This is a submission for the Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge Week 4: Ghost in the Machine
What I Built
I made Boo-buddy, a little ghost that floats on your desktop and chats with you. It has six ghost designs and uses playful, spooky language. It was my first time using Ollama Gemma, and I was nervous. Did it in quite a hurry.
I wanted to make a friendly ghost, not a scary one. I also added Día de los Muertos touches like flowers and skull mask decorations face decorations.
Demo
boobuddy.mp4 - Google Drive
drive.google.com
Code
👻 Boo-buddy
A tiny desktop ghost with a soft spot for your tiny wins.
Boo-buddy is a floating desktop companion powered by a local AI model running on Ollama. It can cheer you on, react when you poke it, answer a whisper, and get sleepy after midnight.
Free to use. No paid services, subscriptions, API keys, or accounts required. Internet access is needed to download the app dependencies and a model. After setup, Boo-buddy and its downloaded model can run offline.
🌙 A shy ghost · 🧡 Local AI · 🔒 Your prompts stay on your machine · ✨ Plain JavaScript
✨ Contents
- Quick start
- Meet Boo-buddy
- Choose a model
- Privacy and offline use
- Troubleshooting
- Build the installer
- Optional website
- Project map
🚀 Quick start
These steps work on Windows, macOS, and Linux. PowerShell examples are shown.
1. Install the free prerequisites
- Node.js 22.12 or newer: download the LTS…
How I Built It
I built Boo-buddy with Electron, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Its AI uses Gemma 3 1B through Ollama and runs on my computer. There’s no paid AI service.
I can chat with the ghost and ask follow-up questions. If Ollama isn’t running, Boo-buddy tells me instead of making up an AI reply.
Why Does Open Innovation Matter?
Using a local model means I don’t need a paid plan or online AI account. My chats stay on my computer.
I can also try different models and change how Boo-buddy talks. That helped me make the ghost feel more like my own. It was my first time working with Ollama.
My Agent Session
NA
The Spirit of It
I wanted Boo-buddy to feel like a small friend keeping me company while I work. It brings a little spooky fun to my desktop, with warm Día de los Muertos touches.
Did it in quite a hurry. I didn't want to miss final opportunity to participate in hacktoberfest.
Prize Categories
Best Use of Gemma
Best Use of GitHub Copilot
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