CLI Usage Guide

The soap-calc command-line interface (CLI) is your primary tool for validating, calculating, and exporting recipes.

Basic Commands

validate

Checks your recipe file for errors without performing full calculations.

soap-calc validate recipe.json

Common errors found: * Oil percentages not summing to 100%. * Unknown oil names. * Missing required fields (e.g., lye_type).

calculate

Computes the recipe and prints the results to the terminal.

soap-calc calculate recipe.json

Options: * --oil-weight <grams>: Override the total_oil_weight in the recipe file. Useful for resizing a batch on the fly.

soap-calc calculate recipe.json --oil-weight 1000

export

Generates a detailed Markdown report suitable for printing or sharing.

soap-calc export recipe.json -o instructions.md

Options: * -o, --output <file>: Specify the output filename. If omitted, prints to stdout.

scale

Resizes a recipe file permanently and saves it as a new file.

soap-calc scale original.json 1200 -o scaled.json

This scales original.json to 1200g of total oils and saves it to scaled.json.

list-oils

Searches the available oil database.

soap-calc list-oils "coconut"

Use this to find the exact naming spelling for your oils list.