# MealStack — Full Documentation

> The operating system for nutrition professionals. Built for India.

## Product Overview

MealStack is a nutrition practice management SaaS platform targeting Indian dietitians, nutritionists, health coaches, fitness professionals, and wellness clinics. It is a separate product within the Workfile ecosystem (alongside Workfile Store for eCommerce), sharing authentication (Workfile ID), billing, and infrastructure.

Most Indian dietitians run their practice on WhatsApp + Excel + Google Docs + pen-and-paper. MealStack replaces all of these with one integrated platform that saves 60-90 minutes per client on meal plan creation.

### Key Differentiators

1. **Combined Food Database**: The only platform with IFCT 2017 (Indian foods), INDB (Indian Nutritional Database), and USDA FoodData Central (international foods) — 9,349 foods in one unified search.
2. **Hindi & Regional Names**: Search "aloo" to find potato, "bhindi" to find okra. Native aliases, not a translation layer.
3. **Indian Portions**: Katori, roti, idli, dosa, tablespoon, cup — portions clients actually use.
4. **INR Pricing**: ₹1,499/mo starting price. Razorpay, UPI, net banking. GST-compliant invoicing.
5. **Clinical Grade**: SOAP & ADIME charting, body composition tracking, 80+ nutrients per food.

## Features

### Meal Plan Builder
- Day-based planning with customizable meal slots (breakfast, mid-morning, lunch, evening snack, dinner, bedtime)
- Real-time calorie, protein, carbs, fat totals per meal and per day
- Copy meals or entire days across the week
- Weekly 7-day grid view with drag-and-drop
- Meal plan versioning (track changes over consultations)
- Assign plans to clients with start/end dates
- Food alternatives ("or" options) — clients pick one, nutrients count only the primary
- Side dishes (companions) — pair foods that go together (roti + dal + sabzi), nest visually, move and swap together
- Food combos — save reusable food combinations, insert with one click
- AI auto-pairing — AI detects base/protein/side roles and creates companion relationships automatically

### Food Database
- IFCT 2017: 542 Indian foods, 80+ nutrients per food
- INDB: 1,014 Indian foods (expanded coverage)
- USDA FoodData Central: 7,793 international foods
- 9,349 total foods across all three databases
- Unified search across all databases with source indicator
- Hindi and regional name aliases (aloo, bhindi, batata, etc.)
- Indian portion sizes (katori, roti, idli, dosa, tablespoon, cup)
- Side-by-side food comparison with opposing nutrient bars
- Calorie density badges (VL/L/M/H) on every food
- Visual macro bars (protein, carbs, fat) in search results
- Inline actions: favorite, compare, copy nutrients, clone as custom food
- Favorite foods list per practitioner

### AI-Powered Custom Food Creation
- "Fill with AI" — type a food name, AI fills 20+ fields in one click (free, no credit cost)
- AI fills: macros (energy, protein, carbs, fat, fiber, sugars), minerals (calcium, iron, potassium, sodium, zinc), vitamins (A, B9, B12, C, D), portions with Hindi names, food category, dietary type, description, meal suitability, glycemic index, allergens, search aliases, and Hindi/regional names
- Context-aware estimation: select Homemade, Restaurant, Packaged, Raw, or Street Food for more accurate values
- AI refine: after initial fill, type "deep-fried version" or "Amul brand" and re-fill with updated context
- Confidence levels (high/medium/low) shown on every AI estimation
- Based on IFCT 2017, USDA SR, and NIN reference values

### Nutrition Label Scanner
- Snap a photo of any packaged food nutrition label
- GPT-4o vision extracts all nutrient values automatically
- Handles Indian FSSAI labels (sodium vs salt, kcal vs kJ, veg/non-veg dot symbols)
- Auto-detects per-serving vs per-100g and converts accordingly
- Extracts product name, brand name, serving size, and dietary type
- Costs 1 AI credit per scan
- Works with Amul, Britannia, MTR, Haldiram's, protein bars, supplements, and any printed label

### Custom Food Features
- Quick Add sheet for rapid food entry (name + macros only)
- Full custom food dialog with all fields
- Label input mode: enter per-serving values from packaging, auto-converts to per-100g
- Category-aware portion presets (beverages get glass/cup, grains get katori/roti, fruits get piece/slice)
- Allergen tagging with 9 common allergens (gluten, dairy, nuts, peanuts, soy, egg, fish, shellfish, sesame)
- Glycemic index classification (low/medium/high)
- Meal suitability classification (early morning, breakfast, mid-morning, lunch, evening snack, dinner, bedtime)
- Live macro donut visualization during food creation
- Auto-calculated calories from macros (P×4 + C×4 + F×9)
- Completeness indicator showing which fields are filled
- Duplicate detection with fuzzy name matching
- Barcode field for packaged foods
- Clone any database food as a custom food for modification

### Client Management
- Client profiles: name, age, gender, phone, email, medical conditions, allergies
- Health records: height, weight, BMI (auto-calculated)
- Goal setting: target weight, target calories, dietary preferences (veg/non-veg/vegan/eggetarian)
- Consultation notes per visit
- Tags, labels, status (active, inactive, archived)
- Search, filter, sort

### Client Analytics & Progress Tracking
- Activity timeline with full-text search, date range filtering, and category filters
- GitHub-style activity heatmap showing 13 weeks of engagement at a glance
- Weight trend line charts with goal reference line
- Body measurement multi-line charts (waist, hip, chest, arm, thigh, neck)
- Lab value trend charts with normal range reference bands
- Compliance trend bar charts with 4w/8w/12w time range switching
- Compliance calendar (monthly heatmap — green/amber/red per day)
- Daily compliance sparklines in engagement cards
- 7-day vs 30-day comparative analytics with trend indicators
- Progress photo lightbox with magnifying lens zoom (2.5×) and side-by-side comparison
- Chart export as PNG (retina quality)
- Click any heatmap/calendar day to filter the timeline to that date

### Clinical Charting
- SOAP note templates (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan)
- ADIME format (Assessment, Diagnosis, Intervention, Monitoring, Evaluation)
- Custom note templates
- Visit history timeline per client
- File attachments (lab reports, prescriptions, photos)

### Templates & Recipes
- Condition-based starter templates: diabetes, PCOS, thyroid, weight loss, weight gain, pregnancy, postpartum
- Save any meal plan as reusable template
- Recipe builder from database ingredients with auto-calculated nutrition
- Recipe scaling (adjust servings, auto-recalculate)

### PDF & WhatsApp Sharing
- Branded PDF exports with practitioner logo, name, contact
- Per-nutrient visibility controls — hide specific macros (calories, protein, carbs, fat, fiber) from client-facing PDFs and portal
- Three-level cascade: practice defaults → per-client override → per-plan override → per-export override
- Useful for eating disorder recovery, client comfort, or simplified meal plans
- One-tap WhatsApp sharing via wa.me links
- Customizable branding (logo, colors, footer text)

### Scheduling
- Appointment booking with diet-specific types (initial consultation, follow-up, review)
- Email/SMS reminders
- Google Calendar sync
- Client self-booking links

### Client Portal (Branded Mobile App)
A white-label, installable PWA that gives each client their own branded mobile experience — no app store needed.

**Core Portal Features:**
- Installable PWA — adds to home screen, launches without browser chrome, works offline
- Custom branding — practitioner's logo, colors, app name, welcome message, footer text
- Dark mode support — auto (system), light, or dark theme
- Push notifications — meal reminders, water nudges, streak celebrations, new message alerts
- Per-client feature toggles — 14 features that practitioners can enable/disable per client

**Meal Plan Viewer:**
- Daily and weekly views with portions, nutrition breakdown, and recipes
- Alternative food selections — clients can swap food combos from practitioner-approved alternatives with real-time nutrition recalculation. Side dishes follow the selected alternative automatically.
- Nutrient visibility controls — practitioners can hide specific macros (calories, protein, carbs, fat, fiber) per client

**Food Diary:**
- Log meals as done, modified, or skipped
- Upload meal photos
- AI food scanning — snap a photo of any meal, GPT-4o Vision identifies foods and estimates nutrition (Indian food trained)
- Automatic compliance tracking with daily/weekly/monthly stats

**Water Tracking:**
- Daily water intake logging with configurable daily goal
- Quick-add buttons (glass, bottle, custom amount)
- Progress ring visualization
- Push notification reminders at configurable intervals

**Progress Tracking:**
- Weight logging with trend charts and goal reference line
- Body measurements (waist, hip, chest, arm, thigh, neck) with multi-line charts
- Progress photos with side-by-side comparison
- Compliance stats — streaks, weekly adherence dots, monthly calendar

**Goals:**
- View practitioner-set goals (weight targets, measurement targets, custom goals)
- Update progress on measurable goals with inline editing
- Auto-complete when target is reached
- Active vs completed goal sections with progress bars

**Messaging:**
- Real-time chat between client and practitioner
- Date separators, auto-scroll, Enter-to-send
- Unread message indicators on portal home
- Push notification on new messages

**Recipes:**
- View recipes assigned via meal plans
- Step-by-step instructions with ingredient lists
- Nutrition breakdown per serving
- Cooking mode (full-screen, step-by-step)

**Shopping List:**
- Auto-generated from active meal plan ingredients
- Grouped by food category
- Check off items as purchased
- Regenerate for any date range

**Profile & Settings:**
- View/edit personal info (name, phone, email, photo)
- Notification preferences with quiet hours
- Unit system toggle (metric/imperial)

**Onboarding:**
- Welcome card for new clients with feature-aware orientation
- Guided first steps based on enabled features

### Public Profile Page (Link-in-Bio)
A practitioner's public landing page at mealstack.io/p/[slug] — designed as a link-in-bio for Instagram, WhatsApp, and business cards.

**Configurable Sections (toggle on/off, drag to reorder):**
- Hero — photo/logo, name, credentials, trust signals (client count, years active)
- About — bio/story
- Specializations — badge chips (weight management, PCOS, diabetes, sports nutrition, etc.)
- Services — packages with name, duration, price (₹), and booking URL buttons
- Testimonials — client reviews with star ratings
- Contact — phone, email, address, business hours, Google Maps link
- Social Links — Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, website
- FAQ — accordion-style Q&A

**Customization:**
- Custom headline and subtitle (overrides auto-generated)
- Primary CTA (portal login, external link, or WhatsApp)
- Secondary CTA (WhatsApp, external link, or email)
- Override profile photo, bio, social links, and contact info directly (without editing other settings pages)
- Cover banner image behind hero
- Practitioner's brand colors applied to buttons and accents
- "Powered by MealStack" removable on Clinic plan

**SEO & Discovery:**
- JSON-LD structured data (HealthAndBeautyBusiness, services as Offers, testimonials as Reviews)
- Dynamic OG image generation with name + credentials
- Twitter Card meta tags
- Canonical URL
- Included in sitemap.xml automatically
- Optimized for "dietitian near me" local SEO

**Conversion Features:**
- Floating WhatsApp FAB for non-authenticated visitors
- Booking URL buttons on services (link to Calendly, Google Forms, or any external booking)
- CTA click tracking
- Page view analytics
- Auth-aware: authenticated clients see "Go to Portal" instead of login CTA

### AI Food Scanning (Client Portal)
- Clients snap a photo of any meal from within the portal food diary
- GPT-4o Vision identifies foods and estimates portions + nutrition
- Trained on Indian cuisine — recognizes dal, roti, sabzi, rice, dosa, idli, etc.
- Returns structured food list that client confirms or adjusts before saving
- Costs 1 AI credit per scan (deducted from practitioner's plan quota)
- Three-level gating: plan feature flag → org-level toggle → per-client toggle
- Useful for clients who find manual food logging tedious

## Pricing

All prices in INR, inclusive of GST. Annual plans save ~17%.

| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Clients | Key Features |
|------|---------|--------|---------|-------------|
| Free | ₹0 | ₹0 | 3 | IFCT database, basic meal planning, 10 AI credits |
| Starter | ₹1,499 | ₹14,999/yr | 25 | IFCT + INDB + USDA, 150 AI credits/mo, client portal, invoicing |
| Pro | ₹2,999 | ₹29,999/yr | Unlimited | 750 AI credits/mo, reports, branding removal, custom permissions |
| Clinic | ₹6,999 | ₹69,999/yr | Unlimited | 2,500 AI credits/mo, 15 team members, white-label, API access |

## Target Audience

- **Solo Dietitians**: Independent practitioners with 10-50 clients
- **Clinic Owners**: Multi-practitioner clinics with 100-500 clients
- **Fitness Coaches**: Gym/fitness professionals adding nutrition services
- **Health Coaches**: Wellness/lifestyle coaches
- **Clinical Nutritionists**: Hospital/clinical settings requiring SOAP/ADIME documentation

## Technical Details

- Built with Next.js 16, React 19, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS 4
- Drizzle ORM + Supabase PostgreSQL
- tRPC v11 for type-safe APIs
- Better Auth for authentication (Workfile ID SSO)
- Cloudflare R2 for media storage
- Deployed on Vercel

## Free Tools

MealStack offers free nutrition tools (no login required) for Indian users:

- Calorie Calculator (https://www.mealstack.io/tools/calorie-calculator): Look up calories and macros for Indian foods from the IFCT/INDB/USDA database
- BMI Calculator (https://www.mealstack.io/tools/bmi-calculator): BMI calculation with Indian population norms and WHO Asia-Pacific cutoffs
- TDEE Calculator (https://www.mealstack.io/tools/tdee-calculator): Total daily energy expenditure based on activity level
- Protein Calculator (https://www.mealstack.io/tools/protein-calculator): Daily protein requirements by body weight and activity
- Meal Plan Template (https://www.mealstack.io/tools/meal-plan-template): Downloadable 7-day Indian meal plan templates

## Food Database (Public)

MealStack's food database is publicly browsable at https://www.mealstack.io/foods with individual pages for each of the 9,349 foods. Each food page shows complete nutrition facts (80+ nutrients), portion sizes, dietary type, database source, and calorie density classification.

## Competitor Comparisons

- MealStack vs NutriAdmin: https://www.mealstack.io/vs/nutriadmin
- MealStack vs Foodzilla: https://www.mealstack.io/vs/foodzilla
- MealStack vs Nutrium: https://www.mealstack.io/vs/nutrium
- MealStack vs Excel: https://www.mealstack.io/vs/excel

## Blog

Nutrition practice tips, software guides, and Indian dietitian resources: https://www.mealstack.io/blog

### Featured Articles

- [Top 5 Dietitians in India 2026](https://www.mealstack.io/blog/top-5-dietitians-india-2026): Research-backed guide to India's most trusted dietitians — Archana Batra, Rujuta Diwekar, Dr. Anjali Hooda, Pooja Makhija, and Anjali Mukerjee. Credentials, specializations, and who to consult for what.
- [Best Nutrition Software for Indian Dietitians 2026](https://www.mealstack.io/blog/best-nutrition-software-indian-dietitians-2026): NutriAdmin, Foodzilla, Nutrium, and MealStack compared on pricing, Indian food database, AI features.
- [How to Create a 7-Day Indian Diet Plan](https://www.mealstack.io/blog/how-to-create-7-day-indian-diet-plan): Step-by-step guide for dietitians using IFCT food data and Indian meal patterns.
- [IFCT vs USDA Food Database](https://www.mealstack.io/blog/ifct-vs-usda-food-database-indian-dietitians): Which database Indian dietitians should use and why the difference matters.

## Links

- Home: https://www.mealstack.io
- Features: https://www.mealstack.io/features
- Why MealStack: https://www.mealstack.io/why-mealstack
- Pricing: https://www.mealstack.io/pricing
- For Dietitians: https://www.mealstack.io/for-dietitians
- For Clinics: https://www.mealstack.io/for-clinics
- Client Portal: https://www.mealstack.io/client-portal
- Public Profile: https://www.mealstack.io/features/public-profile
- Food Database: https://www.mealstack.io/foods
- Blog: https://www.mealstack.io/blog
- Free Tools: https://www.mealstack.io/tools
- Help & Support: https://www.mealstack.io/help
- Parent Company: https://workfile.io
- Contact: https://workfile.io/contact