Add "Ask" tab: RAG/chat interface as third recipe discovery path #134

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opened 2026-05-11 11:31:22 -07:00 by pyr0ball · 0 comments

pyr0ball commented

2026-05-11 11:31:22 -07:00

Owner

Problem

Kiwi has two recipe discovery paths: Find (filter-driven) and Browse (hierarchy-driven). Both require the user to know what they want. A conversational path — "what can I make that is quick and uses the chicken in my pantry?" — lowers the barrier for users who think in language rather than filters or taxonomies.

Proposed approach

Add an "Ask" tab alongside Find / Browse
Input: a natural-language question field
Backend: RAG over the recipe corpus using FTS5 + ingredient profiles as retrieval, LLM for synthesis (L3/L4 only, tier-gated)
Response: a short list of matching recipes with explanations, rendered as RecipeCard components
Session history: show last 3 Q&A pairs in the panel
Free-tier fallback: deterministic FTS keyword extraction from the question, no LLM

Acceptance criteria

Ask tab visible in the tab bar
Free tier: keyword extraction → FTS results
Paid tier: full RAG response with recipe cards
Keyboard navigable, screen-reader friendly
Empty state guides the user with example questions

From

kiwi UX audit (2026-05-11) — cf-a11y longer-term #3 (largest scope — plan separately before implementing)

## Problem Kiwi has two recipe discovery paths: Find (filter-driven) and Browse (hierarchy-driven). Both require the user to know what they want. A conversational path — "what can I make that is quick and uses the chicken in my pantry?" — lowers the barrier for users who think in language rather than filters or taxonomies. ## Proposed approach - Add an "Ask" tab alongside Find / Browse - Input: a natural-language question field - Backend: RAG over the recipe corpus using FTS5 + ingredient profiles as retrieval, LLM for synthesis (L3/L4 only, tier-gated) - Response: a short list of matching recipes with explanations, rendered as RecipeCard components - Session history: show last 3 Q&A pairs in the panel - Free-tier fallback: deterministic FTS keyword extraction from the question, no LLM ## Acceptance criteria - Ask tab visible in the tab bar - Free tier: keyword extraction → FTS results - Paid tier: full RAG response with recipe cards - Keyboard navigable, screen-reader friendly - Empty state guides the user with example questions ## From kiwi UX audit (2026-05-11) — cf-a11y longer-term #3 (largest scope — plan separately before implementing)