Grocery Price Check with Muse: A Copy-Paste Agent Prompt

Paste this prompt to Muse or Grok Bot to pull your online grocery history, find staples, compare stores, and wait for your approval before any order

Who

Households who want to optimize grocery spending and let an AI agent read order history to compare prices

You get

A Google Sheet with price comparison across stores for your staple basket; author's case showed ~$32/basket (~$600/year) but family declined to switch

You need

Muse · Google Sheets

Steps

1. Paste the prompt and start the agent

   Copy and paste the author's full prompt to Muse, Grok Bot, or your agent. The prompt will have the agent ask which stores you use first.

   Execution prompt · Source text。Muse / Grok Bot chat input; paste in full to start

   Copy prompt

   I just read Gabe Hernandez's article "AI Found Us Grocery Savings. We Said No." Walk me through doing the same thing for my household, one step at a time. You do the analysis. I'll answer questions and approve things.
   1. Ask me where I buy groceries. Help me log in to each store securely, not by pasting my password in chat. If I don't order online, ask me for my most recent receipts instead.
   2. Pull the last 2 or 3 months of orders.
   3. Find our staples and other recurring items, and how often we buy each one.
   4. Ask me for my constraints, like how many stores and how far I'll drive. Price our whole recurring basket at every store that fits, and tell me the cheapest option. Point out any savings that come from store-brand swaps so I can decide.
   5. Ask if I want the results in a Google Sheet with a few simple graphics.
   6. Offer to make this a routine. When it's been a while since we ordered a staple, nudge me: "Hey, been a couple weeks since you ordered X. Getting low? Want me to order the normal stuff?"
   Never place an order without showing me the cart and getting my approval first.

2. Log in securely and pull order history

   Follow the agent's guidance to log in to each store securely (don't paste passwords in chat), authorizing it to pull the last 2–3 months of orders. If you don't order online, provide photos of recent receipts instead.

   Execution prompt · Source text。Agent execution instruction; user follows interactive login prompts

   Copy prompt

   1. Ask me where I buy groceries. Help me log in to each store securely, not by pasting my password in chat. If I don't order online, ask me for my most recent receipts instead.

   Execution prompt · Source text。Agent execution instruction; automated or semi-automated order pulling

   Copy prompt

   2. Pull the last 2 or 3 months of orders.

3. Identify staples and purchase rhythm

   The agent analyzes orders to find recurring items and how often you buy them. In the author's case, it identified a 10-day core list and an every-two-weeks rhythm.

   Execution prompt · Source text。Agent analysis instruction; outputs staple list and frequency

   Copy prompt

   3. Find our staples and other recurring items, and how often we buy each one.

4. Set constraints and price the basket across stores

   Tell the agent your constraints (e.g., max stores, max driving distance). It prices your staple basket at every qualifying store, identifies the cheapest total, and flags any savings from store-brand swaps.

   Execution prompt · Source text。Agent execution instruction; user inputs constraints, then auto price comparison

   Copy prompt

   4. Ask me for my constraints, like how many stores and how far I'll drive. Price our whole recurring basket at every store that fits, and tell me the cheapest option. Point out any savings that come from store-brand swaps so I can decide.

5. Export to Google Sheet and optionally set up routine checks

   The agent asks if you want results in a Google Sheet with simple graphics. You can also have it set up routine nudges when a staple hasn't been ordered in a while.

   Execution prompt · Source text。Agent execution instruction; exports to Google Sheet

   Copy prompt

   5. Ask if I want the results in a Google Sheet with a few simple graphics.

   Execution prompt · Source text。Agent optional routine setup; user decides whether to enable

   Copy prompt

   6. Offer to make this a routine. When it's been a while since we ordered a staple, nudge me: "Hey, been a couple weeks since you ordered X. Getting low? Want me to order the normal stuff?"

6. Human approval: review cart before any order

   The agent never places orders automatically. It must show you the cart and get explicit approval first. The author emphasizes this as a hard rule.

   Execution prompt · Source text。Agent safety rule; applies to all order placement

   Copy prompt

   Never place an order without showing me the cart and getting my approval first.

I just read Gabe Hernandez's article "AI Found Us Grocery Savings. We Said No." Walk me through doing the same thing for my household, one step at a time. You do the analysis. I'll answer questions and approve things.
1. Ask me where I buy groceries. Help me log in to each store securely, not by pasting my password in chat. If I don't order online, ask me for my most recent receipts instead.
2. Pull the last 2 or 3 months of orders.
3. Find our staples and other recurring items, and how often we buy each one.
4. Ask me for my constraints, like how many stores and how far I'll drive. Price our whole recurring basket at every store that fits, and tell me the cheapest option. Point out any savings that come from store-brand swaps so I can decide.
5. Ask if I want the results in a Google Sheet with a few simple graphics.
6. Offer to make this a routine. When it's been a while since we ordered a staple, nudge me: "Hey, been a couple weeks since you ordered X. Getting low? Want me to order the normal stuff?"
Never place an order without showing me the cart and getting my approval first.