Introduction
Mottainai is an anti-waste platform for home and group life. The word "Mottainai" (もったいない) is Japanese for "what a waste" — and that's exactly what this app helps you avoid. It brings together the tools you need to reduce waste across food, time, and money in one place. You can use it in the browser, from the terminal with the mo CLI, or through AI assistants via MCP.
Using Mottainai through MCP is especially recommended. You can work with your data in natural language — no menus, no manual input. AI assistants like Claude handle tasks directly on your behalf.
What you can do
Storage & shopping list
Keep track of what you have at home — food, household supplies, anything with a quantity or expiry date. Mottainai tells you what's about to expire so nothing gets forgotten in the back of the fridge. When you go shopping and check items off your list, your inventory updates automatically.
Task boards
Organize tasks and projects on visual Kanban boards. Create columns, add cards, drag them as work progresses. Due dates show up in your calendar so nothing slips through the cracks.
Calendar
Schedule events and view them across six layouts: month, week, 3-day, day, agenda, and by member. Recurring events are supported. The aggregate view brings everything together in one place — your events, expiring items from your storage, and due dates from your boards.
Shared expenses
Tracking shared costs has never been simpler. Add expenses for a trip, a shared household, or any group, and split them any way you like — equally, by percentage, by custom amounts, and more. Mottainai calculates who owes whom and shows the simplest way to settle up.
Recipes
Save your recipes in one place, import them from any website, or describe a dish and let AI create a recipe for you. Cook mode guides you through each step full-screen — no more losing your place. Share recipes publicly with a link, or send the ingredients straight to your shopping list.
Working together
Every feature in Mottainai supports sharing. Invite people via a link or by email, assign roles (owner, admin, member, guest), and collaborate in real time. Changes you make are visible to everyone instantly.
AI features
AI is built into Mottainai across all features. Add items to your storage by pasting a receipt or describing what you bought. Import a recipe from any URL in seconds. Edit recipes with natural language. AI assistants like Claude, Gemini, and Cursor can connect directly to Mottainai via MCP and take actions on your behalf.
Three ways to use it
- Web app: mottainai.app — the full experience in your browser
- CLI: terminal workflows and automation → CLI docs
- AI assistants (MCP): connect Claude, Gemini, Cursor → MCP docs
Read next
- Core Concepts: The three simple ideas behind Mottainai.
- Household & Groceries: Managing pantry inventory and shopping lists.
- Projects & Tasks: Using task boards and the aggregated calendar.
- Splitting Costs (SharedPay): Tracking expenses with friends and roommates.
- Meal Planning & Cooking: Curating recipes and using Cook Mode.
- Sharing & Collaboration: Inviting contacts and managing roles.
Advanced Users: