Rain9

Posted on Apr 9

I Got Tired of Boring Terminals — So I Built an AI That Walks on My Screen

#ai #tauri #desktopbuddy #gemini

🧠 It Started With a Simple Thought

Every day, I stare at the same thing:

A black terminal
A static AI chat window
Endless lines of code

Efficient? Yes.

Alive? Not even close.

At some point, a strange idea popped into my head:

What if my AI assistant wasn’t trapped in a box…

but actually lived on my desktop?

Not just responding to commands,

but walking around, idling, reminding me to rest—

like a tiny digital companion sharing my workspace.

That’s how CodeWalkers was born.

👾 Meet CodeWalkers

CodeWalkers is an open-source desktop AI companion built with:

Tauri v2
React
Rust

It’s part desktop pet, part AI terminal, and part productivity companion.

Instead of opening yet another window,

your AI becomes something you can see, drag, and live with.

🚶 Your AI... Now Has Legs

I designed two default characters:

Ethan
Luna

They don’t just sit there.

They:

walk along the bottom of your screen
stop, idle, and rest
quietly exist while you work

It’s subtle, but strangely comforting.

Like your code editor gained a soul.

And yes—you can replace them with anything you want.

Anime characters, pixel creatures, your own designs...

your desktop, your rules.

🖱️ The Magic Trick: Click-Through Transparency

One thing I absolutely didn’t want:

A floating pet that blocks your workflow 😅

So I implemented pixel-level click-through detection.

What this means:

Click the character → you can drag it
Click transparent areas → your click goes through it

No interference. No frustration.

It feels like the character truly belongs to your desktop.

💬 An AI Terminal That Feels… Alive

Click on your companion, and something interesting happens:

A real terminal appears. Not a fake UI.

Gemini CLI
Claude
Copilot

But here’s the twist:

When the AI responds…

💭 A speech bubble appears above your character

⌨️ Text streams out with a typewriter effect

🔊 Subtle keyboard sounds play in sync

It doesn’t feel like chatting with a tool anymore.

It feels like someone is thinking beside you.

⏰ It Even Takes Care of You

Let’s be honest:

We forget to rest. A lot.

So CodeWalkers quietly watches your time and nudges you when needed.

You can:

create custom states (Working, Eating, Sleeping...)
set interval reminders (every 45 min)
schedule exact times (like 18:40 = go home 🚪)

Each character has its own configuration.

And when the moment comes,

your companion raises a little bubble like:

“Hey… maybe drink some water?” 💧

Small detail. Big difference.

⚡ Why Tauri + Rust?

I love Electron. But I also fear it. 😄

Memory usage was a big concern.

So I chose:

Tauri v2 → lightweight, native-powered
Rust → performance and control

The result?

A desktop companion that can run all day

without turning your RAM into a crime scene.

🛠️ Tech Stack

Frontend: React + TypeScript + TailwindCSS + Zustand + shadcn/ui
Backend: Rust + Tauri v2
Terminal: portable-pty
Communication: Tauri IPC
Features:
- Transparent window
- System tray integration
- Real PTY streaming

🚀 Try It Yourself

GitHub: https://github.com/you-want/CodeWalkers

git clone https://github.com/you-want/CodeWalkers.git
cd CodeWalkers
pnpm install
pnpm tauri dev

🌱 Why I Open-Sourced It

Because this idea shouldn’t belong to just one person.

I’d love to see:

people creating their own characters
new interaction ideas
weird, creative experiments

Maybe someone turns it into a full game.
Maybe someone builds an AI companion with emotions.

Who knows?

💡 Final Thought

If this resonates with you,
consider giving it a ⭐ on GitHub or contributing!

Let’s make our desktops a little less lonely.

DEV Community