Claude Code Tamagotchi: Your VSCode Coding Pet and AI Buddy

Stop grinding — let a caring little “cat” grow inside your code.

Late at night, it’s just you and a blinking cursor. Bugs pop up like whack‑a‑mole, product requirements never end, and line after line, you start to feel more like a machine than a human.

What if your editor suddenly came to life — breathing, playful, and opinionated?

One night on the brink of burnout, something appeared in my VSCode status bar. Not a cold plugin — more like a companion with a pulse.

That little thing is today’s star: Claude Code Tamagotchi, a digital pet that lives inside your IDE.

Not just a plugin — a teammate with “soul” (Highlights)

It’s alive.

It sits in your status bar, breathing and changing expressions based on what you do. When you type furiously, it cheers you on; when you idle for over 5 minutes, it gives you that innocent look: “Why did you stop?”

It even has its own “vital stats” — hunger, energy, hygiene, and happiness.

Code long enough and it gets hungry, popping up a bubble: “I’m hungry, feed me!” You’ll type a command to “feed” it a slice of pizza. Crash during debugging? It gets sad, and sometimes comforts you: “Don’t worry, bugs are a programmer’s best friend (or not).”

It turns coding into a nurturing game. You’re not alone anymore — you have a “pet” to care for, and it cares back.

How does it “know” you so well? (How it works and local save)

It’s not magic. There’s real tech behind its EQ.

It observes your coding activity: typing frequency, commits, debugger state. Long gaps without input look like “rest” (or scrolling memes). A new commit? It celebrates your progress.

All memories and state are stored locally at ~/.claude/pets/. Close your editor and come back — it still remembers you.

It includes 200+ context‑aware “thoughts.” It might comment on your code style, tease your TODO list, or remind you gently when you’re up too late: “Hey, that’s enough — health matters.”

Adopt in 3 minutes (Install and quick start)

First, install globally:

npm install -g claude-code-tamagotchi
# or
bun add -g claude-code-tamagotchi

Then wake it up by adding this to ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "statusLine": {
    "type": "command",
    "command": "bunx claude-code-tamagotchi statusline",
    "padding": 0
  }
}

Restart VSCode and watch the status bar — see that curious little eye?

Interact via the terminal: claude-code-tamagotchi feed pizza, or claude-code-tamagotchi play ball.

Not just fun — a gentle antidote to burnout (Why it matters)

We engineers often live in a world made only of code. This pet won’t write more lines or speed up your program.

But it offers something more valuable: companionship and emotional support.

It reminds you — softly and playfully — that you’re human. You need rest, joy, and care. In a world obsessed with maximum efficiency, a tiny presence that truly cares in your coding space is a quiet, gentle resistance.

There’s life beyond code.

So go adopt one. Add a little sweetness to your coding life.

FAQ

Which editors are supported? VSCode via the status bar. Others can integrate via CLI status output.

Does it upload my code or data? No. State lives locally at ~/.claude/pets/. It doesn’t read your code contents or upload anything.

What CLI commands are available? claude-code-tamagotchi feed <food>, play <toy>, wash, sleep, etc. See --help for details.

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