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shihan sun
shihan sun

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I Built a Retro Terminal Tool to Check Your Claude Code Buddy Pet

Ever since Anthropic introduced the Claude Code Buddy feature — a virtual pet that lives in your terminal and evolves based on your coding activity — I've been obsessed with checking mine. So I built a dedicated web tool for it.

What I Built

Claude Buddy Checker is a retro CRT terminal-style web app that lets you look up any Claude Code Buddy by UUID. It renders your buddy's ASCII art, stats, personality traits, and evolution stage in a nostalgic green-on-black terminal interface.

Key Features

  • CRT Terminal UI — Scanlines, phosphor glow, screen flicker, and that satisfying retro aesthetic
  • UUID Lookup — Paste your buddy's UUID and instantly see its full profile
  • Multi-language Support — Full English, Chinese (中文), and Korean (한국어) translations
  • Comprehensive Blog — 13 articles covering guides, deep dives into probability math, and lore
  • Mobile Responsive — Works great on phones with the same terminal feel

The Tech Stack

  • React 19 + Tailwind CSS 4 for the frontend
  • Wouter for client-side routing
  • Custom CSS animations for the CRT monitor effects (scanlines, flicker, phosphor glow)
  • Giscus comments integration for community discussion
  • Server-side OG image generation for social sharing

The Fun Part: The Blog

The blog section turned out to be the most interesting part. I wrote deep dives into:

  • The probability mathematics behind shiny buddies (geometric distribution, expected value calculations)
  • The kinship algorithm that determines buddy compatibility (12-dimensional weighted Euclidean distance)
  • Evolution mechanics and how coding patterns influence your buddy's growth

Each article includes interactive data tables, code examples, and is fully translated into 3 languages.

Try It Out

Check it out at claude-buddy-checker.vercel.app and let me know what you think!

The source code is open on GitHub: lxiaolong068/claude-buddy-checker


Would love to hear your feedback, especially on the CRT terminal aesthetic. What's your buddy's personality type? Drop a comment below!

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