AI companion · beta
Aragorn – your AI companion for forest, mushrooms and the outdoors
Just ask: “Take me to the porcini.” Aragorn looks for large forests with the right trees and the best chances, gives you parking and directions – and guides you through the forest with a compass and voice hints all the way to spruce and beech. Free, ad-free, built by the Waldschatzfinder team.
Updated: 13.10.2026 · Closed beta for selected, active members
Not photo recognition – an agent
Many mushroom apps identify species from a photo. Aragorn does not – that is handled by our separate Mushroom AI, never as a sole identification. Aragorn is an AI agent: it knows Waldschatzfinder itself, all its data sources, and everything the site knows about a place, a species and the moment – and combines that autonomously, in real time, into destinations, finding chances, warnings, weather, light and time of day. If an analysis is missing, it triggers it itself in the background instead of guessing. As far as we know, this makes it the first outdoor and forest agent with such highly specific expertise.
What Aragorn does for you
Takes you to your species
Up to three forest destinations with today’s chance and the best day, suitable trees, parking and directions – only real, large forests.
To the trees in the forest
To within about 30 metres of spruce, beech, pine & co. – with metres, compass direction, walking route and a map with aerial view.
Live companion
Compass to your target, a warning if you head the wrong way, hints about dusk and the way back, kilometres – read aloud if you like.
Records your tour
Route, kilometres, elevation gain and calories – and gets you back to the car.
Your own places
Find your saved spots, photos and favourite places, get guided there, save new ones – private, just for you.
Knows what’s going on
Daylight, weather, the forest where you stand, which mushrooms have the best chances today – and calculates missing forecasts itself.
Knows the whole site
Forecasts, maps, mushroom alert, species profiles, planner and account – with a link to the right page. If it isn’t there, he says so.
Learns with you
It remembers what interests you and learns from “found” and “found nothing” – for better suggestions. The forecast itself is not affected.
How it guides you – in three stages
- 1Plan at home
“Where can I find porcini today?” – Aragorn suggests forests within reach, with chances, the best day and the weather, and shows everything on a small map. - 2Get there
One tap opens the route to the nearest car park by the forest. - 3In the forest
Press the live button: Aragorn records, shows the compass to the target among the right trees and speaks up if you go the wrong way, when dusk is coming – and when you’ve arrived.
Safety and privacy
No mushroom identification
Aragorn never says whether a mushroom is edible and does not identify species – a fixed filter makes sure of it. Have every find checked by a mushroom advisor.
Personal data only as placeholders
Before a question goes to the AI service, we replace names, notes, the names of your places and all coordinates with placeholders, and only put them back on our own server.
Your places stay yours
No other user sees your spots, your tour stays in your browser, and results are stored only to about one kilometre. “Forget everything” clears its memory.
To be honest: what it can’t do (yet)
- It shows where the right trees are – not where mushrooms grow. Finding them is still up to you.
- Precise guidance to trees (about 30 m) is so far only available in Germany; the tree map dates from 2022.
- Guidance and recording only run while the page is open – Aragorn keeps the screen awake for that.
- Without signal there are no new answers or analyses; compass and recording keep running.
Frequently asked questions
What is Aragorn?
Aragorn is Waldschatzfinder’s AI companion. It answers questions about the site, guides you to a chosen mushroom species – from a forest with parking to the right trees – and, if you like, accompanies you live in the forest with a compass, voice hints and a record of your route.
Is Aragorn a photo-recognition AI for mushrooms?
No. Aragorn does not identify mushrooms from a photo – that is handled by Waldschatzfinder’s separate Mushroom AI, never as a sole identification. Aragorn is an AI agent: it autonomously and in real time combines what the site knows about places, species, weather, light and trees to guide you to real forest destinations – not to guess at a photo.
Does Aragorn cost anything?
No. Like the whole of Waldschatzfinder, Aragorn is free and ad-free. You only need a free account and, during the beta, an invitation.
How precisely does Aragorn guide me in the forest?
In Germany to within about 30 metres of places where the right trees grow – according to a tree map from 2022. It shows where the trees are, not where mushrooms grow. Outside Germany it guides you to forest areas with suitable tree species.
Does Aragorn work without signal?
Partly: recording, compass, distance to the target and the most important hints keep running on your phone. Questions asked without signal are kept and sent as soon as you have reception again.
Will Aragorn tell me whether a mushroom is edible?
No, never. Aragorn does not identify mushrooms or say anything about edibility or toxicity – a fixed filter makes sure of that. Have every find checked by a mushroom advisor.
What happens to my data?
No other user sees your places. Your tour stays in your browser. Before a question goes to the AI service, we replace names, notes, the names of your places and all coordinates with placeholders. Details are in the privacy policy.
How do I join the beta?
Sign in and tap “Join the beta waiting list” on this page. We are inviting active members step by step.
Axel tells you more in the blog post about Aragorn · Changelog (version 1.60) · Way back · Mushroom forecast
Into the forest with Aragorn
We are inviting active members into the beta step by step – if you blog, share find photos and get out regularly, your chances are good.