QuackCursor

S J — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 18:29:37 +0000

This is a submission for the DEV April Fools Challenge

What I Built

Quack cursor. Your cursor will quack. I build a system-wide "enhancement" for Windows(wait, other fellow mates). It transforms your mundane computing experience into a high-stakes waterfowl simulation.

Once launched, it globally tracks the victim's mouse. Every time they click the left or right mouse button, their computer emits a loud, asynchronous Duck Quack. But wait, there's more! I incorporated a global click counter and Python's legendary Easter egg: upon reaching their 10th click, the duck "takes flight" by spontaneously opening the classic Python antigravity XKCD comic in their default web browser.

Because it runs as a headless .pyw file, there is no terminal window to close. The only way to stop the quacking is to hunt down pythonw.exe in the Task Manager!

Demo

yesJ13 / QuackCursor

🦆 QuackCursor

"Because your productivity was getting a little too high anyway."

QuackCursor is a system-wide "enhancement" for Windows, designed specifically for the DEV.to April Fools Challenge. It transforms your mundane computing experience into a high-stakes waterfowl simulation.

🎭 The Concept

Why have a silent, efficient workstation when you could have a pond? QuackCursor implements three revolutionary UI/UX features:

Visual Overload: Replace your boring arrow cursor with a Rubber Duck icon (included in your imagination, or manually set in Windows).
Auditory Feedback: Every single mouse click—left or right—triggers a high-fidelity quack.wav. This audio was synthetically birthed using the Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview TTS for maximum mallard realism.
The Flight Protocol: Every 10 clicks, your cursor achieves true enlightenment. Using Python’s legendary antigravity easter egg, your browser will soar to the classic XKCD comic, reminding you that there is more to life than clicking.

🛠 Tech Stack

Python 3.x…

View on GitHub

Code

How I Built It

Python: The core language. I intentionally used the pythonw.exe executable (via the .pyw file extension) to ensure the script runs completely "headless" without a console window.
pynput: Used to hook into system-wide mouse events so it registers clicks no matter what app the user is currently using.
winsound: Built into standard Windows Python. I used this instead of heavy libraries like pygame because it requires no extra dependencies and supports the SND_ASYNC flag, allowing the duck to quack without temporarily freezing the user's mouse pointer.
antigravity & webbrowser: Python's built-in Easter egg module for the ultimate payload.

Prize Category

Best Google AI Usage - build this entirely with Google AI Studio
Community Favourite

SJ
@yesj13

DEV Community: S J