AI pitmaster

SDR + LLM + SMS + Meat + Fire

this uses an rtl-sdr dongle to read wireless bbq thermometer data and feeds it to Claude Sonnet 3.5 for realtime cooking advice. it's intended for use with charcoal or wood smokers but will probably work with anything as long as you tell Claude what you're working with. it'll alert you via SMS if you need to add fuel, adjust air intake, etc. it can also do a pretty decent estimate of when your cook will likely be done. interface is natural language CLI.

what it does

• reads temp data from Thermopro TP12 (or similar) wireless thermometers via rtl_433
• maintains conversation with claude about your cook, ask it anything
• texts you when things go sideways
• tracks ambient temp from whatever weather stations are nearby
• detects the stall using actual math: http://www.tlhiv.org/papers/1-33-T-SouthernBarbeque-TeacherVersion.pdf

hardware you need

sdr dongle

any rtl2832u based usb dongle. the rtl-sdr.com v4 is good, or grab a nooelec nesdr for a few bucks less.

wireless thermometer

thermopro TP12 is what i use. any 433mhz bbq thermometer that rtl_433 supports should work. check rtl_433 -L for the full list

the TP12 has two probes - one for pit temp, one for meat. broadcasts every ~12 seconds on 433.92mhz

setup

install rtl_433

# debian/ubuntu
sudo apt install rtl-433

# mac
brew install rtl_433

# or build from source
git clone https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433.git

python deps

pip install -r requirements.txt

environment vars

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-whatever
export TXTBELT_KEY=your_txtbelt_key_if_you_want_texts
export BBQ_PHONE=+15555551234  # optional but recommended
export BBQ_SMS_COOLDOWN=900    # optional, seconds between SMS per alert type
export BBQ_DISPLAY_INTERVAL=120  # optional, seconds between temp displays
export BBQ_SAVE_INTERVAL=60    # optional, seconds between auto-saves

usage

python3 ai_pitmaster.py

if you have an existing session (.bbq_session.json), it'll offer to restore it. otherwise it'll ask for meat type, weight, target temps. then rtl_433 starts automatically and begins monitoring

session persistence

sessions are automatically saved every 60 seconds (configurable via BBQ_SAVE_INTERVAL) and after each user message. session files are timestamped (e.g., .bbq_session_2025-11-20_093015.json) and include:

• complete conversation history
• complete temperature readings
• alert states and SMS cooldowns
• model predictions and ETA estimates
• context tracking

if the process is killed or crashes, just restart and it'll automatically offer to restore sessions less than 48 hours old. older sessions are automatically archived to .bbq_archive/ so they don't clutter your working directory.

sharing your cook data

if you'd like to help improve ai pitmaster, you can share your archived sessions. when you start the app, it will show instructions for sharing if you have archived sessions. your data helps improve stall detection, eta predictions, and cooking advice for everyone.

during the cook

type stuff to tell claude what's happening:

• "just added a chimney of kingsford"
• "wrapped in butcher paper"
• "beer #3"
• "windy af today"

claude remembers everything and adjusts advice accordingly

alerts

automatic alerts for:

• pit temp crashes (< target - 75f)
• pit temp spikes (> target + 50f)
• approaching stall (usually around ~150f but varies so we do some math)
• almost done (195-200f)
• done (target temp)

testing

The project includes unit tests to verify functionality:

# Run all tests
python3 run_tests.py

# Or run directly with pytest
python3 -m pytest tests -v

troubleshooting

no temp data

• check rtl_433 sees your thermometer: rtl_433 -f 433.92M
• if you see something like Failed to open rtlsdr device #0 there's probably another rtl_433 process, sometimes it doesn't shutdown gracefully, so just pkill it
• make sure thermometer is on and transmitting
• move dongle closer or use better antenna

claude being weird

adjust the temperature in _ask_claude(). it's at 0.5 for casual vibes but sometimes claude gets too creative

texts not working

textbelt free tier is 1/day. get a key or just remove the phone number

example output

[10:23] pit:225°F meat:147°F outside:72°F | 8.2hrs

wrapped it in pink paper

🤖 good timing on the wrap. you're right at stall territory. should power through 
in 2-3hrs now. maybe bump pit to 250 if you're in a hurry but 225 is fine

[10:24] pit:227°F meat:148°F outside:72°F | 4.2hrs
[10:24] pit:226°F meat:149°F outside:72°F | 4.2hrs

notes

• sessions are automatically saved to timestamped files (.bbq_session_YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS.json)
• sessions older than 48 hours are automatically archived to .bbq_archive/
• the mathematical stall detection is the most experimental part of this, let me know if you see anomalies
• ambient temp from weather stations is surprisingly useful, you might need to adjust for your (or your neighbor's in my case) weather station model
• claude costs like $0.25 per cook at current prices, you could very easily port this to work on your locally hosted LLM or OpenAI or w/e