Recipe Pin Feature Spec
Enter hub password to continue.
That's not right. Try again.
RecipeMemoir: shareable recipe pins, owner-generated
What it is: a Create pin button on the owner's recipe page that turns a recipe into a Pinterest-ready image (1000x1500): the recipe photo, the title, up to three nutrition badges, the owner's site handle, and a small "Made with RecipeMemoir" credit. The owner picks one of three looks, then either pins it straight to Pinterest or downloads the file.
Why: it hands recipe-site owners a real marketing asset in one click, and every pin that lands on Pinterest carries the RecipeMemoir credit back to us.
Decisions locked
| Decision | Choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Who can make pins | Recipe site owner only, logged in, own recipes only | Owners are the ones who actually make marketing images. Removes the abuse surface entirely. |
| Look of the pin | Three fixed templates, owner picks | Simpler than deriving each user's site palette. One tap, no fiddling. |
| Access | Free for everyone, with a RecipeMemoir credit line | Growth loop. The credit is removable later, per paid user. |
| Credit removal | A flag on the user record, defaults to off | There is no billing or plan field in the product today (I checked all 44 migrations). Build the switch now, wire it to billing when billing exists. You ratified this 2026-07-28. |
| Sharing | Pin to Pinterest and Download | Pinterest needs a public image link; Instagram and Tailwind need the file. |
How it works, in plain terms
- Owner opens one of their recipes and clicks Create pin.
- A small window offers three looks. They tap one.
- Their own browser draws the finished pin and shows a preview.
- Download saves the image. Pin to Pinterest uploads it and opens Pinterest with the image, the recipe link, and the title already filled in.
The one clever bit: the owner's browser does the image-making, not your server. That means it costs nothing to run, can't be abused, and works no matter how many owners use it. Your server only stores the finished picture so Pinterest has a link to point at.
This only works because RecipeMemoir already serves recipe photos from its own domain. Had they come from somewhere else, browsers would have blocked it outright and we would have needed a much heavier build. That single fact decided the whole approach.
The three templates
All 1000x1500, Pinterest's standard shape, with the title sized to stay readable when the pin shows up small in the feed.
- Overlay. Full-bleed photo, dark fade, big title across the lower third, badge card, corner burst for time or servings.
- Band. Photo on top, a solid color band carrying the title, badges on cream below.
- Minimal. Photo with a generous margin, small serif title beneath, one thin rule, badges as plain text. For owners who dislike loud pins.
The first two already exist and are rendering, in the recipe-pin skill I built for you. Minimal is my own addition, on the theory that not every owner wants a shouty pin. Say the word and I'll cut it and ship two.
What it adds to the codebase
- One database migration: the branding flag, plus a small table remembering which pins have been made.
- Two small API endpoints (fetch the pin's data, store the finished image) and one to serve it back.
- One new browser file that draws the pin.
- One button in the existing action bar, next to Print and Email this recipe.
No new dependencies at all, which matters because that part of RecipeMemoir has no build step. And no changes to any of your 31 public style templates.
Deliberately left out
- Making pins for many recipes at once.
- Matching each pin to the owner's chosen site colors.
- Pin buttons for visitors on public recipe pages (your call: owners only).
- Using the pin as each recipe's social preview image. This one is a genuine win: right now every recipe shares one identical default image on Facebook, iMessage, and Pinterest. The design supports it, but it deserves its own ship rather than bloating this one.
- Any billing work beyond the single flag.
Edge cases already handled
- No photo on the recipe: the button stays hidden. A pin without a photo isn't worth shipping.
- Very long titles: wrap to three lines, then shrink, then trim with an ellipsis.
- No nutrition data: the pin renders without the badge row rather than showing zeros.
- Someone else's recipe: rejected. Ownership is checked on every request.
- Storage growth: capped at three images per recipe, overwritten on re-render.
Two things I want your reaction to
- The Minimal template was my own judgment call. Keep it or cut it?
- Download alongside Pinterest. I kept both. If you'd rather ship Pinterest alone and add Download later, say so.
Once you're happy, say go and I'll write the implementation plan, then build it.