Your kitchen. Your choices. Your circle.

No. Use it with friends, family, household members, a care team or a group that enjoys cooking together. You can share a favorite recipe without needing or offering deeper kitchen access.

These labels describe the relationship you choose when inviting someone. They do not automatically combine accounts, calendars or Pantry stock, and they do not grant helper permissions. Offer those permissions separately through Helper Access when wanted.

In People, search for the name the person chose in their profile. Only members who enabled name discovery appear. This search does not look up email addresses or parts of an email address. Use an email invitation or a secure invite link when that is more appropriate.

A secure link is useful when you want to send the invitation yourself through a familiar channel. An email invitation is addressed to a specific email, and the recipient must sign in with that address to accept it. Review the sending status; an invitation being created is not proof of email delivery. New connection invitations expire after 30 days.

Find incoming connection requests and pending outgoing invitations in People. Circle invitations appear in Circles. A separate offer of helper access appears under Kitchen Helpers → Kitchens shared with me. Review and accept the relevant invitation before expecting access.

Choose Share on a saved recipe and select an accepted Kitchen Connection. The recipient finds it in Kitchen Connections → Shared Recipes and Recipe Box → Shared. Sharing the recipe does not share your calendar, Pantry or Shopping List.

View opens the shared recipe. Save to My Box saves your own working copy, which you can use with your own preferences, Pantry and planner. Once saved, Open My Copy returns to that copy.

Yes. Choose Share and create a recipe web link. A friend or family member can open the formatted recipe page without an existing Adaptive Kitchen account. The page invites them to join and keep the recipe in their own Recipe Box. This recipe link does not create a Kitchen Connection or grant private kitchen access.

They stay private by default. If you deliberately select supported Journal notes for a connection share, only those selected notes are included. Other Journal entries, private cooking photos and Chef conversations are not automatically shared. Review the share selection before sending.

No. Saving or viewing a shared recipe does not give the sender access to your Pantry, Shopping List, calendar or private preferences. Your saved copy is used in your own kitchen context.

Open People → Existing Connections and choose Helper Access beside the person. Select View Meal Plans, View Shopping List, or both, then send the helper invitation. The person must review and accept it before access begins. You can change permissions or revoke access later.

Current helper permissions are view-only: scheduled meals with their recipe ingredients and instructions, and saved Shopping List items still to buy with their quantities. They do not include editing, Pantry inventory, private Journal notes, cooking photos, Chef conversations or billing. The shopping overview does not include unsaved projected needs.

You gain the specific view-only access offered in that invitation. Your own kitchen is not shared back automatically. You can open the permitted overview and use it to coordinate help, or choose Stop Helping later. If the owner changes permissions, access pauses until you accept the revised invitation.

No. The current helper views support coordination, not editing or purchase reconciliation. Purchases, Pantry updates and cooking confirmations remain in the kitchen owner’s app through the normal workflows.

Open Circles and choose Create Circle. Name it, choose an ongoing group or a dated cooking event, and add optional details. Then invite people from your existing Kitchen Connections. They choose whether to accept; creating a circle does not add anyone automatically.

Add a saved recipe, a dish without a recipe, or a task such as bringing drinks. Members can see shared notes, claim responsibilities and update progress. A recipe-based dish can connect to the claimant’s own planner, ingredient checks and shopping needs; a named dish without ingredients remains a custom plan.

Yes. A cooking circle includes an ongoing chat for its members. Ask questions, share arrival or preparation updates, and discuss the event there so the conversation stays with that circle’s menu and tasks rather than becoming scattered across separate messages.

Yes. Review each contribution when claiming and planning it. Existing meals can remain in place while an event dish is added alongside them. If the same recipe is already scheduled, review whether to use that planned meal instead of adding another copy. Your own servings and calendar determine your meal needs.

No. Circle progress tells the group how preparation is going. Pantry stock changes through the existing meal-cooked or purchase-confirmation workflows. Releasing a claim or removing a circle entry does not silently remove your own calendar entry; review the planner if your plans change.

A circle owner can appoint an admin to help manage invitations and ordinary members. The owner remains the owner. Circle admin access does not give access to anyone’s private planner, Pantry or Shopping List.

Mute quiets that circle’s notifications while you remain a member. Leave ends your access and requires a new invitation to rejoin. An owner can archive the circle, closing invitations and making its shared space read-only. These actions do not delete personal saved recipe copies.

Remove ends the connection, with a new invitation needed to reconnect. Block also stops new requests and private recipe sharing between you. Already-saved recipe copies remain. Unblocking does not automatically restore the connection, and circle membership has its own controls.

No. This control concerns connection notification chimes in the current browser while the app is open. The Chef’s spoken responses use separate voice settings. Muted circles remain muted.

Use Chef Assistant for explanations of the page and its controls. Use available report controls for a safety concern about a circle or its activity. Reporting and connection controls have different purposes; choose Remove, Block, Mute or Leave when you want to change your own participation.