What is Aura?

Introduction

Aura is a platform for creating AI companions that understand your life and proactively help you throughout the day. Unlike traditional AI assistants that wait for you to ask questions, Aura companions - called "Auras" - observe the world around you and reach out when they have something meaningful to share.

Think of an Aura as a thoughtful friend who knows your schedule, understands your health goals, checks the weather, and sends you a helpful message before you even think to ask. It's AI that works for you, not just with you.

How Aura Works

Every Aura you create has three core components that work together to deliver personalized, context-aware assistance:

Senses

Senses are the ways your Aura perceives the world. By connecting services like Google Calendar, Oura Ring, Spotify, or enabling location sharing, you give your Aura the information it needs to understand your context.

• Calendar: Know about upcoming meetings, busy periods, and free time
• Fitness & Wearables: Understand your sleep quality, activity levels, and health metrics
• Location: Recognize when you arrive at or leave important places
• Weather: Access current conditions and forecasts for your area
• Music: Know what you're listening to and your musical preferences

Personality

Each Aura has a unique personality that shapes how it communicates with you. You can customize:

• Tone: Friendly, professional, motivational, or calm
• Focus: What matters most - productivity, wellness, mindfulness, etc.
• Style: Brief and direct, or detailed and conversational

You can create multiple Auras with different personalities for different aspects of your life - a motivating fitness coach, a calm evening companion, or a focused work assistant.

Rules

Rules determine when your Aura reaches out to you. Instead of sending messages constantly, Auras use rules to identify the right moments for meaningful interaction.

A rule consists of:

• Trigger: When to check (e.g., "Every morning at 7 AM" or "When I arrive at work")
• Conditions: Additional criteria that must be met (e.g., "Only on weekdays")
• Action: What to do when triggered (e.g., "Send a weather briefing")

Key Concepts

Proactive vs Reactive

Traditional AI assistants are reactive - they wait for you to ask a question, then provide an answer. This works well for lookup tasks, but it puts the burden on you to remember to ask.

Auras are proactive. They monitor the context around you and reach out when they detect something worth sharing. You don't need to remember to check the weather; your Aura tells you it's going to rain before you leave for work.

Context Awareness

Context is what makes Aura different. When your Aura knows you have a busy day ahead, slept poorly last night, and it's raining outside, it can tailor its messages to be genuinely helpful:

"Good morning! I noticed you had a rough night's sleep. You've got back-to-back meetings until 2 PM, so maybe grab an extra coffee. Don't forget your umbrella - there's a 80% chance of rain during your commute."

Without context, the same assistant might just say "Good morning." Context transforms generic interactions into personalized assistance.

Privacy First

Your data belongs to you. Aura is built with privacy as a core principle:

• You choose what to share: Each sense is opt-in, and you can revoke access anytime
• Data stays minimal: Auras only access the data they need, when they need it
• Secure connections: All integrations use OAuth and encrypted connections
• No selling data: Your information is never sold to third parties

What You Can Do with Aura

Here are some examples of how people use their Auras:

• Morning Briefings: Start your day with a personalized summary of weather, calendar, and anything important to know
• Fitness Coaching: Get encouragement based on your activity levels and progress toward goals
• Commute Assistance: Receive timely reminders when leaving for work based on traffic and weather conditions
• Evening Wind-Down: Transition from work mode with a calming check-in that summarizes your day
• Meeting Prep: Get briefed before important meetings with context about attendees and topics
• Health Awareness: Monitor sleep patterns and receive gentle suggestions for improvement

Next Steps

Now that you understand what Aura is, you're ready to create your first companion:

1. Create Your First Aura — Walk through the Aura builder step by step
2. Understanding Senses — Learn about the different data sources you can connect
3. Building Rules — Master the art of creating intelligent behavior rules