Biosensors that transduce target chemical and biochemical inputs into genetic outputs are essential for bioengineering and synthetic biology. Current biosensor design strategies are often limited by a low signal-to-noise ratio, the extensive optimization required for each new input, and poor performance in mammalian cells. Here we report the development of a proximity-dependent split RNA polymerase (RNAP) as a general platform for biosensor engineering. After discovering that interactions between fused proteins modulate the assembly of a split T7 RNAP, we optimized the split RNAP components for protein-protein interaction detection by phage-assisted continuous evolution (PACE). We then applied the resulting activity-responsive RNAP (AR) system to create biosensors that can be activated by light and small molecules, demonstrating the 'plug-and-play' nature of the platform. Finally, we validated that ARs can interrogate multidimensional protein-protein interactions and trigger RNA nanostructure production, protein synthesis, and gene knockdown in mammalian systems, illustrating the versatility of ARs in synthetic biology applications.