Beta

Ambient

Intelligent marginalia for everything.

Ambient keeps track of what's in front of you, whatever window or app it's in, so you can ask Mary about it by voice or text. She also brings up links to things you've read or said before.

Download for Mac

Beta · Build 5 · November 2, 2026 · Requires macOS 26
Open this page on a Mac to try the full demo.

Try it: highlight a line

Reader

Long-press a sentence below and drag to highlight it. What Mary has to say appears here, under her icon.

Field notes · San Francisco

The Bridge in the Fog

The steel arrived red with primer, and the consulting architect, Irving Morrow, grew to like it. He argued for International Orange: warm against the hills, and still visible when the fog comes in. The Navy had asked for black and yellow stripes.

Summer is the foggy season. As the Central Valley heats up, it pulls cool ocean air inland, and the Golden Gate is the one wide gap in the coastal hills. By late afternoon the marine layer pours through the strait, and the towers drift in and out of view above it.

When it opened in 1937, its main span of 4,200 feet was the longest of any suspension bridge in the world, a record it held until 1964. The towers rise 746 feet above the water.

Always at hand

Press ⌃A from anywhere and a quiet panel appears over whatever you are doing. Type, or just say “Hey Mary.”

Reads along

Whatever window is in front — a page, a PDF, a note, an email — Mary is reading it with you, so you never paste anything in.

Answers with sources

Her replies are painted where they came from: a brushstroke over each phrase drawn from something you read or said before.

Why is the bridge orange?

The steel arrived already red with primer, and Irving Morrow came to like it. He argued for International Orange because it sits warmly against the hills and still shows up in fog.

The Navy had wanted black and yellow stripes.

Speaks up when it's useful

Highlight a line and hold still. If it connects to something you have read, she mentions it at the next natural pause, and never on a timer.

Mary noticed

You saved a note about warning colours last month. International Orange is in the same family, picked here for the same reason: it holds up when the light goes flat.

Works without a word

Highlight a line in any app and what Mary has to say about it appears in a small card under the menu bar icon: nothing to open, and nothing said aloud once you choose Mute. Click the card to carry on the conversation.

Machine mode for deep work

Press ⌃M and her replies turn short and exact. A highlight recalls what you read about it at once, and when nothing connects she answers it as a question, there on the card.

Only reads

She only reads and never clicks or types anything.

Tell her never to read an app and she won't. Password fields are never read.

Works without an account

Works on-device, with no account and no API key.

Choose on-device at the first launch and replies, speech and memory stay on this Mac: no account, no API key. Sign in whenever you want hosted replies, or anything in Ambient Plus.

Getting started

A few steps, all inside the app, and nothing leaves your Mac. Sign in later if you want more.

  1. Install and open Ambient

    Run the installer, then open Ambient from Applications. Her medallion appears in the menu bar.

  2. Choose Use Ambient on-device

    The first time Ambient opens, choose Use Ambient on-device. It downloads its model once, about 7 GB, and from then on every reply and every spoken word stays on this Mac. No account, no API key.

  3. Ask her something

    Press ⌃A, or say “Hey Mary.” Ambient reads whatever window is in front and answers from it.

  4. Or just highlight

    Highlight a line in any app and hold still. What Mary notices appears in a small card under her menu bar icon; click it to carry on the conversation. Choose Mute in her menu and she answers there without a sound.

  5. Switch on Machine mode for deep work

    Press ⌃M. Replies come short and exact, and a highlight is recalled at once, or answered as a question when nothing connects. Press ⌃M again to switch it off.

Sign in for more

An account adds Mistral replies and a hosted voice, and opens Ambient Plus. Sign in at the first launch, or any time later from the menubar’s Sign In…

  1. Create an account and sign in

    Choose Create account, enter your email and a password, then the 6-digit code it sends you. Ambient stays signed in on this Mac.

  2. Add your Mistral API key

    Open Ambient ▸ Settings… (⌘,) and paste your key into the Mistral API Key field, under Provider keys.

    Get a key at console.mistral.ai

Signed in, Ambient answers with Mistral once your key is saved in Settings. Sign Out, in the menubar, puts it back on-device.