Chomptron

AI-powered recipe generator that transforms ingredients into delicious recipes using Google Gemini AI. Deployed on Google Cloud Run at chomptron.com.

What It Does

Enter ingredients you have in your kitchen, and Chomptron generates creative, practical recipes complete with measurements, instructions, cooking time, and serving sizes.

Local Development

npm install
export GEMINI_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"
export GEMINI_MODEL="gemini-3.1-flash-lite"  # Optional, defaults to gemini-3.1-flash-lite
npm start

Visit http://localhost:8080

Get API key: https://makersuite.google.com/app/apikey

Environment Variables

• GEMINI_API_KEY (required) - Your Google Gemini API key
• GEMINI_MODEL (optional) - Model to use, defaults to gemini-3.1-flash-lite
• PORT (optional) - Server port, defaults to 8080

Model Configuration

The Gemini model can be configured via the GEMINI_MODEL environment variable:

Recommended Models (as of December 2025):

• gemini-3.1-flash-lite (default) - Best free tier limits: 15 RPM, 1,000 RPD
• gemini-2.5-flash - 10 RPM, 250 RPD
• gemini-2.0-flash - 10 RPM, 200 RPD (⚠️ unstable quota, often shows limit: 0)
• gemini-1.5-flash - Legacy model, may have better limits than 2.0

December 2025 Quota Shift:

Google overhauled free tier quotas in December 2025:

• gemini-2.0-flash was removed from fully unauthenticated free tier
• Many accounts see limit: 0 errors for newer models without billing enabled
• Free tier quotas don't automatically reset monthly

Fixing "Limit: 0" Errors:

If you're seeing quota errors with limit: 0:

1. Switch to gemini-2.5-flash-lite - Best free tier model currently available
2. Enable billing (Pay-As-You-Go) - Linking a credit card (even if you don't spend) moves you from "Limited Free" to "Tier 1" and unlocks promised free quotas
3. Check your region - EEA, UK, and Switzerland have restricted free tier access
4. Monitor usage - Visit /api/usage endpoint or https://ai.dev/usage

Free Tier Limits (as of Dec 2025):

Testing

npm test

Tests validate:

• Modular File Structure: Verification of external styles.css and app.js linking
• CI/CD & DevOps: Docker and Cloud Build configurations
• API Integrity: Health check endpoints (/health, /ready) and recipe generation
• Feature Robustness: Recipe history, scaling logic, and favorites

API Endpoints

• GET /health - Liveness check, returns service status

• GET /ready - Readiness check, verifies AI configuration and shows current model

• GET /api/usage - Usage statistics (total requests, quota errors, model info)

• POST /api/generate-recipe - Main recipe generation endpoint

  • Request Body:

    {
      "ingredients": "chicken, tomatoes, garlic",
      "dietaryPreferences": {
        "vegan": false,
        "vegetarian": false,
        "glutenFree": false,
        "dairyFree": false,
        "nutFree": false,
        "shellfishFree": false,
        "eggFree": false,
        "soyFree": false
      }
    }
    

  • Response:

    {
      "success": true,
      "recipe": "**Recipe Name:** ...",
      "cached": false
    }
    

• POST /mcp — MCP Streamable HTTP. Tool `genera

... View full README on GitHub