Recipes are plugins that other TRMNL users built and shared so anyone can install them, and this guide walks through finding one, installing it, and what you can change once it's on your playlist. If you'd rather share a plugin of your own, head over to Plugin recipes instead.
Our team reviews every recipe before it gets listed, but the authors are the ones who maintain them, so think of us as the bouncer rather than the chef.
Prerequisites
A TRMNL account, with either a TRMNL device or your own screen running on BYOD
Step 1 - Find a recipe
There are three ways in, depending on whether you know what you want or would like a few suggestions:
The catalog. Open trmnl.com/recipes and search, keeping in mind that search needs at least 3 characters before it kicks in. You can also click a tag such as #calendar to browse a category, or sort by Most Popular to see what everyone else is running.
The Plugins page. Search from Plugins in your dashboard and any matching recipes show up under Recipes, or click Browse all recipes to open the full catalog.
Discover. Discover asks you a few questions and then suggests plugins and recipes, so you can keep the ones you like and apply them to your device.
Step 2 - Check it before you install
Each recipe's page shows a preview image, how many people use it, a note from the author, and a list of Available settings, which are the fields you'll fill in after you install.
Click Preview to see the recipe in all four layout sizes, from full screen down to a quarter of the screen. Keep in mind the preview runs on the author's own data rather than yours.
Some recipes send the values you enter to a server the author chose, which is why we recommend reading the field descriptions before you type in anything private.
Step 3 - Install it
Click Install and TRMNL adds the recipe to the playlist of whichever device you have selected. What happens next depends on the recipe:
No settings to fill in. You get a mirrored copy that shows the author's screen, and TRMNL sends you to your playlists with "Recipe connected". There is nothing to set up, which is about as easy as it gets.
Settings to fill in, or an account to connect. You get a read-only copy and land on its settings page with "Added to your playlist. Check the settings below."
An account to connect, and the author shares their app. You'll first see OAuth Configuration, where you can choose Use recipe's OAuth app (the easier option) or Use my own OAuth app if you have credentials of your own, then click Install Recipe.
Step 4 - Fill in the settings
Fill in the recipe's fields and click Save. If the recipe connects an account, you sign in with your own, because the author's sign-in is never copied to you.
You can also rename your copy and choose its Max refresh rate. Some authors set a slowest rate for every install, and when they have, the page tells you so.
Step 5 - You're done!
The recipe now shows up in your playlist rotation. If you'd like to choose when it appears, the Playlist Scheduler handles that.
Install or fork
An install follows the author. Whenever they change the markup or the settings, your screen picks up the new version on its next refresh. In exchange, the markup is locked, and the only things you can change are your values for the recipe's fields, the name and the refresh rate.
A fork is your own copy. Click Fork this recipe under the Install button and you can edit everything, including the markup, the same way you would with a private plugin. The trade-off is that a fork never gets the author's updates again, which is why TRMNL warns you before it creates one.
A fork starts with empty field values, so you'll need to fill them in again.
Forking a recipe that has fields, or that connects an account, needs Developer Edition.
Want the author's updates back? Click Install again on the recipe page, then remove the fork.
Your copies live under Plugins, then Private Plugin, and each one carries a badge so you can tell them apart: Mirrored or Read Only for an install, and Fork for a fork. The Install and Fork filters help you find them when the list gets long.
Uninstall a recipe
Go to Plugins, then Private Plugin, and click the trash icon beside the copy, or open the copy and use Remove plugin at the bottom of its settings. Either way, it leaves your playlist too.
If you only want to stop showing a recipe but keep its settings around, remove it from your playlist instead.
Report a broken recipe
Only the author can fix a recipe, so the goal here is getting word to them:
If the recipe page shows Report an issue, the recipe lives in a public GitHub repository, so use that link.
Your copy's settings page may say "Need help? Contact" and name the author on Discord, in which case you can message them there.
Otherwise, contact support with the recipe's link.
Troubleshooting
"This recipe is currently degraded and not producing screens" - The author's copy is failing, so installs stop updating too, and a mirrored copy shows a Recipe degraded badge. Nothing on your side fixes it, so report it to the author.
"Developer edition is required to enable this feature." - You clicked Fork this recipe on a recipe that has fields or connects an account. Click Install instead, or add Developer Edition.
"Fill in ... to finish setting up this plugin." - A required field is blank, so fill in the fields it names and save again.
"This is a read-only install of a recipe; fork it to edit its settings or markup" - You tried to change part of an install that the author owns, and the way around it is to fork the recipe.
Your fork doesn't have the author's latest fix - Forks don't get updates, so click Install again on the recipe page.
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