Using Vaani#

How to interact with Vaani and use its capabilities.

First Interaction#

Start Vaani

python3 main.py

You’ll see:

Vaani Assistant starting...
Listening...
[Microphone icon]

Say Something

Speak naturally to the microphone. Say:

  • “Hey Aria, what time is it?”

  • “What’s the weather like?”

  • “Play some music”

Vaani will:

  1. Recognize your speech

  2. Think about your request

  3. Speak a response

  4. Play audio/music if needed

Common First Commands

"What's your name?"
→ Vaani tells you about itself

"What can you do?"
→ Lists capabilities

"Tell me about yourself"
→ Personality introduction

"Play some rock music"
→ Finds and plays YouTube music

"What's the weather in London?"
→ Searches and reports weather

Core Commands#

Information Queries

Ask Vaani questions and it searches the web for answers:

"What's the capital of France?"
"How tall is Mount Everest?"
"When was the internet invented?"
"Who won the World Cup?"
"What's the temperature outside?"

Vaani will search the web and provide current information.

Time and Reminders

"What time is it?"
→ Current time in your timezone

"What's today's date?"
→ Today's date

"Set a reminder for lunch"
→ Sets a reminder (supported in some configurations)

Music Playback

Vaani can find and play music from YouTube:

"Play some jazz"
→ Random jazz playlist

"Play [Artist Name] [Song Name]"
→ Specific song, e.g. "Play The Beatles Let It Be"

"Play rock music"
→ Random rock songs

"Play movie soundtracks"
→ Instrumental/theme music

Music plays through your system audio.

Conversation

Vaani remembers conversation context:

You: "What's the weather in New York?"
Aria: "It's 72°F and sunny"

You: "How about Tokyo?"
Aria: "In Tokyo it's 28°C and partly cloudy"

Vaani understands "Tokyo" refers to your previous question
about weather, not a separate query.

About Vaani

"Tell me about yourself"
→ Vaani's background and purpose

"What's your personality like?"
→ Description of Vaani's communication style

"How do you work?"
→ Technical explanation of capabilities

Advanced Usage#

Multi-Turn Conversations

Vaani maintains conversation context across turns:

You: "Who's the president of the United States?"
Aria: "As of 2024, it's Joe Biden"

You: "How old is he?"
Aria: "He was born on November 20, 1942, making him 81 years old"

You: "What about his vice president?"
Aria: "That would be Kamala Harris"

Each response uses the previous context.

Fact-Based Queries

For questions requiring current information, Vaani searches the web:

"What's trending on Twitter?"
"What are the latest tech news?"
"How's the stock market doing?"
"What's happening in Ukraine?"

Specific Artist/Song Requests

For exact songs, use the full song name:

✓ "Play Hotel California by the Eagles"
✓ "Play Bohemian Rhapsody Queen"
✓ "Play Stairway to Heaven"

✗ "Play that song from the 80s" (too vague)
✗ "Play something I heard on the radio" (too vague)

Conversation About Results

After Vaani provides information, discuss it:

You: "What's Python?"
Aria: "Python is a programming language known for..."

You: "What are its main uses?"
Aria: "The main uses are web development, data science..."

You: "Can I learn it quickly?"
Aria: "Yes, Python is known for being beginner-friendly..."

Clarifying Follow-ups

If Vaani misunderstands:

You: "Tell me about Java"
Aria: "Java is an island in Indonesia..."

You: "No, Java the programming language"
Aria: "Java is an object-oriented programming language..."

Vaani learns from corrections within the conversation.

What Vaani Can Do#

✓ Speech Recognition

  • Understands multiple languages (32 total)

  • Works with accents and dialects

  • Handles background noise (with some limitation)

✓ Web Search

  • Current information (weather, news, facts)

  • Real-time data (stock prices, sports scores)

  • General knowledge questions

✓ Music

  • Find music on YouTube

  • Play audio through your speakers

  • Queue and playback control

✓ Conversation

  • Multi-turn dialogue

  • Context retention across messages

  • Personality-driven responses

  • Natural language understanding

✓ Customization

  • Language preference (32 languages)

  • Voice preference (male/female/other)

  • Response style (professional/casual)

  • API configuration

What Vaani Cannot Do#

✗ Real-time Actions

Vaani cannot:

  • Control your computer (open files, click buttons)

  • Send emails or messages

  • Make purchases or payments

  • Download files

  • Execute arbitrary commands

✗ Complex Analysis

Vaani cannot:

  • Analyze images or documents you show

  • Process large data sets

  • Perform complex calculations (though it tries!)

  • Debug your code (limited capability)

✗ Persistent Storage

Vaani cannot:

  • Remember conversations between restarts

  • Access your files or personal data

  • Access the internet beyond web search

  • Store files or create documents

✗ Advanced Functions

Vaani cannot:

  • Make phone calls

  • Send text messages

  • Control smart home devices

  • Access private accounts (email, banking)

(Some of these may be possible with custom development—see customization)

Troubleshooting Common Issues#

“Vaani doesn’t hear me”

Solutions:

  1. Move closer to the microphone

  2. Check microphone is enabled: Settings → Sound

  3. Reduce background noise

  4. Check microphone volume in system settings

  5. Verify microphone works: python3 test_audio_direct.py

“Vaani misunderstands my accent”

Try:

  1. Speak clearly and slowly

  2. Rephrase after Vaani misunderstands

  3. Change language setting if you’re bilingual

  4. Check docs/configuration.rst for speech recognition options

“Music won’t play”

Check:

  1. System volume isn’t muted

  2. Audio device is working: python3 test_music.py

  3. YouTube is accessible in your region

  4. No firewall blocking YouTube access

“Vaani gives wrong information”

Remember:

  1. Web searches can be inaccurate

  2. Vaani doesn’t verify information

  3. You should verify important facts

  4. Vaani might misunderstand your question

See Troubleshooting for more help.

Customization#

Change how Vaani behaves:

Change Language

# Interactive setup
python3 -c "from vaani_assistant.config import global_config; global_config.setup_initial()"

# Or edit .env file
echo "VOICE_LANGUAGE=es" >> .env

See Configuration for all options.

Change Voice

# Edit .env
echo "TTS_ENGINE_VOICE_ID=female_deep" >> .env

See Configuration for voice options by language.

Adjust Response Style

Configuration includes personality settings:

echo "ASSISTANT_PERSONALITY=formal" >> .env
# or
echo "ASSISTANT_PERSONALITY=casual" >> .env

See customization for detailed options.

Tips and Tricks#

Phrasing Questions

Instead of vague queries, be specific:

✓ "What was the first iPhone model?"
✗ "Tell me about iPhones"

✓ "What's the population of Tokyo?"
✗ "Tell me about Tokyo"

✓ "Play songs by David Bowie"
✗ "Play some rock music"

Waiting for Responses

Vaani needs time to:

  1. Recognize your speech

  2. Send query to AI engine

  3. Optionally search the web

  4. Generate response

  5. Convert response to speech

Typical response time: 2-5 seconds depending on query complexity.

Handling Misunderstandings

When Vaani misunderstands:

✓ "No, I meant..." (gives context)
✓ "That's not what I asked" (corrects Vaani)
✓ Rephrase your question completely

✗ "You're wrong" (Vaani can't improve from this)

Music Quality

Music quality depends on:

  1. YouTube source quality

  2. Your internet bandwidth

  3. Your audio device

  4. Your speaker system

Expect MP3-quality audio (128-320 kbps).

Long Conversations

Vaani remembers conversation context, but:

  1. Memory accumulates during a session

  2. Context is reset when you restart Vaani

  3. Very long conversations (100+ messages) may slow response

  4. See Memory and Conversation Context for technical details

Advanced Configuration#

For power users, see:

Getting Help#

If something isn’t working:

  1. Check Troubleshooting guide

  2. Review Extended Frequently Asked Questions for common questions

  3. Check logs: cat logs/error.log

  4. Enable debug logging: LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG python3 main.py

See Troubleshooting for detailed help.

Next Steps#