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Getting started with the agent

Hold a key and talk. Ambient decides whether to type, answer, act or look something up. No modes, nothing to connect.

Talking to Ambient

Three ways. Without one of them, the dictation key types.

Hold the Ask shortcut: Control + Option + Space on Mac, Ctrl + Alt + Space on Windows and Linux. Whatever you say is for Ambient.
Say “Hey Ambient”: Start with it on the dictation key and it goes to Ambient instead of being typed. Use it in ChatGPT, Claude or Cursor, where your words are your prompt, and in Slack or Mail, where requests are for people.
Hands-free (optional): Turn it on and just say “Hey Ambient, what’s on my calendar?” No key. Pro.

Greetings work in many languages: “Hola Ambient”, “Hallo Ambient”, or just “Ambient, …”.

Hands-free. Turn it on in Ambient → Privacy.

Listens on your Mac: Only the first couple of seconds after you start speaking are checked for the phrase. Everything else is dropped at once.
Nothing sent: Nothing is recorded or sent until you say “Hey Ambient”.
Off by default: Your computer shows its mic indicator while it’s on. It pauses during meeting notes.
One breath or two: Say it all at once, or say “Hey Ambient”, pause, and ask.

Two shortcuts

Hold to talk. Let go when you’re done.

Dictation key

Option + Space on Mac, Ctrl + Space on Windows and Linux.

Types what you say. If what you say is a request, the agent handles it.

Ask shortcut

Control + Option + Space on Mac, Ctrl + Alt + Space on Windows and Linux.

Always talks to the agent. Never types.

Change either in Ambient → Settings. To make the dictation key only ever type, turn off Understand requests while dictating.

How it decides

From what you say, and the app you’re in.

Writing is the default: Talking to a person? Your words are polished and typed at your cursor. When unsure, it types.
AI chat apps: In ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Cursor, it always types your prompt. Start with “Hey Ambient” to talk to Ambient instead.
Messages and email: In Slack, Mail, Gmail, Outlook, Teams, Notion, Linear and Google Docs, requests are messages to people. “Can you send me the deck?” gets typed.
The Ask shortcut: Always goes to the agent. It never types.

The answer card

Answers appear in a glass card near the top right. It never takes focus.

Insert pastes the answer where your cursor was.
Copy puts it on the clipboard.
Sources link to the pages and files it used.
Esc closes it. Nothing is saved.
Follow up within 90 seconds: hold your shortcut and say “make it shorter” or “now in Spanish”.

What you can say

Answers: “What’s the weather in Lisbon tomorrow?”
Actions: “Remind me at 5 to call Sam.”
Recall: “What did I say about pricing yesterday?”
Meetings: Live notes, nudges and a follow-up email.
Suggestions: One next step, at the right moment.
Privacy: What it reads, keeps and sends.

Nothing to connect

Ambient works with the apps you already use, because it works on your Mac.

No integrations. No sign-ins. No bots on your calls. It uses what’s already there:

Your screen: The text of the window in front of you.
Your open windows: Every app you have open, read when you ask.
Spotlight: Your files, Mail messages and notes, through the Mac’s own index.
Calendar and Reminders: Your own, through macOS.
Your Shortcuts: Run by name, exactly as you wrote them.
Your browser: Drive and Gmail searches open in the browser you’re already signed in to.

No OAuth. No API keys. The only account is your license.

Turn on what you want

Dictation and questions work straight away. Anything that reads your screen is off until you switch it on in Ambient → Privacy. See Privacy controls.

Where it works

The agent is on macOS for now. On Windows and Linux, dictation, answers, web search, links and recall work. Reminders and events open as an .ics file in your calendar app.

The agent is part of Pro. Every install gets 7 days of everything, then Free includes 25 AI uses a week.