> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.openhome.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Ambient AI

> Always-on intelligence that listens to your environment and acts without being asked.

Ambient AI is the north star: voice AI that isn't transactional or command-based, but continuously aware of its environment. It understands the room, the sound, and the user — without being asked.

## What makes an Ability ambient

* **Listens** without a wake word — the mic stays hot via [`start_audio_recording()`](/api-sdk/sdk-reference)
* **Logs** context silently to persistent storage — no narration
* **Speaks** only when something meaningful happens — and uses `send_interrupt_signal()` first so it doesn't overlap normal conversation

> The best Ability is the one the user forgets is running — until it does something so well-timed they think: *"How did it know?"*

## The building blocks

| Building block                                                       | Used for                                     |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| [Background Abilities](/building-abilities/background-abilities)     | Always-on daemon that auto-starts on session |
| [Hot Mic + Deepgram](/building-abilities/hot-mic-deepgram)           | Raw audio capture + analysis                 |
| [Persistent Memory](/guides/best-practices/persistent-memory)        | Accumulate context across sessions           |
| [Companion Dashboards](/guides/getting-started/companion-dashboards) | Mirror what the Ability sees on a screen     |

## Ambient Ability ideas

* **Meeting Scribe** — auto-starts when 3+ voices heard, writes notes until silence
* **Baby Monitor Plus** — detects crying, unusual silence, sleep breathing
* **Life Logger** — always-on ambient capture, daily summaries to dashboard
* **Daily To-Do Compiler** — catches all *"I need to..."* mentions → list by evening
* **Gratitude Harvester** — catches positive statements, weekly gratitude list

Full catalog: [Simple Abilities Cookbook → Always-On / Watcher](/building-abilities/cookbook#always-on-and-watcher).

## Next steps

* Read [Background Abilities](/building-abilities/background-abilities) for the `background.py` pattern
* Read [Voice-First Best Practices](/guides/best-practices/voice-first) — especially the **"Silence is a feature"** rule
* Pick an idea from the [Cookbook](/building-abilities/cookbook) and ship it