Buddy

An animated IDE companion for VS Code that reacts to your coding flow from the Activity Bar.

Preview

Idle	Think	Search	Sleep

Happy	Love	Jump	Walk

Buddy is local-first, lightweight, and built to add a little personality to focused work without sending your code anywhere.

Table of Contents

• Preview
• Features
• Installation
• Using Buddy
• Commands
• How Buddy Reacts
• Assets
• Privacy
• Development
• Roadmap
• License

Features

• Animated sidebar companion with idle, typing, searching, thinking, sleeping, happy, and panic states.
• Editor-aware reactions while you write, navigate, save, and encounter diagnostics.
• Optional local sound effects generated with the Web Audio API.
• Animated sprite rendering with a CSS fallback.
• Command Palette controls for showing Buddy, previewing animations, toggling sounds, and testing states.
• No network calls, external services, telemetry, or account setup.

Installation

Install from a VSIX

Download or build a .vsix package, then install it with the VS Code CLI:

code --install-extension buddy-ide-companion-0.0.28.vsix

You can also install it from VS Code:

1. Open the Extensions view.
2. Choose Install from VSIX... from the ... menu.
3. Select the Buddy .vsix file.
4. Run Developer: Reload Window if the Activity Bar does not refresh immediately.

VSIX installs are manual. To update Buddy, install a newer VSIX with the same extension ID.

Remove the old prototype

If you still have the old local prototype installed from before the rename, remove it once:

code --uninstall-extension local.docfox

Using Buddy

After installing Buddy, open the Command Palette:

Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux
Cmd+Shift+P on macOS

Run Buddy: Show Sidebar to open the Buddy view from the Activity Bar. Buddy will wake up in the sidebar and react as you edit, navigate, save, or run into diagnostics.

Try these first:

• Buddy: Wake Up to return Buddy to the idle state.
• Buddy: Preview Animations to cycle through the available animation states.
• Buddy: Toggle Sounds to turn local sound effects on or off.
• Buddy: Toggle Animated Sprites to switch animated sprite rendering on or off.

Commands

How Buddy Reacts

Buddy pays attention to editing activity in file-backed and untitled editor tabs:

typing -> 1s quiet -> thinking -> 5.5s quiet -> sleeping

Clicking or scrolling in supported editor files triggers searching. Clicking Buddy shows love-trim.gif. Saving a document triggers happy. Active editor diagnostics trigger panic.

Assets

Animated sprites live in assets/images:

happy-trim.gif
happy.gif
idle-trim.gif
idle.gif
jump-trim.gif
jump.gif
love-trim.gif
love.gif
search-trim.gif
search.gif
sleep-trim.gif
sleep.gif
think-trim.gif
think.gif
walk-trim.gif
walk.gif

Buddy uses the *-trim.gif sprites at runtime. The full-size originals remain in the folder for editing and reference.

Current state mapping:

Privacy

Buddy runs locally inside VS Code. It does not collect telemetry, call an API, upload source files, or require an account.

Development

Install dependencies:

npm install

Run Buddy in an Extension Development Host:

Press F5 in VS Code

Keep TypeScript compiling in the background:

npm run watch

Before sharing a build, compile and package a VSIX:

npm run compile
npm run package

Install or update that VSIX locally with the VS Code CLI:

code --install-extension buddy-ide-companion-0.0.28.vsix --force

Roadmap

Buddy is starting as a VS Code extension, with room to grow into a more customizable IDE companion over time. Good next steps include more companion themes, richer activity awareness, customizable reactions, and support for additional IDEs.

License

MIT