#Inventory — Adding & Managing Your Things

Your inventory is a digital catalog of everything you own, track, or care about. Think of it as a remarkably thorough list that also happens to know what things cost, when they expire, and what category they belong to.

#What It Does

The inventory is your central record of physical items. Every barcode you scan, every receipt you photograph, every product you snap a picture of — they all end up here. Each item gets a name, category, image, and whatever details the AI can figure out (brand, price, expiry date, nutritional info, and more).

You can browse your inventory visually, search it, filter by category, edit any detail, and delete things you no longer have. Items link back to their source documents (the receipt or photo that created them), so you always know the provenance of your data.

It's your stuff, cataloged and queryable. Surprisingly satisfying.

#How to Use It

#iOS App

#Viewing Your Inventory

  1. Tap the Context tab at the bottom of the screen
  2. You'll land on the Inventory sub-tab by default
  3. Your items appear in a scrollable list with thumbnail images, names, brands, and categories
  4. Use the search bar at the top to find items by name, brand, or description
  5. Tap any category chip below the search bar to filter (Food, Electronics, Medicine, etc.)

#Adding Items

There are several ways to get items into your inventory:

Scan a barcode:

  1. Tap the Scan tab
  2. Point your camera at a UPC or EAN barcode
  3. The product is looked up automatically and added to your inventory

Scan a receipt:

  1. Tap the Scan tab
  2. Point your camera at a receipt laid flat on a surface
  3. The AI extracts the store, individual items, prices, and date
  4. Each line item becomes a separate inventory entry

Take a photo of anything:

  1. Tap the Scan tab
  2. Point your camera at any product, group of items, or anything you want to track
  3. Smart Scan identifies what it sees and creates inventory entries
  4. One photo can detect multiple items

Upload from your Context tab:

  1. Tap the Context tab, then the Documents sub-tab
  2. Tap the + button to upload a photo from your library or take a new one
  3. The AI processes it and creates inventory items from what it finds

#Viewing Item Details

  1. Tap any item in your inventory list
  2. You'll see the full detail screen with:
    • AI-generated image and original scan photo
    • Name, brand, and description
    • Category and subcategory
    • Price (with source: receipt, network lookup, or AI estimate)
    • Expiry date (if applicable)
    • Location
    • Notes
    • Linked documents (the receipt or scan that created this item)
    • Nutritional and sustainability data (for food items)

#Editing Items

  1. Tap an item to open its detail view
  2. Tap Edit (pencil icon)
  3. Change any field: name, brand, category, price, expiry date, location, notes
  4. Tap Save when done

Editable fields include:

  • Name and Brand — correct the AI if it got these wrong
  • Category — choose from Food, Electronics, Medicine, Clothing, Tools, and many more
  • Price and Currency — actual purchase price
  • Expiry Date — for food, medicine, supplements
  • Location — where the item is stored ("Pantry", "Garage shelf 3", "Bedroom closet")
  • Notes — any free-text annotation you like

#Deleting Items

Single item (swipe):

  1. Swipe left on any item in the inventory list
  2. Tap the Delete button that appears
  3. The item moves to Trash (it's not gone forever — yet)

Multiple items (selection mode):

  1. Long-press any item to enter selection mode
  2. Checkboxes appear next to each item
  3. Tap to select as many items as you want
  4. Tap the Delete button in the toolbar to trash them all at once

Restoring from Trash: Deleted items go to Trash first, where they can be restored if you change your mind. Think of it as a safety net for the trigger-happy. You can empty the trash permanently when you're sure.

#Admin Web

The admin console at app.ambientchat.ai provides a dashboard view of inventory data, useful for administrators who need to review or manage items across accounts.

#Via Chat

Your AI assistant can answer inventory questions instantly:

  • "What's in my inventory?"
  • "How many items do I have?"
  • "Show me my electronics."
  • "What food do I have that's expiring soon?"
  • "How much is my inventory worth?"
  • "What did I buy at Costco?"
  • "Do I have any batteries?"
  • "What spices do I have?"

The AI searches your inventory using the same data you see in the app, so its answers reflect your actual items, categories, and quantities.

#Via Claude Desktop (MCP)

If you've connected ambientChat.ai to Claude Desktop via MCP, you can use these tools:

  • ambientchat_get_inventory — Search your inventory with natural language queries (e.g., "what cheese do I have?", "food expiring soon")
  • get_inventory_item — Get full details of a specific item by ID
  • update_inventory_item — Edit item fields (name, brand, category, price, expiry, location, notes)
  • trash_inventory_item — Move an item to trash
  • get_expiring_items — Find items expiring within a specified number of days
  • restore_inventory_item — Restore an item from trash

Example prompt in Claude Desktop: "Search my ambientChat inventory for anything related to coffee."

#Tips & Tricks

  • Items automatically link to their source documents. If you scanned a receipt from Target, each item from that receipt links back to the receipt document. Tap "Source" on any item to see the original.
  • AI enriches items beyond what you scan. For food items, the AI adds nutritional data, eco-scores, and sustainability ratings when available. For electronics, it may add specs and model details. You get more than you put in.
  • Use location fields to remember where things are. "Kitchen drawer", "Garage shelf 2", "Medicine cabinet" — when you later ask "Where are my batteries?", the AI can tell you.
  • Prices show their source. You'll see labels like "Receipt," "Network lookup," or "AI estimate" next to prices, so you know how confident to be in the number. AI estimates appear in a different color to flag that they're approximate.

#Options

Setting What It Does Default
Category Filter Filter inventory view by category All categories
Search Full-text search across item names, brands, and descriptions Empty (show all)
Sort Order How items are ordered in the list Most recently added
Delete Confirmation Whether to show a confirmation dialog before deleting On (if "Delete Carefully" is enabled in preferences)

#Known Limitations

  • AI estimates are estimates. Prices and expiry dates guessed by the AI are helpful approximations, not gospel. When in doubt, edit the item with the real data.
  • Manual entry isn't available as a standalone option. Items are created through scanning (barcode, receipt, or photo). To add something without scanning, you can photograph it or describe it in chat and ask the AI to add it.
  • Category assignment is automatic but imperfect. The AI does its best to categorize items, but "Sriracha" might end up under Beverages if the AI is having an off day. You can always change the category manually.
  • Bulk editing is not yet supported. You can bulk-delete items in selection mode, but editing multiple items at once (e.g., changing the category of 20 items) requires editing them one at a time.
  • Images are AI-generated. Item thumbnails are created by AI based on the product description, not actual photos of your specific item. They're illustrative, not photographic evidence.

#Version History

Version Date What Changed
1 2026-03-01 Initial guide