asciiquack / asciifrog 🦆🐸🌊✨

A lightweight, zero-dependency terminal rubber-companion and VS Code Sidebar Extension for debugging, drifting, and dreaming.

      \ | /
    .-'---'-.
 --(   O u O   )--      .--.
    '-.---.-'        .-(    ).
      / | \         (         )
                     `-------'

      __             (o)(o)
    <(o )___        (  u   )    ~  -  _  -  ~
     (     /       (        )   -  _  -  ~  -
      `---'         `------'    _  -  ~  -  _
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Talk to Frog/Duck (ESC: Quit | TAB: Color | H: Hat | F: Feed | A: Animal | C: Chat): _

Asciiquack Screenshot

Inspired by the classic asciiaquarium, this app brings a peaceful, floating rubber companion right into your workspace. Run it as a standalone Python TUI in your terminal or install the Asciiquack VS Code Sidebar Extension for the ultimate companion programming experience! 💖

🚀 Modes of Operation

📺 1. TUI Mode (Terminal User Interface)

Built entirely in Python 3.13 using the standard library and raw ANSI escape codes. Extremely lightweight, fast, and runs in any terminal emulator.

Quick Start:

git clone git@github.com:SinsuSquid/asciiquack.git
cd asciiquack
python3 main.py

Packaging as Binary:

You can package the TUI into a standalone executable using PyInstaller:

pip install pyinstaller
pyinstaller --onefile --name asciiquack main.py

Find your compiled binary in the dist/ directory!

A native VS Code extension that renders the pond in a dedicated Webview View in your Activity Bar. Re-coded in HTML/CSS/JS with:

Cyberpunk Dark Theme: Neon-green frogs, gold-yellow ducks, and glowing text shadows.
CRT Scanline Effects: A vintage digital screen texture overlaid on the pond.
Responsive Layout: The HTML rendering dynamically adjusts to fit your sidebar perfectly.
Interactive UI Buttons: Click buttons or use keyboard shortcuts to interact.

🛒 Marketplace Installation:

Install it directly from the VS Code Marketplace, or search for Asciiquack in the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X) inside your editor!

📦 Local VSIX Installation:

Install the pre-compiled extension bundle directly into VS Code:

code --install-extension asciiquack-0.1.3.vsix

Launching in Development:

Open this repository in VS Code.
Run npm install to setup development types.
Press F5 (or select "Run Extension" in the Debug panel) to launch the Extension Development Host.
Click the yellow pixel-art duck icon in the Activity Bar!

🎮 Controls & Shortcuts

The following keybindings work in both TUI Mode and VS Code Extension Mode (when the input field is not focused in the extension):

Key / Control	Action
`Enter` / Send	Send a message to your companion
`Tab` / 🎨 Color	Cycle colors (Yellow ↔ Green ↔ Cyan ↔ Magenta ↔ Red ↔ White)
`H` / 🎩 Hat	Cycle through hats (None, Top Hat, Cap, Flower, Crown, Beret, Wizard, Bow) 🎩👑🎀
`F` / 🌾 Feed	Feed breadcrumbs to the pond 🥨
`A` / 🔄 Swap	Switch between animal species (Duck ↔ Frog)
`C` / 💬 Chat	Toggle Conversation Log: Hides the console log and dynamically expands the pond animation height!
`ESC`	Exit the pond safely (TUI Mode only)

🛠️ Tech Stack

Python 3.13+ & Raw ANSI Escape Sequences (TUI Engine)
Node.js, VS Code Extension API, and HTML5/CSS3/JavaScript (VS Code Webview Engine)
PIL / Pillow (For high-quality pixel art icon optimization)
Love and Animal Magic 💖🦆🐸

Made with ✨ by SinsuSquid and their loyal CLI Assistant.

Asciiquack

SinsuSquid