Plan a meal and order the groceries with ChatGPT agent

Posted

Sep 15, 2025 by Sky Canaves (LinkedIn)

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Last checked

Oct 16, 2026

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Method:

How we verify

Evidence: Described by posterThe person describes what happened in words, without screenshots or video.

Outcome

Sky Canaves tried OpenAI's example 'plan and buy ingredients to make Japanese breakfast for four'; ChatGPT agent shopped her local H-E-B through Instacart, needed her to take over to log in, filled a roughly $130 cart with things she already had, asked before paying and the trimmed order arrived on time. 'It worked, yes', she wrote, but with plenty of friction.

Agent

ChatGPT agent

The source didn't share its exact prompt, so we wrote this from what it describes.

Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about the details below and wait for my answers. Once I've answered, confirm the plan in one line and run the whole task start to finish.

Goal: Plan a meal and get the ingredients delivered.

Quick-check questions: What meal and how many people, what's my grocery budget, and what do I already have?

What I'll give you:
- The meal and number of people
- My store or Instacart account (I'll log in)
- Budget cap
- Pantry items I already have

Rules:
- Plan the menu and turn it into a shopping list. Skip anything I already have, and flag common pantry staples so I can remove them.
- Keep the cart under my budget and show the total before checkout.
- Hand control back to me for login and payment.
- Tell me which perishables need someone home at delivery.

Output: The menu, the shopping list and a cart ready to approve, with the total.

If my answers leave a gap, make a sensible choice, say what you assumed, and keep going.

You'll know it worked when: the cart has only what I need, under budget, and is ready for me to pay.

Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about the details below and wait for my answers. Once I've answered, confirm the plan in one line and run the whole task start to finish.

Goal: Plan a meal and get the ingredients delivered, within budget.

Questions to ask me first:
- What meal and how many people?
- What's your budget?
- What do you already have?

Inputs (fill in or confirm):
- Meal and people
- Store or Instacart account
- Budget cap
- Pantry items
- Dietary needs and cooking skill

Rules:
- Plan the menu and shopping list; skip pantry items.
- Keep cart under budget.
- Show total before checkout.
- Hand control back for login (including any CAPTCHA or two-step code) and payment; never guess or store passwords.
- Give recipe links and cooking time with the menu.
- Scale quantities to the party size and avoid buying whole packs when a small size exists.
- Ask before adding any item over [AMOUNT].
- Tell me which perishables need someone home at delivery.
- Check each item is in stock before adding.

Checkpoint: Wait for my OK before paying.

If you get stuck: If the store isn't available, suggest the closest alternative.

Verify before you finish: Check cart against list.

Output: Menu, list and cart summary.

Done when: the cart has only what I need, under budget.

Source

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sky-canaves_i-asked-chatgpt-to-go-grocery-shopping-for-activity-7373436570684620800-hXSu