integrations

Coding agent reactions

If you use a coding agent, the pet can follow along. It puts a paw to its chin while the agent is thinking, taps along while it works, flinches at an error and does a little hop when it's done.

Any agent that can run a shell command on its lifecycle events can drive it through the bundled helper:

node agent-hook.js thinking   # paw to chin, "…" bubble
node agent-hook.js editing    # tapping, "working" spinner
node agent-hook.js error      # flinches
node agent-hook.js done       # hop and meow
node agent-hook.js idle       # back to normal

The helper writes one word to a status file that the pet watches (%TEMP%/pixelcat-agent.state), so anything that can write that file can drive the pet too. It reads stdin and answers {"continue": true}, which means it can't block or change what your agent does.

Setup

Run npm run hook -- <agent> (or node scripts/install-hook.js <agent>). It prints the config for your agent with the path to your checkout already filled in, and says at the top where to paste it.

Agent	Config	Where it goes
Claude Code	claude-code/	merge into ~/.claude/settings.json
Codex CLI	codex/	merge into ~/.codex/config.toml
Cursor	cursor/	copy to <project>/.cursor/hooks.json
Antigravity	antigravity/	.agents/hooks.json (see the notes in that folder)
Kiro	kiro/	add through the Agent Hooks UI, as a "Run Command" hook

If you copy a config by hand, replace /ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/pixelpets/ with the real path to your checkout. Use forward slashes on Windows as well, for example node "C:/Users/you/pixelpets/agent-hook.js" working. Hooks run from whatever directory the agent happens to be in, so a relative path won't work.

Which word to send

The helper accepts natural verbs and maps them to five states.

You send	The pet
thinking (also plan, start)	thinking bubble
working (also editing, writing, testing, building, running, tool)	working spinner
error (also failed, denied)	flinches
done (also stop, complete)	happy hop
idle	back to normal

A reasonable wiring for most agents:

Agent event	Send
prompt submitted, session start	thinking
before or after a tool runs, a file edited	working
agent stopped, turn complete	done

_{These reactions borrow ideas from two other open-source desktop pets, openpets (MIT) and clawd-on-desk (AGPL-3.0). No code was taken from either.}