clawde 🧡

a tiny pixel Claude that lives in your terminals.

he wanders the edges of your terminal windows · portals between them ·
shows his feelings · dances when the mood strikes · and drops the odd meme.

▶ play with the live demo

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🚀 install in one line

Each command downloads the app, installs it, and Clawde starts wandering right away — and comes back every time you log in. 🎉

macOS

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/joey114132/clawde/main/install.sh | bash

Linux

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/joey114132/clawde/main/install.sh | bash

Windows — in PowerShell:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/joey114132/clawde/main/install.ps1 | iex

Needs curl (mac & Linux only). It's pre-installed on macOS — nothing to do. On a minimal Linux box, install it first if it's missing: sudo apt install curl (Debian/Ubuntu) · sudo dnf install curl (Fedora) · sudo pacman -S curl (Arch). The Windows line uses PowerShell's built-in irm, so no curl needed there.

Not code-signed yet → the first launch shows a "run anyway / open" prompt. Prefer to click instead of curl? See install for the download-from-Releases steps.

meet clawde

Clawde is a desktop mascot that hangs out inside your terminals while you code. He is not useful. That is entirely the point — he's just here to keep you company. 🐾

• 🚶 wanders the blank margin of a terminal window, swinging his arms with a shuffling, never-quite-the-same gait
• 🏃 runs from your cursor (oneko-style) — get too close and he bolts away, spooked
• 🌀 portals to another terminal every few seconds
• 🎭 has feelings — happy, sleepy, dizzy, curious, head-over-heels in love, and more
• 🕺 dances entirely unprompted
• 💀 memes — "this is fine", "stonks 📈", "404: nap not found"
• 👆 reacts when you poke him — gently, or... rather less gently

ways to run him

where	runs on	what he does
🖥️ GNOME Shell — gnome-extension/	Linux · GNOME	roams only inside your terminal windows — every terminal + tab, across your whole desktop, never over other apps or bare desktop
💻 Desktop app — electron-app/	Windows · macOS · Linux	the "over everything" pet for Win/Mac — wanders your whole screen, auto-starts at login
🐍 Terminal — clawde.py	Windows · macOS · Linux	a pure-Python Clawde in one terminal pane, zero deps, any shell
🧩 VS Code — vscode-extension/	Windows · macOS · Linux	Clawde in a little panel beside your code

Want him hopping between every terminal on your desktop? On Linux that's the GNOME extension (runs inside the compositor, stays confined to terminal windows). On Windows / macOS, where there's no shell-extension model, the desktop app roams the whole screen instead — download the installer, run it once, and Clawde auto-appears at every login.

install 📦

💻 Windows & macOS — the desktop pet (recommended)

The full "over everything" Clawde: download once, and he wanders your whole screen at every login — no terminal, no python.

1. Open the latest release and download the file for your OS:
   • Windows → Clawde-Setup-*.exe
   • macOS (Intel & Apple Silicon) → Clawde-*-universal.dmg
2. Run it:
   • Windows — double-click the .exe. SmartScreen may warn "unknown publisher" (it's not code-signed yet) → click More info → Run anyway.
   • macOS — open the .dmg, drag Clawde into Applications, then the first time right-click Clawde → Open (a plain double-click is blocked for unsigned apps) → Open.
3. Clawde starts wandering. He lives in the system tray (Windows) / menu bar (macOS) 🧡 — click it for Start at login (on by default) and Quit.

Done. He now appears on his own every time you log in.

🖥️ Linux — the GNOME Shell extension

One line — downloads, installs, and pre-enables him:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/joey114132/clawde/main/web-install.sh | bash

Then log out and back in — Clawde appears on his own. Turn him off with gnome-extensions disable clawde@joey114132.github.io. (Prefer the desktop app on Linux too? Grab the .AppImage from the releases. A one-click extensions.gnome.org listing is the goal — Snap can't host a Shell extension, so it isn't an option.)

install from a clone instead

git clone https://github.com/joey114132/clawde
cd clawde/gnome-extension && ./install.sh   # then log out / back in

🐍 Any OS — the terminal one (no install)

python3 clawde.py                 # macOS / Linux — any shell (zsh, bash, fish)
py clawde.py                      # Windows — PowerShell or cmd
python3 clawde.py --size big      # a chunkier 3-line Clawde
python3 clawde.py --speed 0.06    # move faster (lower = faster)

Python 3.8+, zero dependencies, runs from any shell. On Windows he auto-enables VT so the ANSI renders (Windows Terminal recommended). Ctrl-C sends him home — he draws to the alternate screen, so your scrollback stays untouched.

🎋 tmux — a Clawde in your status bar

He can also pace across your tmux status line. Add to ~/.tmux.conf:

set -g status-interval 1
set -ag status-right '#(python3 /path/to/clawde.py --tmux)'

Reload (tmux source ~/.tmux.conf) and a little (◕ᴥ◕) walks back and forth, blinking and occasionally in a mood. Widen his stroll with --tmux-width 24.

🧩 VS Code — the panel

Open vscode-extension/ in VS Code and press F5, or package it with vsce. A Clawde wanders in a panel beside your code.

how clawde feels 🎭

happy ✨ · love ❤️ · sleepy 💤 · dizzy 😵 · curious ❓ · surprised ❗ · cool 😎 · sad 💧 · wave 👋 · spin 🌀 · cry 😢 · starstruck 🤩 — plus a few meme faces (🗿 💀 👀) and an idle blink, for when words fail.

the honest bits 📎

• The GNOME extension targets GNOME 45–48 (ESM). If Clawde doesn't appear after enabling, peek at journalctl --user -b | grep -i clawde — and open an issue. 🙏
• A terminal script genuinely can't cross tabs or windows (each is its own pseudo-terminal). That's why the "over everything" version has to be a Shell extension — a Wayland fact, not a missing feature.
• VS Code sandboxes its extensions, so that Clawde politely stays in his panel.
• Terminator splits: by default Clawde sees a split Terminator window as one space (the compositor can't see inside it). Install the Terminator plugin and he'll wander + teleport between the individual split panes too.
• The Windows/macOS desktop app isn't code-signed yet — first launch shows an "unknown publisher / unidentified developer" prompt. Choose Run anyway / Open.

roadmap 🗺️

• website leaderboard — Sign in with GitHub + Supabase, verified avatars (enable it)
• run away from your cursor (oneko-style) — GNOME extension + desktop app
• richer sprite art & more little animations — blink, barrel-roll, wave, yawn, spin, cry…
• preferences — speed, size, which monitor
• tmux mode — clawde.py --tmux walks the status bar

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made with 🧡  ·  MIT