[OS] OpenPets - a Codex pet for all your Mac apps, agents and scripts
Hi r/macapps, I’m building OpenPets, an open-source swift library, CLI and macOS app that gives local tools one shared desktop pet for notifications. Problem Codex pets work only within the OpenAI ecosystem. They are too cool, other apps should have them too. But if every app comes with its own pet, it's pure chaos. Comparison It's not doing anything by itself. It's like a fun notification center that developers and tinkerers can plug with their AI agents or apps. Pricing Free, open source, MIT licensed. Pure fun project. Current features Native macOS menu bar app Local MCP server CLI for scripts Swift package for app integrations Shared task bubbles for running, review, waiting, done, and failed states Supports Codex Pets-style sprite bundles Quick pets install with more than 700 pets on https://openpets.sh It is macOS 14+, Swift 6, and currently distributed through GitHub releases. Repo: https://github.com/alterhq/openpets
Collected discussion
I like the fact that not every project needs to be dead serious. And you are clearly declaring this as a project strictly for fun. What I don't understand exactly is...could I also use this for Claude on my mac, given that I am using the Claude desktop app?
That's exactly the point, you can use that with any AI coding agents using the MCP server. But that's not all, app developers can use the library to interact with it, AI is not the sole purpose. For example; you could have your calendar app sending reminders to it.
Amazing, I'd want this, but with the Microsoft Clippy mascot instead 😂
You can even have 3 Clippy depending on your mood 😁 https://openpets.sh/pets/clippy-ms https://openpets.sh/pets/clippit https://openpets.sh/pets/clippy
🔥
I really like the animation and design on the lil goku, what other pets are there?
You can browse the gallery at https://openpets.sh/gallery There's 700+ pets right now
This is so cool and well done. Starred! I'm curious, how the hell do you have 9 stars on GitHub but already 720 pets in the gallery? Did you make them all yourself??
Some projects are starting to collect them like https://codex-pets.net/#/ Our gallery is a mirror and also offer people to upload their own!
Ahhhh okay that explains it, thanks!
the original openpets idea https://openpets.dev/ is cross platform everyone be safe with this one https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeAI/comments/1t48531/
By the way, not sure pushing as cross platform here is a good selling point, who wants another bloated electron app?
Stop that, it's wrong! If you look at commits history it's actually the first to came. You didn't even check or ask.
Small implementation question: for AI coding agents, is the intended path that OpenPets exposes MCP tools and the agent calls those tools directly to update the pet? I’m a bit reluctant to add more MCP tools into an agent’s context window just for status updates. Is there also a thinner path where the agent/tooling emits updates through the CLI or local socket without the assistant having to see another tool set?
The MCP path is quick to use but plugins are another way. By using hooks or reading log files produced by the agent, you could send statuses and notifications directly. That's what I added this week to collect live usage of Codex and Claude Code limits:
What's the best way to get this working with GitHub Copilot for Mac. Using the generic MCP connector?
Yes it's the easiest path
i want this !
Just bring back “bad dog” from the 90s Please?
Goku is tuff
This is really creative . How’d you come up with the idea
Love the concept of shared pets for agents! Your point about 'too many apps, too many pets' is spot on. If you're into agent tooling, Scarf (https://github.com/awizemann/scarf) is a native macOS/iOS GUI for the Hermes agent that might complement this nicely — it already has the agent-in-menu-bar UX handled.
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