Cook MD

Troubleshooting

Common problems and how to fix them.

macOS: "Cook Editor cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified"

macOS Gatekeeper flags newly downloaded apps on first launch. The fix:

  1. Right-click Cook Editor in your Applications folder.
  2. Pick Open from the menu.
  3. Confirm in the dialog that appears.

After you approve it once, double-clicking works normally.

The folder won't open, or the sidebar is empty

A few things to check:

  • Permissions. On macOS, if the folder is inside Documents, Desktop, or iCloud, the OS may be withholding read access. Grant Cook Editor Full Disk Access in System Settings → Privacy & Security, or pick a folder in your home directory.
  • Hidden files. Cook Editor shows files with a .cook or .menu extension by default. If your recipes don't have one of those extensions, they won't appear in the sidebar.
  • Very large folders. The initial index for a collection with thousands of files can take a few seconds. Give it a moment before assuming something's wrong.

Changes on my phone aren't showing up in the editor

Cook Editor reads and writes files on your local disk. To sync with the Cook.md iOS and Android apps, those apps need to write to the same folder Cook Editor is watching. There are two ways to arrange that:

  • Cook.md sync — if you run the Sync Agent, it keeps a folder on your disk in sync with your Cook.md account. Point Cook Editor at that folder.
  • iCloud Drive / Dropbox / Syncthing — put your recipes folder in a sync provider and open it from both the mobile apps and Cook Editor.

If changes still aren't appearing:

  1. Check the sync indicator on both the mobile app and the Sync Agent tray — both should show "synced".
  2. Close and reopen the folder in Cook Editor (File → Open Folder) to force a re-scan.

Where logs live

When you file a bug, it's often helpful to attach the log file.

  • macOS: ~/Library/Logs/Cook Editor/
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\Cook Editor\logs\
  • Linux: ~/.config/Cook Editor/logs/

You can also open the in-app log viewer from the command palette — search for "Show Logs" or "Developer: Open Logs".

Report a bug

Cook Editor is developed in the open. Bugs, feature requests, and questions all go to github.com/cook-md/editor/issues. Please include:

  • Your OS and version.
  • The Cook Editor version (shown in About).
  • Steps to reproduce.
  • Log excerpts from the paths above, if relevant.

For non-bug questions or account issues, use the contact form.