Porcupine Wake Word

Setup

PORCUPINE_ACCESS_KEY

Configuration

{
  "voice": {
    "wakeWord": "porcupine",
    "wakeWordOptions": {
      "keywords": ["porcupine"],
      "sensitivities": [0.5]
    }
  }
}

{
  "voice": {
    "wakeWord": "porcupine",
    "wakeWordOptions": {
      "keywords": ["porcupine", "bumblebee"],
      "sensitivities": [0.5, 0.7]
    }
  }
}

Provider Rules

• Sensitivity ranges from 0 (least sensitive, fewer false positives) to 1 (most sensitive, fewer misses). Default is 0.5 per keyword.
• Built-in keyword names include:

  porcupine

  ,

  bumblebee

  ,

  blueberry

  ,

  hey google

  ,

  ok google

  ,

  hey siri

  ,

  jarvis

  ,

  alexa

  , and others. Check the Picovoice console for the full list.
• Processing is stateless and per-frame — the detector returns a keyword index or -1 for no detection.
• A free Picovoice account provides a limited number of wake-word detections per month. Check usage at console.picovoice.ai.

Examples

• "Start the agent only when I say 'hey porcupine'."
• "Set up hands-free wake-word detection with bumblebee."
• "Use two wake words at different sensitivity levels."

Constraints

• Requires a Picovoice access key (free tier available at console.picovoice.ai).
• Audio must be 16 kHz mono LINEAR16 PCM frames of exactly 512 samples.
• Custom wake words (non-built-in keywords) require a paid Picovoice subscription and a compiled

  .ppn

  model file.
• Detection happens per-frame; integrate with the VAD pipeline to avoid processing silence frames.