Clippy-Chan

Your sarcastic coding buddy for VS Code.

Clippy-Chan lives in your sidebar and panel, reacts to your coding behavior, and drops funny or motivational messages while you work.

Why Clippy-Chan?

Most coding companions are cute but passive. Clippy-Chan is intentionally opinionated.

It reacts to real editor events like:

• frequent saves
• new errors appearing
• errors getting fixed
• long coding sessions
• late-night coding
• file switching
• idle/return behavior

The result is a companion that feels alive, not static.

Features

• Two character modes
  • Clippy (classic assistant vibe)
  • Cool Cat (pixel cat with sunglasses)
• Smart event triggers
  • save reactions and save streak callouts (5 and 10)
  • diagnostics-aware messages when errors appear or are fixed
  • idle detection, sleep mode, and return messages
  • long-session reminders (30/60/90 min)
  • late-night commentary
  • file-switch reactions
• Adjustable message frequency
  • low
  • medium
  • high
• Dual surfaces
  • sidebar webview
  • bottom panel webview
• Quick character switching from the panel title bar
• Status bar shortcut for instant manual messages

Commands

• Clippy-Chan: Show Message
  • Manually trigger a random Clippy-Chan message.
• Select Character
  • Switch between Clippy and Cool Cat quickly.

Extension Settings

This extension contributes the following settings:

• clippy-chan.character
  • Select which character is shown.
  • Options: clippy, cat
  • Default: clippy
• clippy-chan.messageFrequency
  • Controls how often automatic messages can appear.
  • Options: low, medium, high
  • Default: medium

How It Works

Clippy-Chan listens to VS Code activity signals and posts contextual messages to its webview UI. A cooldown system prevents message spam, while milestone events can bypass cooldown when they matter.

Perfect For

• devs who like playful motivation while coding
• long focus sessions where reminders help
• people who want personality in their editor without heavy setup

Privacy

Clippy-Chan does not send your code to external services. It reacts to local editor events only.

Known Notes

• Character changes refresh the webview so the new sprite set appears.
• Message tone is intentionally sarcastic in many categories.

Release Notes

0.1.0

• Initial public release
• Animated Clippy/Cool Cat companion
• Event-driven message system
• Sidebar + panel support
• Character picker and status bar command

Feedback

Have ideas, message packs, or character requests? Open an issue or share feedback in the repo.