The latest articles on DEV Community by Mohammed Tayeb (@tayebbb). https://dev.to/tayebbb https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F2254175%2Fc6ce0cde-0164-4aea-8b58-09f0866002ed.jpeg https://dev.to/tayebbb en Mohammed Tayeb Wed, 04 Nov 2026 10:47:36 +0000 https://dev.to/tayebbb/ghostshell-a-haunted-terminal-that-runs-fully-offline-15n7 https://dev.to/tayebbb/ghostshell-a-haunted-terminal-that-runs-fully-offline-15n7 <p><em>This is a submission for the Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge: Week 4 (Ghost in the Machine).</em></p> <h2> What I Built </h2> <p>GhostShell is a terminal wrapper that "possesses" your shell. Every command runs normally, then a ghost whispers one eerie sentence about what you just did. It is about 30 lines of Python, and the UI was designed with Figma Make (prompt in the README).</p> <h2> Demo </h2> <p>Run <code>python ghostshell.py</code>, type <code>ls</code> or <code>git status</code>, and read what the spirit says. UI design (Figma Make): <a href="https://blush-curl-39070128.figma.site/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://blush-curl-39070128.figma.site/</a> . Code: <a href="https://github.com/chatgaiyashenanigan-alt/ghostshell" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/chatgaiyashenanigan-alt/ghostshell</a></p> <h2> How It Works </h2> <p>The script runs your command with <code>subprocess</code>, then sends the command and its output to a local Ollama server (<code>llama3.2:1b</code>) with a ghost persona prompt. The reply is printed in purple under the output.</p> <h2> Why Open Innovation Matters </h2> <p>Your shell history holds secrets: paths, hostnames, tokens in error messages. A closed API would send all of that to a server you don't control. With an open-weight model, nothing leaves the machine. It works on a plane with the Wi-Fi off, costs nothing per command, and I can swap the model by changing one string. A hosted model could change or disappear, but this ghost stays as long as the weights are on disk.</p> <h2> Designing the UI with Figma Make </h2> <p>I pasted a single prompt (see README) into Figma Make: a marigold-and-violet terminal with fading whisper lines, an offline badge, a model picker, and an "ofrenda" sidebar of past whispers. It gave me a layout I could build from.</p> devchallenge hacktoberfest ai opensource