements.