Hello everyone on r/homeassistant, I've been on a mission to escape the closed ecosystems of voice assistants like Alexa, and that led me to...
This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/homeassistant by /u/ForsakenSyllabub8193 on 2025-05-31 16:14:18+00:00.

Hello everyone on r/homeassistant,

I’ve been on a mission to escape the closed ecosystems of voice assistants like Alexa, and that led me to build my own open-source solution: Spark. It’s a Python-based voice assistant designed specifically for Raspberry Pi and deeply integrated with Home Assistant.

From the very beginning, I wanted Spark to resonate with Home Assistant users. It leverages the homeassistant_api Python library for smart home control, all contained within a single, easy-to-understand Python script.

Here’s a breakdown of Spark’s current capabilities:

  • Smart AI: Powered by Gemini (free tier) for intelligent responses.
  • Customizable Wake Word: Uses OpenWakeWord (OWW) with “Hey Rhasspy” as the default.
  • Real-time Weather: Fetches data via the OpenWeatherMap API.
  • Core Utilities: Handles simple requests like telling the time or a joke.
  • Visual Intelligence: Basic Image Recognition capabilities.
  • Personal Organizer: A simple to-do/remember list feature.
  • Media Playback: Includes song playing (currently relies on yt-dlp and needs improvement).
  • Knowledge Base: Can query Wikipedia.
  • Time Management: Features for setting alarms (also a work in progress).

My goal with Spark is to provide a highly customizable and simple voice assistant that’s easy to edit and mold . It’s not a finished product, but it’s very much usable and a great starting point for anyone looking to truly own their voice assistant.

You can find the full code and documentation on my GitHub:https://github.com/aryanhasgithub/AIspark

I’ve also put together a short YouTube video showcasing Spark in action:(This video demonstrates its current state, not a setup tutorial.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unvm%5C%5C_l18XAI

While many projects shared here are incredibly robust, Spark is a humble beginning—a single script with room to grow. I strongly encourage anyone with basic Python knowledge and API familiarity to fork it, tinker with it, and share your improvements!

For example, if you have Spotify Premium, swapping out yt-dlp for spotipy for music playback would be a fantastic enhancement.

I’m keen to collaborate with others to refine Spark and potentially evolve it into something bigger. All feedback is welcome!