README.md

metadata

title: Ask The Right Question
emoji: 🎤
colorFrom: purple
colorTo: indigo
sdk: gradio
sdk_version: 5.50.0
app_file: app.py
pinned: false
tags:
  - mcp-in-action-track-consumer
  - agents
  - question-generation
  - q-and-a
  - critical-thinking

Ask The Right Question

AI-powered assistant that helps you ask insightful questions during Q&A sessions at conferences, classes, and talks.

The Problem

You're at a conference, a class, or a talk. The speaker finishes and opens the floor for questions. Your mind goes blank. You want to:

• Ask something meaningful that shows you were engaged
• Make a connection with the speaker
• Actually learn something valuable from the Q&A

But coming up with good questions on the spot is hard.

The Solution

Ask The Right Question listens to the talk and helps you generate thoughtful, well-researched questions. It:

1. Captures Context - Record audio snippets or paste notes from the talk
2. Researches - Automatically researches the speaker's background, fact-checks claims, and finds relevant trends
3. Generates Questions - Creates insightful questions with explanations of why they're good
4. Teaches Critical Thinking - Helps you understand what makes a question valuable

Features

Core Features (MVP)

• Live microphone capture with OpenAI Whisper transcription
• Context accumulation as the talk progresses
• AI-powered question generation with Claude
• Web research via Tavily (speaker background, fact-checking, trends)
• Question categorization (Clarification, Depth, Connection, Challenge, Practical, Forward)
• Explanation of why each question is valuable

Stretch Goals

• Fill-in-the-blank questions for learning
• Question ranking exercises
• Gamification to build critical thinking skills

How It Works

+----------------+     +------------------+     +-----------------+
|  Microphone    | --> |  Transcription   | --> |  Context Store  |
|  (Gradio)      |     |  (OpenAI Whisper)|     |  (Accumulating) |
+----------------+     +------------------+     +--------+--------+
                                                        |
                       +--------------------------------+--------+
                       |                                v        |
                       |  +-------------+    +----------------+  |
                       |  | Tavily API  |    | Claude Agent   |  |
                       |  | - Web Search| -> | Question Gen   |  |
                       |  | - News      |    +-------+--------+  |
                       |  | - Fact Check|            |           |
                       |  +-------------+            |           |
                       |        Agent Loop           |           |
                       +-----------------------------+-----------+
                                                     |
                                                     v
                                           +-----------------+
                                           |   Gradio UI     |
                                           |   - Questions   |
                                           |   - Explanations|
                                           +-----------------+

Question Categories

Category	Description	Example
CLARIFICATION	Seeks to understand better	"Could you elaborate on what you meant by...?"
DEPTH	Explores a topic more deeply	"What's the underlying mechanism behind...?"
CONNECTION	Connects to other fields	"How does this relate to developments in...?"
CHALLENGE	Probes assumptions respectfully	"Have you considered the alternative view that...?"
PRACTICAL	Asks about real-world application	"How would this work in practice for...?"
FORWARD	Explores future implications	"Where do you see this heading in the next...?"

Tech Stack

• Frontend: Gradio 6
• Transcription: OpenAI Whisper API
• Agent LLM: Claude (Anthropic)
• Research: Tavily API (web search, news, fact-checking)
• Hosting: HuggingFace Spaces

Setup

Environment Variables

Create a .env file with:

OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_anthropic_api_key
TAVILY_API_KEY=your_tavily_api_key

Local Development

# Clone the repo
git clone https://huggingface.co/spaces/YOUR_USERNAME/ask-the-right-question

# Install dependencies
uv sync

# Run the app
uv run python app.py

Usage

1. Record Audio: Click the microphone button to record snippets of the talk
2. Or Paste Text: Manually paste notes or transcript
3. Add Speaker Info: (Optional) Enter the speaker's name for background research
4. Generate Questions: Click the button to get AI-generated questions
5. Learn: Read the explanations to understand why each question is valuable

Demo Video

[Coming soon]

Social Media Post

[Link to social media post]

Team

• Your Name

Acknowledgments

Built for the MCP's 1st Birthday Hackathon by Hugging Face (November 2025)

Powered by:

• Anthropic Claude - AI reasoning and question generation
• OpenAI Whisper - Audio transcription
• Tavily - AI-optimized web search
• Gradio - UI framework
• HuggingFace - Hosting

Challenges & Solutions

Audio Transcription Timing Issues (Solved ✅)

Original problem: Short audio chunk intervals caused the transcription API to fall behind, resulting in fragmented audio and information loss.

Solutions implemented:

• ✅ 20-second audio chunks - Longer intervals give Whisper more context and reduce API calls
• ✅ 2-second overlap - Prevents word cutoffs at chunk boundaries
• ✅ Background threading - Transcription and question generation run in separate threads
• ✅ Sequential queue - Ensures transcriptions complete in order while audio keeps buffering

To-Do

Future Improvements

• Add useful MCPs - Integrate additional MCP servers for enhanced capabilities:
  • Academic paper search (for research talks)
  • Company/organization lookup (for business presentations)
  • Technical documentation search (for developer conferences)
• Implement voice activity detection (VAD) - Only transcribe when speech is detected
• Add local transcription fallback - Use local Whisper model when API latency is too high

License

MIT