Getting started
What happens on the first start
Keepilo greets you, asks who lives in your household, and then offers to download the content: the AI model that powers the assistant, and optionally a content package. You need Wi-Fi for this step and only for this step. Everything afterwards works offline.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no registration, no email address and no password. The app never asks who you are, because it has nowhere to send that information.
How long does the download take and how big is it?
The language model is the large part. Expect a few gigabytes over a normal connection. The download resumes if it is interrupted, and every file is checked against a checksum before it is used, so a half-broken model never gets loaded. You can close the app; the download picks up where it stopped.
Which device do I need?
For the standard model, 6 GB of RAM or more is comfortable. On smaller devices Keepilo offers a lighter model: shorter answers, less nuance, same offline behaviour. Everything outside the assistant (inventory, dashboard, planner, emergency area) runs on anything.
Can I skip the download and start later?
Yes. The inventory and the dashboard work without the model. The assistant then shows a card offering to load it whenever you next have Wi-Fi.
Asking the assistant
How do I ask a question?
Open Assistant, type your question in normal language and send it. The answer streams in word by word. Ask like you would ask a person: "how do I make water drinkable", "what do I do with a heavy bleed", "how long does rice keep".
What are the chips under the answer?
Sources. Each chip shows a document and a page number. Tap it and the PDF opens at exactly that page, so you can read the original passage. If an answer has no chips, it did not come from your documents, so treat it accordingly.
Why does it sometimes say it does not know?
Because nothing in your library covers the question. That is the correct answer, and it is deliberately preferred over a plausible invention. Import a document that covers the topic and ask again.
Can I ask in German about an English book?
Yes. The answer comes back in German. Measurements in gallons, ounces, feet or Fahrenheit are converted to metric, with the original value in brackets.
What is the "household context" switch?
With it on, the assistant may use your medical cards (allergies, chronic conditions, medication) when the question touches them. Switch it off for a session if you would rather keep the answer general. Medical answers always carry the note that the app does not replace a doctor.
Does the conversation go anywhere?
No. The model runs on your device. There is no request to any server, in flight mode or out of it. The chat history is stored locally and you can delete it.
Can it answer questions about the app itself?
Yes. This handbook is indexed inside the app like any other document. Ask "where do I set the water requirement" and you get the relevant paragraph with a citation.
Library and documents
How do I import a document?
- Open Library and tap Import.
- Pick a PDF, TXT or Markdown file from your device or cloud drive.
- Wait for the indexing bar. A 100-page PDF takes a few minutes, once.
You can also send a file to Keepilo from another app using "Open with" or the share sheet.
Where do I get good documents?
Anything you legally have: manuals, first-aid guides, the instructions for your water filter, your insurance documents, the house wiring plan. The app also points to freely downloadable survival handbooks; you download them in your browser and import them yourself. Keepilo ships no books of its own.
Why does it say a document has no text?
Because it is a scan, a stack of images with no text layer. Keepilo cannot index those and says so plainly instead of pretending. Run the file through an OCR tool first, then import the result.
How do I remove a document?
Open it in the library, choose Delete, confirm. The index entries go with it and the assistant stops quoting it immediately.
What is the language badge?
Keepilo detects the language of each document and shows it. That matters because the search threshold is calibrated per language pair. It is why an English book still answers a German question properly.
Inventory
How do I add supplies?
- Open Inventory and tap Add.
- Scan the barcode or type the name.
- Enter quantity and unit: 6 cans, 5 kg, 24 tablets.
- Enter the best-before date.
- Enter the storage location: "cellar shelf 3", "kitchen", "garage".
- Finish. Keepilo assigns the inventory number and shows it large enough to write down.
What is an inventory number for?
It identifies a single article across the whole app: L- for food,
W- for water, M- for medication, S- for special items.
Write it on the crate with a marker. Later you can search for L-0042 instead of
remembering whether you called it "peaches" or "canned fruit", and the rationing plan names
the same number, so you know which box to open.
What is a batch?
The same article bought at different times has different best-before dates. Each purchase is a batch. The article shows the total; the detail panel lists the batches with their dates and locations. This is what lets the app tell you what expires first without lying about the total.
How do I book something out?
- Open the article and tap Book out.
- Choose whole packs, a partial quantity or the rest of a batch.
- Give a reason: used, expired, given away, lost.
- Confirm. Keepilo pre-selects the batch with the shortest best-before date.
Can I book out half a pack?
Yes. Enter the partial quantity: 400 g out of a 5 kg sack, 3 tablets out of a box of 20. Keepilo keeps everything in base units internally, so partial withdrawals do not drift over time.
Why does it always suggest a specific batch?
First expired, first out. Using the shortest-dated batch first is the only way a stock stays fresh without you thinking about it. You can override the suggestion.
How do I find things?
Search by name, inventory number or barcode. Filter chips narrow the list to food, medicine, water or "expiring soon". The coloured dot in front of each row is the status: green fine, amber getting close, red act now.
What are special items?
Things that are not measured in calories: water filters, purification tablets, toilet bags, batteries, gas cartridges. Enter the model and Keepilo knows its capacity: litres for a filter, days for toilet bags. It measures your actual daily consumption from the withdrawal log and reports a range in days. Filter capacity and purification tablets count towards your potential drinking water.
How do I correct a mistake?
Open the article, tap Edit. Name, unit, category, nutrition values and the batches can all be corrected. Nothing is locked.
Barcode scanning
How does the scan work?
Tap Scan in the inventory, point the camera at the barcode, hold still for a moment. Keepilo fills in the name and, where it has the data, the nutrition values. You still confirm quantity, date and location.
Does the scan need internet?
No. Product data comes from an offline package based on Open Food Facts that you download once. If a product is not in it, you type the name, and the article is created either way.
Scanning does not work on my desktop
Barcode scanning is a phone and tablet function. On macOS and Windows you type the name or the number. If you have both, scanning on the phone and transferring is faster.
Household and requirements
Why does the app want to know who lives with me?
Because "23 days" only means something in relation to the people eating. A wizard asks for each person: name, year of birth, sex, and whether anything special applies. From that, Keepilo derives the daily calorie and water requirement.
Where do the requirement figures come from?
From requirement profiles per age group and sex that ship with the app. Every value shows its origin: your own entry beats the profile, the profile beats the general reference number. If your library contains a document with better figures, the app can suggest them with the quotation, and it checks them against plausibility limits before offering.
Can I change a person's requirement?
Yes. Open the person and set calories or water directly. That override then wins everywhere. Useful for heavy physical work, pregnancy, or an athlete in the household.
How do I add or remove a person?
Settings, then Household. Adding runs the same short wizard. Removing asks for confirmation, because a person also carries a medical card.
Dashboard and readiness score
What does "23 days" mean exactly?
Your current stock of food, divided by the daily requirement of everyone in your household, at normal rations. The same for water. The number changes as you book things in and out.
What is the target and how do I set it?
The number of days you want to be covered for. Ten days is the common official recommendation; many households aim at 14 or 30. Set it in Settings; the traffic lights and the progress ring refer to it.
What is the readiness score?
A single number from everything the app knows: stock range, expiring batches, whether the emergency plan is filled in, whether the medical cards are complete, whether the backpack checklist is ticked. Under it sits one suggestion: the next action with the biggest effect. Do that one thing and the number moves.
What does the medication range tell me?
How many days the stock lasts for each person, from the dosage in their medical card. It is usually the shortest number on the dashboard, and it is the one worth acting on first, because you cannot improvise insulin.
What is the nutrient balance?
Actual versus target share for grain, vegetables and fruit, protein and fat. It catches the classic stockpile mistake: five months of pasta, eleven days of anything else.
Which notifications does the app send?
A weekly check-in and an alert when something drops below a threshold or is about to expire. Both are scheduled locally on the device: no background service, no push server, nothing that needs a connection.
Rationing
How do I stretch my supplies?
- Open Planner, tab Rationing.
- Set the number of days you want to cover.
- Tap Calculate rations.
You get the coverage as a percentage and a day-by-day plan. Coverage under 100 % is stated plainly rather than hidden. Knowing that you reach 82 % is more useful than a plan that pretends.
How does the daily plan choose items?
It empties the shortest-dated batches first and keeps each day within about ten percent of the same energy budget, so the diet does not swing between feast and famine.
Can I take the plan out of the app?
Yes, as text, to the clipboard or the share sheet. Printing it and sticking it on the cellar door is a legitimate use.
Shopping list
How does the list get filled?
From the gap. Choose a horizon, and Keepilo compares requirement against stock and lists what is missing in water, calories and long-term medication, with suggested products.
Can I tick items off?
Yes, and the ticks survive closing the app. Share the list as text with whoever is doing the shopping.
Why is medication on the shopping list?
Because it is the item with the shortest range and the longest lead time. The list shows how many days short you are, so you can raise it with your doctor before it matters.
Medical cards
What goes on a medical card?
Blood type, height and weight, allergies, chronic conditions, vaccinations, long-term medication with dosage, and an emergency contact. One card per person in the household.
How do I fill one in?
A wizard: one question per screen, every question skippable, progress saved. You can stop after two minutes and continue next week. The card shows what is still missing.
How does medication link to the inventory?
When you enter a medication, you can link it to the inventory article. Keepilo then knows dosage and stock and can compute the range in days, and it will warn you before it runs out.
Is that safe?
It is health data, and it is treated as such: stored locally only, never transmitted, and excluded from any export unless you explicitly choose a preset that includes it, which asks you first. Switch on the app lock and the operating system encryption protects it further.
Emergency plan, backpack and cards
What belongs in the emergency plan?
Meeting points if you cannot reach each other, who fetches the children, which neighbour has a key, the numbers you would otherwise look up on a phone that is dead. It is free text. Write it the way your family talks.
How does the emergency backpack checklist work?
Keepilo comes with a template based on the recommendations of the German Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK). Tick per person what is packed; add your own entries. The completion feeds the readiness score.
How do I print the emergency cards?
- Open Planner, tab Emergency, then Emergency cards.
- Choose the people.
- Generate the PDF and print it double-sided on A4.
- Cut along the marks. Four cards per sheet, A7 landscape, wallet size.
The backs are mirrored so that double-sided printing lines up on any printer. Each card carries the photo, blood type, allergies, chronic conditions, medication and emergency contact.
What is the emergency button?
A full-screen mode with large type and high contrast that shows only the essentials, plus the option to notify your family by SMS. SMS, because it still gets through when mobile data does not.
App lock
How do I switch it on?
Settings, App lock, set a PIN. Then enable fingerprint or face recognition if your device has it, and choose after how long the app locks itself.
What happens if I forget the PIN?
There is no reset from our side. We have no copy of it and no way to reach your device. Recovery means reinstalling and importing a backup. Which is a good reason to have one.
What is snapshot protection?
The preview of the app in the task switcher is blurred, so the medication list is not readable over your shoulder while you switch apps.
Backup, export and transfer to family devices
Does the app back itself up?
Yes, locally: daily, keeping the last three states, without the PDFs so it stays small. The backups sit in the app folder and are deleted with the app, so keep a real export somewhere else too.
How do I make an export?
Settings, Export, choose a preset: full backup, inventory only, or a sharing
package. The presets differ in whether health data is included; the one that includes it asks
for confirmation. You get a .keepilo file and the system share sheet.
How do I get my data onto my partner's phone?
Two ways, both without internet:
- File. Export, then AirDrop, Quick Share, USB stick or cable. On the other device, open the file with Keepilo.
- Direct transfer. Both devices on the same Wi-Fi or hotspot, with no internet needed behind it. The sending device shows a QR code, the receiving device scans it, and the transfer starts. The code is valid for exactly one transfer.
Does importing overwrite everything?
Normally no: Keepilo merges and tells you what it changed. A package that contains purchased content is the exception. That one replaces the library as a whole, and says so before it does.
How do I move to a new phone?
Full export on the old device, install Keepilo on the new one, import. Buy the app again if you are switching ecosystem. A purchase is tied to the store account, so an Apple purchase does not carry over to Google or Microsoft.
Where your data lives
What is stored where?
Everything (inventory, household, medical cards, emergency plan, chat history, documents and the index) sits in a database inside the app's own folder on your device. There is no cloud copy, because there is no cloud.
When does the app use the internet?
Only when you start a download: the AI model, a content package, or the list of available content. The files are hosted on GitHub and Hugging Face. Nothing is uploaded, ever.
What happens when I delete the app?
Everything goes, including the automatic backups in the app folder. Export first if you want to keep it.
When something goes wrong
The assistant answers slowly
The model is doing real work on your processor. Close other apps, plug in the charger, because many devices throttle on battery, and consider the lighter model if your device has less memory.
The assistant answers "there is nothing about this in your documents"
Either the library genuinely lacks the topic, or the document is a scan without a text layer. Check the document in the library: if it has no page count, it was not indexed.
The download stopped
Start it again. It resumes where it left off, and every file is verified before use. A cancelled download costs no progress.
The range on the dashboard looks wrong
Check three things: is the household complete, do the articles have realistic energy values, and is anything sitting in the inventory with a quantity of zero. The requirement column on the household page shows where each figure comes from.
The direct transfer does not connect
Both devices need to be on the same network: the same Wi-Fi or the same hotspot. Guest networks and "client isolation" in the router block devices from seeing each other. If in doubt, open a hotspot on one phone and join it with the other; no internet connection is required for the transfer.