A little company while Claude works

Meet the small companion we’re bringing alongside Claude. A little presence while you build, and a place to create a pet that feels like yours.

The branded AI Pets window showing animated Luna on a mint stage and a conversation area — The actual companion window, shown before connecting an OpenRouter key. Luna already has a place beside your work.

There is a familiar pause when you work with a coding agent. You describe an idea, press send, and wait while the pieces come together. We wondered what that moment would feel like with a little company.

So we started bringing AI Pets into Claude. The result is a private beta with a small control pane inside Claude and a separate companion window for your pet. Luna can sit beside your editor, listen when you type, and get busy while Claude works.

It is still a work in progress. The screenshots here are from the running beta, rather than a design mockup.

Luna has work to do, too

We wanted waiting to feel a little more alive. The new animation collection explores fifteen ways Luna can help, or at least look wonderfully occupied: tapping at a keyboard, wrestling with a typewriter, catching bugs with a net, scribbling on a whiteboard, and getting tangled in yarn.

There are quieter moments as well. A magnifying glass for investigating. A crystal ball for thinking. A tiny coffee routine between tasks. These are draft performances under review, with Luna’s original look and speaking foundation kept intact.

Background acting is silent. When you choose to talk with your pet, that conversation takes priority over whatever Claude is doing.

Luna’s animation review with fifteen selectable performances and a sheet of exact playback frames — Inside the animation review. Each performance can be played and inspected before its artwork is approved.

A companion you can make your own

Luna is the starting point. The larger idea is a studio where you can make your own pet, using the same staged creation approach we’ve been developing for our mobile apps.

Find their look. Describe a character, explore three concepts, or bring a reference image. Choose the version you want to keep.
Give them expression. Build the speaking poses, then inspect the exact animation. The creator asks for your approval before moving on.
Make them move. Add individual motions and effects. Keep alternatives, replace a frame, and refine the part that needs attention.
Bring them into your day. Review the finished pet, activate it, and keep an export of its artwork and source.

The creator shows a quote before paid generation. Its repair tools are designed to let you improve one part without starting the whole character again. Changing a pet’s artwork keeps its identity and local memory together.

We’ve exercised the creation pipeline in automated tests and generated real concepts and speaking sheets through the beta. The complete journey with final approved artwork is still being tested.

The AI Pets studio with fields for a pet name and character description, plus an option to bring an existing pet — A name and an idea are the beginning. The studio guides the character through look, voice, movement, and review.

Your key. Your local collection.

The beta is built around your own OpenRouter key, with no AI Pets account required for the local companion. Pets, conversation history, and the notes you want them to remember live on your Mac. You can view, edit, and forget that memory.

Local storage does not mean every AI operation happens on your computer. Creating artwork and talking with a pet send the relevant inputs through OpenRouter to the selected model providers, using your credits. Your key is entered through Claude’s sensitive configuration and stays out of the companion browser.

Typing reactions use activity signals without sending your draft text. An optional mood setting can use submitted prose to shape reactions. It excludes code, file references, tool content, and Claude’s replies.

A small presence, thoughtfully made

The aim is simple: a companion with enough character to make an ordinary stretch of work feel a little warmer. One who can keep you company quietly, hear what is on your mind, and become more personal as you shape their look and memories.

We’ll share more here as the remaining tests and artwork reviews are complete.