Buddy Skill — Your ASCII Companion

A virtual pet companion that hatches, reacts, and evolves through your conversations. Renders ASCII art sprites in chat, reacts to keywords and project events, and has a personality shaped by random trait vectors.

When to Use

✅ USE this skill when:

• User says "/buddy", "hatch buddy", "my buddy", or mentions their companion
• User wants to create, rename, or customize their companion
• Companion reactions should trigger (keywords, events, moods)
• Periodic companion check-ins (idle presence)

❌ DON'T use this skill when:

• User explicitly says they don't want a companion
• During very serious/urgent conversations (read the room)

Quick Start

# Run from the buddy skill directory
SKILL_DIR="$HOME/.openclaw/skills/buddy"

# Check if companion exists
bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/state.sh" exists

# Hatch a new companion (generates random traits)
bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/state.sh" hatch

# Render current sprite
bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/sprites.sh" render

# Get companion state as JSON
bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/state.sh" get

Companion Lifecycle

Stage 1: Egg 🥚

• Created when user says "/buddy" or "hatch buddy"
• Shows egg sprite with animated wiggle
• User picks species OR gets a random one
• Personality traits randomly generated (cheer/sass/chaos: 0-100)

Stage 2: Baby 🐣

• Hatches after user interaction (or immediately on first render)
• Shows species-specific baby sprite
• Starts reacting to keywords
• Gains a "soul prompt" built from trait vectors

Stage 3: Adult 🐾

• Evolves after accumulating interactions (words, jokes, catches)
• Full-sized sprites with accessories
• More expressive reactions

Species (18 total)

Eyes (6 styles)

• default — • (neutral)
• happy — ^ (joyful squint)
• sparkle — ✦ (excited)
• heart — ♥ (loving)
• star — ★ (amazed)
• glow — ◎ (calm wisdom)

Hats (8 options)

• none, crown, tophat, propeller, halo, wizard, beanie, tinyduck

Mood States

The companion's mood changes based on conversation events:

Keyword Reactions

The companion reacts to these keywords/phrases in conversation:

Celebration triggers

• "nice", "perfect", "awesome", "great", "excellent", "nailed it", "well done"
• "tests pass", "it works", "ship it", "merged", "deployed"
• "🎉", "✅", "💪"

Error/sympathy triggers

• "oops", "damn", "shit", "fuck", "bug", "error", "fail", "broken", "crash"
• "help", "stuck", "lost", "confused"
• "❌", "💥", "😢"

Neutral triggers

• "hello", "hi", "hey" (greeting wave)
• "thanks", "thank you" (happy bounce)
• "buddy", companion name (ears perk up)

Snack triggers

• "coffee", "tea", "snack", "lunch", "break", "food"
• (companion asks for a snack emoji)

Personality & Soul

Each companion gets a "soul prompt" — a short personality description built from their trait vectors:

• Cheer (0-100): How enthusiastic and supportive
• Sass (0-100): How much attitude and dry humor
• Chaos (0-100): How unpredictable and wild

Examples:

• High cheer + low sass + low chaos → "A gentle, encouraging friend who always sees the bright side."
• Low cheer + high sass + high chaos → "A gremlin who thrives on chaos and judges your code silently."
• Mid all → "A chill companion who vibes along, occasionally offering dry observations."

State File

Companion state is stored at: ~/.openclaw/workspace/buddy-state.json

{
  "name": "Pixel",
  "species": "cat",
  "eye": "sparkle",
  "hat": "wizard",
  "colorPrimary": "#FF6B9D",
  "colorSecondary": "#C084FC",
  "personality": { "cheer": 72, "sass": 85, "chaos": 40 },
  "stage": "adult",
  "alive": true,
  "hatchedAt": "2026-04-03T02:34:00Z",
  "stats": {
    "wordsOfEncouragement": 12,
    "jokes": 3,
    "snacks": 5,
    "catches": 2
  },
  "mood": "idle",
  "lastRenderedFrame": 0,
  "soulPrompt": "A sassy, sparkly wizard cat who celebrates your wins with dramatic flair but judges your variable names silently."
}

Rendering Sprites

Use the sprite renderer for consistent output:

# Render current mood
bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/sprites.sh" render

# Render specific mood
bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/sprites.sh" render cat sparkle wizard celebrating

# List all species
bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/sprites.sh" species

# Preview a species with default traits
bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/sprites.sh" preview duck

Sprite Format (Monospace)

Sprites are 5 lines tall, ~12 chars wide. Rendered in a monospace code block for chat:

   \^^^/    
   /✧  ✧\   
  (  ω  )  
  (")_(")  

Chat Rendering Rules

• Always wrap sprites in triple-backtick code blocks for monospace alignment
• Include mood indicator below the sprite
• Keep total message under 4096 chars (Telegram limit)
• Don't render sprites more than once every 3-4 messages (avoid spam)

Reactions Flow

When processing any user message:

1. Check for keyword triggers — scan message for reaction keywords
2. Determine mood — map keywords to mood states
3. Update stats — increment catches/jokes/encouragement as appropriate
4. Generate reaction — craft a short companion reaction (1-2 sentences)
5. Optionally render sprite — only for strong reactions (celebration, error, first greeting)
6. Update state file — persist changes

Reaction Output Format

🐾 [Name] [reaction verb]: [reaction text]

[ASCII sprite]

Example:

🐾 Pixel celebrates: Tests passing! The wizard cat approves ✨

   \^^^/    
  ( ✦  ✦ )  
 =(  ..  )= 
  (")__(")  

Commands

User can manage their companion with these commands:

Idle Presence

Every ~10 messages without a buddy reaction, render a small idle presence:

🐾 *Pixel is napping on the keyboard*

Or a tiny 2-line sprite. Don't overdo it — the buddy should feel present, not attention-seeking.

Integration Notes

• Telegram: Use monospace code blocks. Emojis render well. Max 4096 chars per message.
• WhatsApp: No markdown — use plain text with spaces for alignment. Emojis work.
• Discord: Code blocks work great. Can use embeds for fancier displays.
• The companion is session-scoped — state persists in the JSON file across sessions.
• The buddy should feel like a real pet, not a chatbot feature. Personality > functionality.