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Pixel Agents

Shows your AI coding agents as animated pixel-art characters in a small office.

GitHub Download v1.5.0
Stars
10k
Forks
1.7k
Licence
MIT
Language
TypeScript
Last update
11 days ago
Type
Dev tool

What it is

Pixel Agents turns AI coding agents running in your terminals into animated pixel-art characters that walk to desks and visually show what they are doing, such as typing, reading, or waiting for input. It ships as a VS Code extension and as a standalone CLI that serves the same office in a browser. Claude Code is the reference agent today.

  • Launch Claude Code in a chosen project directory from a drawer inside VS Code
  • Get sound or visual alerts when an agent finishes a turn or is waiting for permission
  • Watch sub-agents and agent teams as separate characters
  • Design an office layout with floors, walls, and furniture, and save it across VS Code windows
  • Run the standalone CLI with npx pixel-agents and open the office in a browser

Great for

  • Developers who run several Claude Code sessions at once and want a visual overview
  • VS Code users who want agent activity shown beside their terminals
  • People who work in tmux, remote, or non-VS Code setups and want a browser view via the standalone CLI
  • Users who enjoy playful interfaces for managing agent work

Not ideal for

  • Users who do not use Claude Code, since other agents are only on the roadmap and not yet supported
  • Anyone needing a hardened multi-user service, because the README warns that the access token is a bearer secret and binding to 0.0.0.0 exposes the UI to the local network
Step-by-step guide: how to use Pixel AgentsInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

How to get it

  1. 1

    Install with a package manager

    You'll need: Claude Code CLI installed and configured · VS Code 1.105.0 or later for the extension, or Node.js 20 or later for the standalone CLI · Windows, Linux, or macOS

    Run the standalone CLI from your project directory

    npx pixel-agents

    Install the CLI globally

    npm install --global pixel-agents
  2. 2

    Run it

    • Install the VS Code extension from the Marketplace or Open VSX, or run npx pixel-agents for the standalone CLI
    • In VS Code, open the Pixel Agents panel beside the terminal
    • Click + Agent and choose a Directory to launch Claude Code in it
    • In the browser, open the URL the CLI prints, which includes a token
  3. 3

    Get the most out of it

    • Turn on Settings → Show Workspace Folders to list your workspace folders in the Directory drawer
    • Use + Directory to add your own directories and choose which Areas their agents sit in
    • Enable Settings → Watch All Sessions to include Claude sessions started in other workspaces
    • Use the built-in office layout editor and import/export layouts or load character, pet, and furniture packs
    • Use --port or --host flags with the CLI for a fixed address, keeping in mind the security notes in the README

Downloads

Source code (.zip)main branch · straight from GitHubRelease v1.5.01 files incl. pixel-agents-1.5.0.vsix

Strengths

  • Gives an at-a-glance view of what each agent is doing, based on its actual activity
  • Works in two forms, VS Code extension and standalone CLI, from the same codebase
  • Clear architecture for adding new AI tools via a typed HookProvider interface, per the README

Trade-offs

  • Currently supports Claude Code only; Codex, Gemini, Cursor and others are roadmap items
  • Skip Permissions and network binding options carry security trade-offs the user must accept
  • The README says much of the planned game and orchestration vision is still ahead

Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-11-02 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.