Auto-Planner

Planning meals for the week is one of those things that sounds simple but eats up a surprising amount of time. The Auto-Planner does the hard work for you -- it generates a 7-day meal plan that uses up what's in your pantry, takes advantage of current sales, respects your dietary preferences, and fits your budget. Then it builds the shopping list to match.

How It Works

The Auto-Planner pulls together information from across your Map Your Store account -- your dietary profile, pantry inventory, current deals, budget settings, and purchase history -- and feeds it all into an AI that generates a complete weekly meal plan. You review everything before accepting, and nothing changes until you say so.

This is a Premium feature.

Three-Step Flow

Step 1: Set Your Constraints

Before generating a plan, you can adjust any of these inputs:

• Dietary preferences -- Pulled from your dietary profile automatically, but you can override for this specific plan.
• Cuisine preferences -- Want an Italian-themed week? Or a mix of everything? Set it here.
• Budget -- Set a target budget for the week's groceries.
• Servings -- How many people are you cooking for?
• Prep time -- Maximum cooking time per meal.

Step 2: Generate the Plan

Tap "Generate" and the AI builds your week. It considers:

• Expiring pantry items -- Items in your pantry that are expiring within the next few days get prioritized. Less waste, more savings.
• Current deals -- If something on sale fits naturally into a meal, the planner works it in.
• Purchase history -- The planner knows what you tend to buy and enjoys eating, so suggestions feel familiar rather than random.
• Variety -- No one wants to eat the same thing every day. The planner balances variety across the week.

Step 3: Preview and Accept

Before anything is committed, you see the full plan:

• 7-day meal calendar -- Every meal laid out across the week.
• Shopping list -- A complete, deduplicated list of everything you need to buy, with pantry items already subtracted.
• Buy-or-wait recommendations -- For each item, see whether now is a good time to buy or if a better price is likely coming soon.
• Estimated total -- A projected cost for the entire week's groceries.

If it looks good, accept the plan. This creates meal plan entries in your calendar and adds the shopping list items to your list. If something's off, adjust your constraints and regenerate.

Tips

• Set up your dietary profile and pantry before using the Auto-Planner. The more information it has, the better the results.
• Don't skip the preview step. The AI does a good job, but you know your household's taste better than anyone.
• The buy-or-wait recommendations are based on price history. If you're flexible on timing, you can save meaningfully by waiting for a deal on non-perishable items.
• Try generating a plan early in the week. This gives you time to shop the sales and prep ahead.
• If you don't love the first plan, tweak your constraints and try again. Different cuisine preferences or a higher budget can produce very different results.