More general import/upload functionality

Hi there,

First of all, I appreciate this suggestion has been made before so apologies if it's not welcome again, I just wanted to add another "vote" for such a feature to be prioritised.

It's great that we can export our data so easily from Cronometer, and in fact that was what prompted me to switch over from MyFitnessPal, where the export feature is more limited and available only on the premium tier. One of the attractions of MFP for me was its broader database of nutrition values, but I can live without that extra information given that we are able to add custom foods.

The function to import custom foods from JSON is great insofar as it allows us to back up our custom foods or share them with other Cronometer users, but what would be really helpful is if we could import foods that were not previously exported from Cronometer, so that we could automate or semi-automate the process of integrating other information sources. For example, one idea I had was to import nutrition data from OpenFoodFacts, but currently this is not possible (as far as I am aware).

So what I would really like to see is:

  • Ideally a general API for exporting/importing data including custom foods, though I understand from reading other threads that this is not really on the horizon.
  • Failing that, a documented way to import custom foods from JSON that was not necessarily previously exported from Cronometer. I think this would mainly involve removing the "id" attributes from the JSON or replacing them with something that can be generated/deduced externally.

Perhaps this feature could be part of the Gold plan. (I have only recently joined Cronometer and have not yet signed up for the Gold plan, but needless to say I would be happy to upgrade for this feature.)

Thanks!

Comments

  • I'd love an API as well, but while waiting, I've made my own solution for importing custom foods.

    I've documented all the attributes on the site (by manually entering and exporting all the nutrients, and a bit of trial and failure), and written a small python-script that correctly formats the inputs for importing as custom foods / .json. It's available on GitHub.

    I've also found a way to directly import the data to custom foods, based on the work of jrmycanady, but so far it doesn't support as much input as though .json-file, I've yet to fully decode/understand the GWT payloads it sends.

    I've paired this up with a script that eats norwegian barcodes and spits out all the info required for the .json, and an iOs Shortcut, I'm then able to scan a barcode on my phone, and the product is added directly to my Cronometer custom foods.