OpenFoodFacts CLI

A command-line tool to query the OpenFoodFacts database. Install with:

npm install -g openfoodfacts-cli

The binary is called off.

Commands

Search products

off search <query> [--page <n>] [--page-size <n>] [--sort-by <field>]

• <query>: product name or keyword (quote multi-word queries)
• --page: page number, starts at 1 (default: 1)
• --page-size: results per page (default: 10)
• --sort-by: sort field, prefix with - for descending (e.g. -popularity)

Output: ASCII table with columns: Barcode, Name, Brand, Nutriscore, kcal, Fat, Carbs, Prot, Salt. Shows total count and pagination info. Missing values display as -.

Get product by barcode

off get <ean>

• <ean>: product barcode (typically 13 digits, e.g. 3017620422003)

Output: same table format as search, single row.

Examples

# Search for a product
off search nutella

# Multi-word query
off search "organic chocolate" --page-size 5

# Paginate
off search pasta --page 2

# Sort by field
off search snacks --sort-by -popularity

# Get specific product
off get 3017620422003

Output format

Both commands produce a fixed-width ASCII table:

Found 42 results (page 1/5)
Barcode        Name                                      Brand                      Nutriscore  kcal  Fat   Carbs  Prot  Salt
-------------  ----------------------------------------  -------------------------  ----------  ----  ----  -----  ----  ----
3017620422003  Nutella                                   Ferrero                    E           539   30.9  57.5   6.3   0.1
...
Use --page 2 to see next page

• Names truncated at 40 chars, brands at 25 chars (with ellipsis)
• Integers show no decimals, decimals show 1 decimal place
• Nutriscore: A-E uppercase, - if unknown
• Exit code 1 on error, 0 on success

Error handling

• Search with no results: prints No products found.
• Invalid barcode / not found: prints Product not found.
• API errors: prints error message and exits with code 1

Tips for agents

1. Always quote multi-word search queries
2. Check pagination output to know if more pages are available
3. Use off get when you have an exact barcode, off search for discovery
4. Nutritional values are per 100g
5. The database is community-maintained; some products may have incomplete data