| name | openfoodfacts-shared |
| description | Runtime contract for the openfoodfacts CLI. Covers output format, error handling, field filtering, and invocation patterns. No authentication required. Use as foundation before any other openfoodfacts skill. |
| compatibility | Requires openfoodfacts binary installed and network access. |
openfoodfacts-shared
Foundation skill for the openfoodfacts CLI. Read this before using any other openfoodfacts skill.
No Authentication Required
The Open Food Facts API is fully public. No API key, no login, no environment variables needed.
Invocation Pattern
Always use --json to ensure compact, parseable output:
openfoodfacts --json <command>
Use --fields to reduce output to only the fields you need (saves tokens):
openfoodfacts --json --fields product_name,brands,nutriscore_grade products get 3017624010701
Output Format
- Success: JSON to stdout, exit code 0
- Error: JSON to stderr (
{"error": "message"}), exit code 1
Search commands without --all return a paginated envelope:
{"count": 4821, "page": 1, "page_count": 242, "page_size": 20, "skip": 0, "products": [...]}
With --all, they return a flat array of all products across all pages:
[{"code": "...", "product_name": "..."}, ...]
Single product lookups return the product object directly (no envelope).
Error Handling
Always check exit code. On failure, parse stderr for the error message:
result=$(openfoodfacts --json products get 0000000000000 2>err.tmp) || {
error=$(cat err.tmp)
}
Rate Limits
| Command | Limit |
|---|
products get | 100 req/min |
products search | 10 req/min |
facets list | 2 req/min |
If you exceed limits, the CLI exits 1 with {"error": "rate limit exceeded"}.
Available Commands
- Products:
openfoodfacts products get <barcode> · openfoodfacts products search [flags...]
- Facets:
openfoodfacts facets list <type>
