instacart-grocery-planning

Instacart Grocery Planning

Trigger

Use when asked to compare Instacart.ca stores, plan groceries, build carts, optimize for budget/protein/halal/diet constraints, or mutate a live Instacart cart through this API.

Operating rules

1. Use Instacart.ca and the active saved browser profile/address.
2. Do not create a shared public browser link if the saved profile is already logged in.
3. Never check out, pay, or place an order without explicit user authorization.
4. Compare address-available stores before picking a retailer; do not default blindly to Food Basics or Costco.
5. Prefer one no-markup/low-fee store unless a split clearly beats added fees/complexity.
6. Verify final cart drawer text, item quantities, and subtotal before reporting.

Store comparison scope

At minimum, consider visible grocery stores for the address, including:

• Food Basics
• Walmart
• No Frills
• Adonis
• FreshCo
• Metro
• Costco
• Costco Business Centre
• Iqbal Foods
• Real Canadian Superstore
• Wholesale Club
• Any additional visible Instacart grocery store for the address

Compare:

• No-markup / pricing-policy signal
• Delivery/service/long-distance/bag fee signals
• Item availability for the diet
• Protein-per-dollar and staple-per-dollar
• Promotions/discounts and delivery threshold
• Whether weighted item estimates can move subtotal later

Halal high-protein defaults

For a 2-person, 2-week halal high-protein cart, build around:

• Halal/Zabiha/Mina/Sufra chicken as the meat anchor
• Eggs
• Plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese when useful
• Tuna in water
• Tofu as cheap backup protein if acceptable
• Lentils, beans, chickpeas
• Rice, oats, potatoes, tortillas/pasta for bulk carbs
• Frozen vegetables, onions, carrots/cabbage for cheap volume

Use halal-labeled meats only for meat. Non-meat staples are usually acceptable unless ingredients visibly show pork/alcohol or the user requires certification for everything.

Cart mutation pattern

1. Check /instacart/login/status first.
2. If loggedIn: false, use the phone OTP layer before cart work.
3. Open /instacart/analysis; confirm the browser is logged in and on Instacart.
4. Search available stores/products with store-specific Instacart.ca URLs.
5. Open the cart drawer and clear existing items if rebuilding.
6. Add first unit from the exact product card; for duplicates use the exact row/card increment control, not another broad add click.
7. Reopen cart drawer and verify Family Cart, quantities, Item subtotal, and checkout total/discount line.
8. Report item subtotal and any discounted/pre-checkout line separately. State checkout was not completed.

Pitfalls

• Global /store/s?k= discovery can mix stores; lock to a chosen store before adding.
• Store slugs must be canonical, e.g. food-basics-canada, not food-basics.
• Product cards and Add buttons are often sibling elements; use geometry or exact labels.
• Cart parsers can lag/underreport; final verification should trust the live cart drawer text.
• Weighted meat/produce can change after shopper selection.